Workers’ Action Centre Launches “Stop Wage Theft” Campaign

On Friday May 13th, 2011, the Workers’ Action Centre, worker-based organization committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people working in low-wage and unstable employment, will be launching its provincial “Stop Wage Theft” Campaign.

The campaign is directed at pressuring the government to protect workers by prohibiting employers from “stealing” wages through non-payment of regular or overtime wages, from charging fees for job training and from characterizing employees as “independent contractors” or “self employed” when, in fact, workers are employees of the particular employer!

Indeed, many companies, especially in the construction, cleaning and door-to-door sales industries, will falsely describe employees as “independent contractors” in order to deprive them of the many protections owed under Canadian labour legislation including minimum wage, overtime and Employment Insurance

This initiative by the Workers’ Action Centre is consistent with similar campaigns launched in the United States, where many states have, in response to public and political pressure to crack down on “bad employers”, enacted Wage Theft laws.

The Stop Wage Theft Campaign Calls on the Provincial Government to…

• Make all employers follow the law in all workplaces
• Update labour laws to protect all workers
• Increase the minimum wage to bring workers out of poverty
• Ensure equal status and protection for all workers regardless of immigration status
• Fix Employment Insurance

You can get more information on the Workers’ Action Centre, obtain employment information - including free pamphlets outlining your workplace rights - and join the Stop Wage Theft Campaign.

If you wish to report an instance of “Wage Theft” in your workplace, call the WAC hotline at (416) 531-0778.

How what you do outside the office can get you fired

How you behave when you’re not at work has an impact, especially in these days of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. And while your behaviour may not be as questionable as the Quebec teacher who was dismissed after it was discovered she moonlighted as a porn star, conduct outside the office can have negative results.

Employees who believe that their conduct away from the office is immune from discipline are mistaken, says workplace lawyer Daniel Lublin. “Behaviour unrelated to the workplace but which nonetheless injures an employer’s interests can amount to cause for dismissal,” he says.

Read more on the Toronto Star

Decision Awards $200,000 to Wrongfully Dismissed Cancer Patient

The decision came out last month and Ms. Altman won a sweeping victory. The judge awarded her 22 months salary, a host of other payments and tacked on $55,000 in “moral” and punitive damages, bringing the total above $200,000. Steve's isn't appealing and a company official declined comment.

Click here to read the full article on the Globe and Mail

Employee fired for cause still gets $25,000

From Moneyville.ca:

In an unusual case, a court awarded a big chunk of cash to a man who was fired for being persistently late for work and making defective airplane parts. This decision highlights the difference in the common law and statutory definitions of "just cause" for termination.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Haines ruled that although Stephanus Oosterbosch was fired for good reasons, he was entitled to both termination and severance pay under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) of over $25,000 in total.

Click here to read more.

Migrant workers getting help

Local migrant workers could harvest some workplace improvements if an area legal agency has its way.

The Community Advocacy and Legal Clinic (CALC) has arranged with the Law Commission of Ontario to hold two consultations — one with service providers such as the Quinte United Immigrant Services and Hastings County Ontario Works and the other with vulnerable workers — to discuss the nuances of labour law and the enforcement of those laws might be improved to help workers who are vulnerable due to economic status, income level, gender, age and disability.

The closed consultation sessions began Wednesday. The sessions are aimed at providing input to the law commission to help tighten some sections and even loopholes in labour law as it pertains to vulnerable employees such as migrant workers.

Read the full story: Intelligencer

Read more about the Vulnerable Workers project from the Law Commission of Ontario

Ontario court rules personal files on work computers private

The Ontario Court of Appeal has recognized a right to privacy in the personal information Canadians store on work-issued computers.

In a 3-0 ruling Tuesday, the court said a Sudbury high school teacher charged with having nude photos of a Grade 10 student on a laptop issued by the school board had a right to expect his personal files on the computer’s hard drive would remain private.

Read the case R. v. Cole 2011 ONCA 218

See the full article on the Toronto Star

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board Basics Webinar

This webinar gives community service providers an overview of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) structure and terminology. The webinar will cover the life cycle of a workers' compensation claim.

Click here to view and listen to the webinar on CLEONet.

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