Your Rights on Medical Leave

Everyone gets sick at some time or another, and you shouldn’t have to be worrying about your job when you’re trying to get over a serious illness. That’s why Canadian law provides employment protection for workers on medical leave, and it’s important that you know your rights in what can be a stressful and difficult time.

Job Security

As a general rule, your employer can’t fire you for being off work because you’re sick or injured. That’s not the same as saying they have to pay you. Most employers provide a certain number of sick days per year, but this leave is often unpaid. Even if you have paid medical leave, it may run out before you’re well enough to return to work. If you’re suffering from a serious illness or disability, however, you may be entitled to Long Term Disability (LTD) benefits and sick pay through the federal Employment Insurance program.

Due to recent changes implemented by Bill 148 in Ontario, all employees are entitled to take up to 10 days of medical leave per year (Personal Emergency Leave). The first two of these days must be provided with pay if you have been employed for at least one week. Even if you require additional days, your employer can only refuse your request for sick leave in very limited circumstances. That’s because disability is a protected ground under both provincial and federal human rights legislation and cannot be used as a reason for termination.

Long-term Absence

If you’re off work for several weeks or months due to illness or injury, your employer has a duty to accommodate you. That usually includes holding your job for you until you’re ready to return, although they may hire someone to take your place while you’re away.

There are certain limited exceptions to this rule. First, your employer could claim undue hardship. This is very difficult to argue as it means the company would suffer irreparable harm if they had to accommodate your medical leave. Some employers also try to claim that terminating your employment had nothing to do with your illness or disability. If that’s the case, they will have to prove that they had adequate reason to fire you before you got sick or injured.

If your employment is terminated because you’re on medical leave, you should consider pursuing a claim for wrongful dismissal.  It will be up to your employer to prove that your termination wasn’t based on your disability or that they have the necessary grounds to bypass their duty to accommodate.

Return to Work

The employer’s duty to accommodate extends to the terms and conditions under which you can return to work once you’re able. If your doctor recommends “light duties” or a graduated return of two or three days a week, your employer must comply with the absolute best of their abilities. Again, they can only refuse if the accommodation would cause the company undue hardship, either regarding financial loss or work disruption.

Documentation and Proofs

If you take days off based on Personal Emergency Leave in Ontario, your employer isn’t allowed to ask for a doctor’s note except in the limited circumstances defined by the Employment Standards Act. If you’re away for a more extended period of medical leave, your employer is entitled to verify that your absence is legitimate. This means they can ask your doctor to confirm that you are unable to work, but they don’t have a right to know the specifics of your illness or diagnosis. Similarly, they can ask for an estimate of when you would be able to return to work and any conditions that might attach (like reduced hours), but not the specific reasons for those limitations.

If you’re having difficulty applying for LTD or have been terminated while on medical leave, we strongly advise you to seek the assistance of a knowledgeable legal professional. An employer’s duty to accommodate is powerful protection for employees who are off work due to a debilitating injury or serious illness.

The post Your Rights on Medical Leave appeared first on Soni Law.

source http://sonilaw.ca/2018/08/15/rights-medical-leave/

Calculating Overtime Payments in Ontario

Overtime is a premium pay that compensates employees for working more than 44 hours a week. In Ontario, the rules regarding the payment of overtime can be found in the Employment Standards Act (2000). These rules do not apply to federally regulated industries, like, banks or airlines, and there are exemptions for certain other kinds of work. For the most part, however, employees must receive 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked that exceed the threshold of 44 hours of work on a weekly basis.

If an employee has an employment contract that sets out the number of hours to be worked every week, overtime pay is due for every hour worked in excess beyond the threshold. For example, an employee with a contract for a 40-hour work week will receive 1.5 times their usual rate of pay for every extra hour he or she works over 40 hours.

Managers and Supervisors

Managers and supervisors are not covered by the overtime rules, but there are very strict definitions concerning who qualifies as a “manager.” In order to be exempted, the worker must perform exclusively managerial or supervisory duties and only do other work on an exceptional basis. Even if the employee is only required to do non-supervisory work for one hour a day, the position cannot be excluded from overtime as that work is performed regularly. For instance, the store manager who also works at the counter over the lunch hour every day would be entitled to overtime if they worked for more than 44 hours in a week.

