by Katie Clayton and Farrah Sunderani

In today’s economy it’s become commonplace for employers to terminate large numbers of employees at one time. Depending on the number of employees being terminated, an employer may fall under federal or provincial group termination provisions designed to protect employees and the local economy from an influx of terminated individuals re-entering the workforce. As such, it’s important employers be aware of the obligations they are under in order to protect themselves against, at times, hefty consequences.

Federal legislation
Employers operating in federally regulated industries are subject to the Canada Labour Code, which contains specific requirements in the event of a group termination in Division IX, Part III and the associated regulations. These define a group termination as a termination of 50 or more employees in the same establishment within a four- week period. In such a case, the employer must provide the Minister of Labour with 16 weeks’ notice in writing of the pending terminations under Section 212. The notice of group terminations is separate and apart from the notice entitlement for each individual employee. The group termination notice itself must contain the following information: read more…

by Ingrid Anton and Gilda Villaran

In order to work in Canada, the general rule requires a foreign worker to obtain a work permit. There are certain exceptions to this rule. We present below the most common ones. Although some of the activities described below are normally considered “work” for immigration purposes, Canada’s immigration regulations allow foreigners carrying out these activities to enter the country as business visitors.

After-sales services
A U.S. citizen may enter Canada to perform/supervise installation, repair, or servicing of commercial/industrial equipment, machinery, or software. These goods must have been manufactured outside of Canada and sold or leased to a Canadian company by the U.S. citizen’s U.S. employer. This work permit exemption also applies if the employee will provide training to Canadian workers in connection with these services (see below, trainers). “Installation” means only setting up or testing. It doesn’t include hands-on installation such as would be performed by an electrician or pipe-fitter, for example.

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by Stephen Acker and Christopher Ferguson

Letters of reference are understandably important to employees. For many employees, they are considered essential rather than a hopeful add-on to an application. A glowing letter of reference from a trusted source can sometimes tip the balance and lead to a hire. A bad or withheld letter, or one that raises questions, can have the opposite effect and even dog a job-seeker for years. A worthwhile recommendation, then, can be among the most valuable parting gifts an employer can give an employee.

Except, of course, that a letter of reference is often no gift. In many circumstances, it is an employee’s common law right.

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By Alix Herber and Ian Campbell

One of the hottest issues in Canadian employment law in the past two years has been overtime class-action claims. As we outlined in our October 7, 2008, entry, 2007 saw three overtime class-action lawsuits

• a $651 million class-action lawsuit filed against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), followed quickly by a $20 million class action against KPMG,
• and then a $350 million class action against a second major Canadian Bank, Scotiabank. Further class actions were filed in 2008 – against CN Railway in March 2008 for $250 million,
• and another against CIBC (this time by the investment bankers and analysts) in October 2008 for $360 million.

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