OBA Labour & Employment Law PROGRAM | Original Program Date: June 4, 2020

On May 29, 2020, the Ontario Government filed a new regulation that creates a new Infectious Disease Emergency Leave in Ontario with retroactive application (available here). Under this new leave:

• Employees are deemed to be on infectious disease emergency leave in certain circumstances
• Timelines for deemed terminations under the Employment Standards are altered
• The application of the termination and severance provisions of the Employment Standards Act are limited during COVID-19
• New limits on employee claims and new obligations on employers are created
• Provisions relating to constructive dismissal and their interpretation are created which might substantially affect rights

This regulation has significant implications for employers and employees in Ontario but it is a lot to piece together. Our expert faculty will discuss critical issues including how and when employers and employees can avail themselves of this new leave, how the leave provisions interact with the common law, how this new leave affects decisions that employers and employees have already made during COVID-19, and to what extent employers can confidently rely on these new provisions. Gain key insights from employer and employee side experts on what this new leave means for Ontario workplaces.

PROGRAM CHAIR

Andrew Monkhouse, Monkhouse Law

PROGRAM SPEAKERS

Laura Freitag, Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP
Jon Pinkus, Samfiru Tumarkin LLP