Salaried Employees

Calculating the “usual rate of pay” depends on whether the employee works a fixed number of hours a week. If an employee is paid a fixed amount every year but has fluctuating work hours, overtime would be payable after 44 hours. Divide the annual salary by the number of pay periods to ascertain their weekly salary, then divide that number by 44 to arrive at their hourly rate of pay. The employee is entitled to 1.5 times this amount for every hour worked in excess of 44 hours in a week.

If an employee has a usual work week of under 44 hours, they receive their normal hourly rate for all hours worked up to 44 (on top of their regular pay), then a 1.5 rate of pay for anything in excess of 44 hours.

Commissions and Multiple Rates of Pay

If an employee earns a combination of wages and commission, the commission portion must be included in calculating the overtime rate. Add together the total amount of wages and commissions that the employee earned for the first 44 hours in the week. Divide that amount by 44 to ascertain their hourly salary for the purpose of calculating overtime.

Some employees earn different rates of pay for doing different jobs. Their overtime payment must be based on the job they were doing while performing the overtime. For example, if an employee makes $14 an hour as a cashier and $12 an hour stocking shelves, they must be paid $14 x 1.5 for every hour of overtime if they were working as a cashier for at least 50% of the overtime hours.

Finally, overtime may be banked as time off in lieu of payment if both the employer and employee agree to this arrangement in writing. In such cases, the employee would receive one and a half hours of paid time off for every hour of overtime worked. The time must be taken within three months of the week in which it was earned, or within 12 months if the employee agrees in writing to this extension.

Contact us today, for any question, clarification about your work rights.

The post Calculating Overtime Payments in Ontario appeared first on Soni Law.

source http://sonilaw.ca/2018/06/22/calculating-overtime-payments-ontario/

How Would Ontario’s Proposed “Pay Transparency” Bill Effect Employers and Employees?

Drawing from examples of laws implemented in Iceland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia, proposed legislation in Ontario—referred to as the “pay transparency” bill—aims to end wage inequality between men and women in the province. Laws prohibiting wage discrimination have been in place since the 1950s, yet a significant pay gap between men and women, with estimates as a high as 29 percent in some sectors, persists in Ontario.

The new bill would require large companies to track information regarding compensation gaps between genders, as well as other characteristics of diversity. The companies would then be required to disclose this information to the province.

Under the “pay transparency” bill, salary rate or range must be included on all publicly advertised job announcements. In addition, employers may not ask job applicants about their past compensation and employers are prohibited from taking any adverse action against employees for disclosing or discussing compensation.

If passed, the new law will first apply to public employers before extending to private employers with 500 or more employees, and eventually private employers with 250 or more employees.

Key Takeaways for Employers

With the introduction of any new employment law, it is important to take proactive steps to ensure full compliance across company policies, procedures, systems, and trainings. If the new “pay transparency” bill is passed, employers with 250 or more employees should:

• Revise policies and procedures within human resources department to ensure compliance with job announcement requirements.
• Implement a system for tracking employee compensation packages to reflect characteristics of gender and other diversity characteristics to ensure compliance with tracking and reporting requirements under the new law.
• Track forms of compensation other than wages, such as stock options and other perks, to ensure equality of compensation packages as a whole.
• Develop or revise internal ethics policies to prohibit any retaliatory or adverse employment action in response to employee disclosure or discussion of compensation.
• Develop and implement company-wide training on the requirements of the new “pay transparency” bill, as well as the new policies and procedures implemented within the company to ensure compliance.
• Include training sessions for managers and human resources regarding their responsibilities under the new law, as well as employee-wide training to educate employees about their rights.

 

Key Takeaways for Employees 

As an employee in the Province of Ontario, this new legislation—if passed—will expand your rights in the workplace and, hopefully, accomplish its goal of narrowing and eliminating the wage gap between men and women in the workplace. Under the “pay transparency” bill:

• You are entitled to information on salary rate or range as a job applicant.
• When interviewing for a new job, your prospective employer is not allowed to ask you about your salary history with former employers.
• Although, through the tracking and reporting requirement, the new law creates an enforcement mechanism for existing anti-discrimination laws, you are still able to report wage discrimination in your workplace.
• Your employer may not prohibit you from discussing compensation with your co-workers or disclosing your salary and compensation package to anyone.

The post How Would Ontario’s Proposed “Pay Transparency” Bill Effect Employers and Employees? appeared first on Soni Law.

source http://sonilaw.ca/2018/03/12/ontarios-proposed-pay-transparency-bill-effect-employers-employees/