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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

The dads and don’ts of the workplace

This past Sunday was Father’s Day.  This made us wonder, how has the relationship between fathers and their children been reflected in employment law cases? After we reflected on the cases that immediately came to mind, and then rounded out the list with some research, it became clear that this very special relationship has served

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The new breed of “accidental entrepreneurs”

I was fascinated to read Leah Eichler’s article in the Globe and Mail this past weekend discussing the rise of a new breed of “accidental entrepreneurs”.  Unlike traditional entrepreneurs, who are motivated by a passion to solve a problem or turn a hobby into a paying job, the “accidental entrepreneur” has been spawned by the

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In defence of social media

These days, I find myself following legal issues involving social media with great interest and, occasionally, with considerable amusement and surprise. My interest isn’t driven entirely by my occupation, and the situations I have read about span far beyond the employment law niche in which I practice. Indeed, social media seems to have found its

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Employment law: April Fools’ Day edition (believe it or not!)

April 1st has for hundreds of years marked “April Fools’ Day”- the unofficial “holiday” on which the jesters and pranksters among us test their wit and creativity in staging practical jokes and hoaxes, large and small. Many of us have fond memories of youthful hijinks, and tricks played on us (and by us) in our

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Dumb Ways to Get Fired

Someone played the “Dumb Ways to Die” video for me recently. I know it sounds morbid, but it’s actually a very clever video produced as a public service announcement for Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia on train safety (check it out at http://dumbwaystodie.com/). It got me to thinking about the dumb ways that people manage

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Coming to a workplace near you this year – More older workers than very young ones

On Monday, an article in the Globe and Mail reported that composition of who is in the workplace has taken a symbolic turn.   On the paper’s front page, Demographics Reporter Joe Friesen, writes that “at some point this year, the number of 15-24 year olds will slip below the number of 55-64 year olds for

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My new job title: Toronto employment and “playbour” lawyer

As I read the paper this morning, I came across an unfamiliar term: “playbour”.  Apparently, this is the brainchild of the media theorist, Julian Kücklich, who coined the term as a result of the confusion between work and play, as facilitated by technology.  As anyone who has responded to a work e-mail from a child’s

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Employment insurance changes create new conditions for claimants

Employment Insurance (“EI”) benefits have provided temporary financial assistance to unemployed Canadians for decades. For most claimants, benefits are 55% of their weekly average insurable earnings, to a maximum of $485 per week. On January 6, 2013, several amendments affecting the availability of EI benefits came into effect. These amendments allow the government to differentiate

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