New Brunswick’s new unclaimed property regime, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2022 and is the fourth such provincial regime in Canada, will finally allow defined benefit pension plan sponsors with unlocatable or missing members to fully windup their plans. The governing legislation, the Unclaimed Property Act, received Royal Assent in March 2021, but […]
A Federal Court of Appeal ruling will make it very difficult for executives and employees to treat share transfers from their companies as capital gains rather than income. The decision involved Kitchener, Ont.-based D2L Corp., whose intention was to distribute appreciated shares of the company, held in a trust, to various employees. In turn, the […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned a Superior Court decision that allowed an employee to receive his stock option awards throughout his 24 months of reasonable notice on the grounds that the employer had failed to provide adequate notice of termination. “The decision gives important guidance to employers about what will be appropriate in […]
Although Manitoba’s Pension Amendments Act takes effect on Oct. 1, pension plan sponsors are disappointed that the provisions allowing them to use reserve accounts to fund solvency deficiencies have been excluded from the proclamation. “The government has not indicated when the reserve account provisions will come into effect and sponsors are anxious because they would […]
Ontario’s Divisional Court is affirming employees’ right to sue for wrongful and constructive dismissal in the civil courts in cases of chronic mental stress arising from workplace harassment. “That’s important because workplace compensation claims by employees suffering from mental stress as a result of harassment might increase an employer’s premiums slightly, but not nearly as […]
A recent Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision illustrates the importance of clear communications from pension administrators seeking to avoid liability from lawsuits by claimants alleging they’re entitled to a plan member’s death benefits. “What it comes down to is that employers and pension plans that want to avoid lawsuits from plan members claiming to be […]
A trio of conflicting decisions from Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice has left employers confused about a possible onslaught of wrongful dismissal lawsuits stemming from temporary layoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic. The confusion arises because judges have come to different conclusions about Ontario’s infectious disease emergency leave regulation, which provides that temporary layoffs in […]
An arbitration clause that doesn’t explicitly prohibit a terminated employee from making a complaint to the Ministry of Labour doesn’t offend employment standards legislation, the Ontario Superior Court has ruled. “The ruling will give comfort to employers that Ontario courts will enforce arbitration clauses,” says David Vaillancourt of Toronto’s AGM LLP, who represented Dealnet Capital […]
The federal government’s recent budget confirmed its intention to proceed with the new stock option regime previously announced in its November 30, 2020, economic statement — meaning the proposed changes will likely come into force on July 1, as planned. As currently drafted, the changes impose an annual cap of $200,000 on employee stock options […]
Arbitrator Dana Randall has ruled that unilaterally-imposed, bi-weekly testing for the novel coronavirus at a Woodstock, Ont., unionized retirement home is reasonable when weighed against the need to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “The decision tells us that, in this particular environment, mandatory COVID-19 testing is a reasonable exercise of management right given the […]