Canadian Employment and Labor Law

1. The employer’s statutory responsibility to the employee

   Often, the specific legal liability that an employer follows depends on the legal requirements of the province in which it is located. Therefore, the relevant laws of the relevant provinces should be considered when dealing with specific issues.

1.1 Employment Standards Legislation

The Canadian Employment Standards Act sets out the most basic conditions for employment, as well as federal and provincial and territorial laws. Employers and employees are not able to change such basic conditions by contract, but they can be contracted to list conditions that are more favorable to employees than the relevant legal provisions. Therefore, if the employment conditions listed in a document are inferior to those under the Employment Standards Act . The contract is invalid for the conditions of the employee.

The Employment Standards Act usually lists cancellation notices, wages, working hours, overtime pay, public holidays, paid vacations, and various sick leave. However, there are a number of exceptions for specific employees in the Employment Standards Regulations, such as exceptions for managers and professionals.

1.1.1 Dismissal

In most provinces of Canada, there are laws that provide basic rules for notices at the time of dismissal, and require advance notice or payment of cash instead of notice. If there is a large-scale dismissal (such as  more than 50 people), there are special regulations. In some provinces, in addition to the above provisions, it is also required to issue a dismissal fee in a specific situation.

In the event of an “unfair dismissal”, the employee is not dismissed for a legitimate reason and may be reinstated or compensated by the relevant department or court.

1.1.2 Minimum wage

The provinces have different rules for minimum wages for employees. Despite the implementation rules in some jurisdictions, there are lower minimum wage requirements for certain jobs and specific employees. There are also specific provisions in the Employment Standards Act for the payment methods for employees, the file records that should be provided to employees, and the documents for keeping wages paid.  

1.1.3 Vacations and holidays

In most provinces in Canada, employees are entitled to at least two weeks of paid leave each year for the first five years of employment, and wages during vacation should be equal to at least  4% of their annual salary . As the length of service increases, at least three weeks of paid leave are allowed each year, during which the salary is  6% of the annual salary . In addition, employees can enjoy a statutory holiday of  6  to  10 days per year , depending on the regulations of each province . If you work overtime on holidays, the holiday pay is  150% of the normal salary .

For More Information see some good Employment Lawyers in Toronto GTA area.