• Are employees entitled to work remotely and for how much of the work week? Who has the last word in determining whether employees must attend the workplace or work remotely? The employee or the employer?
• What restrictions apply to an employer’s ability to lay off employees? How are employees’ entitlements on termination be impacted if they are let go due to large-scale downsizing or restructuring, whether for economic reasons or as a result of technological change such as adoption of artificial intelligence?
• What words or phrasing invalidate a termination clause in an employment contract? Will stating that an employer can terminate an employee without cause “at any time” render a termination clause unenforceable? What trends are emerging in terms of how courts in different provinces approach such clauses?
• What types of conduct have recently been found to constitute “just cause”? When can employers successfully rely on “after-acquired cause”?
• When terms of termination are not set out in a contract, how much notice or pay in lieu thereof will be considered reasonable? What factors do courts now take into account?
• How do courts determine whether employers have met the duty to mitigate their damages by seeking other employment?
• What factors have prompted courts to award aggravated/moral or punitive damages for an employer’s conduct when terminating an individual’s employment? When may a party’s conduct during litigation warrant an award of damages?

The webinar and materials will also address the latest legislative and regulatory changes, such as:

• New and amended leave entitlements;
• Increasing restrictions on employers’ entitlements to medical notes in support of certain short-term statutory leave requests; and
• Recent employment standards changes introduced through Ontario’s Working for Workers legislative series.

Topics will be finalized in the weeks prior to the webinar, ensuring coverage of the latest and most important developments in a changing legal landscape.