Employment Law Assistance:

Question: What are the main employee rights and employer duties under Ontario employment law?

Answer: In Ontario, employment rights and duties mainly come from the Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c. 41 and related rules, which set minimum standards for pay, hours, vacation, termination and notice, plus protections against discrimination and harassment under the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19   Safety and workplace obligations also apply under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1   Employment relationships are also governed by common law, including duties and wrongful dismissal concepts courts develop over time   If you need help communicating these issues effectively or building a content plan for employment-law topics for your firm in Ontario, Marketing.Legal™ can help, call (800) 551-5751.

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Understanding Rights and Duties Within Employment Relations

The various disputes and lawsuits that may arise from employment relationships are more and more frequent in the world today as long gone are the days of substantial loyalties between employer and employee whereas times have changed since days when a boss would be a dinner guest or a gold watch was given to a thirty (30) year employee.

What Is Employment Law

Employment law applies to employment relationships without unionization as opposed to circumstances where an employment relationship involves unionization as is subject to labour law.

Generally, principles within the employment law realm will favour and benefit an employee rather than employer.  The laws general favouring of employees arises from the view that employees are more vulnerable throughout the employment relationship, including when seeking work, when negotiating raises, when subjected to discipline, and when terminated.  Essentially, the law presumes that employers possess a greater level of legal sophistication, a stronger bargaining position, and a greater financial capacity to participate within legal disputes.  Accordingly, the law provides various protections that attempt to balance the playing field to the benefit of employees.

Employment law involves both statute law, being the law established by government legislation as well as common law, being the law established by judicial precedent decisions.  The laws applicable to an employment relationship are many and include, among others:

• The Employment Standards Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, Chapter 41;
• The Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19;
• The Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1;
• The Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P.7;
• The Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, Chapter 16, Schedule A; and
• The tens of thousands of previous case decisions that constitute as the common law.

Representation

Help may be available to either employers or employees on a variety of issues and arising from a broad spectrum of employment environments including industrial, construction, professional, administrative, health care, retail, among other sectors.