Canada: Employer Rights And Obligations During The Election Period

The local provincial by-elections for the ridings of Kitchener-Waterloo and Vaughan are fast approaching.  Voting day is September 6th, 2012.  Employers of employees eligible to vote in those ridings must be aware of their rights and obligations under the Election Act of Ontario.

Employers who do not follow the rules set out in the Act may be charged with an offence and liable to fines of up to $5,000 per offence.
Do I need to give […]

By | September 5th, 2013 ||

United Kingdom: Key Employment Law Reforms

We have reported on the Government’s wide-ranging employment law reforms in recent bulletins.  Now that many of these reforms have come into force, amendments may need to be made to precedents, policies, and procedures.  By way of reminder, the key changes are listed below.

Changes in force from 25 June 2013

Removal of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal where the reason for the dismissal is the employee’s political opinions or affiliation.
Fundamental changes to whistleblowing legislation. […]

By | September 4th, 2013 ||

Zero-Hour Contracts – What’s All The Fuss About?

Can you imagine being an employer with a work force on-call, no overheads, no obligations to pay sick or holiday pay, being able to tell your employees when to work and if they don’t turn up, you simply don’t pay them?
Surely, this sounds like an employer’s dream?
Zero-hour contracts are typically drafted to maximise flexibility for the employee and the employer. Used appropriately, zero-hour contracts are an efficient way for employers to manage their staff […]

By | September 4th, 2013 ||