Publications & Presentations

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Working for Workers Act : Reminders for 2023

Peter C. Straszynski First of all, we would like to wish all of our clients and friends a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

Jan 18, 2023

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Refusal to Vaccinate: Disentitlement to EI Benefits and “Just Cause”

Peter C. Straszynski In past articles, we have addressed an employer’s right to introduce mandatory vaccination policies in the workplace. The introduction of such a polic...

Oct 22, 2021

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Ontario Human Rights Commission on Vaccination Exemptions: “Personal Preferences” and “Singular Beliefs” Against Vaccination not Protected by Human Rights Legislation

Peter C. Straszynski In past articles, we have emphasized that mandatory vaccination policies in the workplace are generally permissible, subject to legitimate objections ...

Sep 22, 2021

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Open Toronto Businesses Must Have a COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

Peter C. Straszynski Many of our clients have been inquiring about the implementation of workplace vaccination policies.

Aug 27, 2021

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Mandatory Vaccination and Your Workplace

Peter C. Straszynski With the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine well underway, many Canadian employers are thinking about introducing vaccination policies into their wo...

Aug 24, 2021

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Infectious Disease Emergency Leave and Wrongful Dismissal

Peter C. Straszynski Ontario employees on temporary layoff (or on reduced hours) due to COVID-19 are currently deemed to be on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) ...

May 3, 2021

Article

The Value of Written Employment Contracts: Risk and Reward

Peter C. Straszynski Business of Cannabis Whether you are a start-up or a well-established enterprise, and whether you are hiring your first or your hundredth employee, written employment cont...

Apr 6, 2021

Presentation

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery After Training: The Challenges

Peter C. Straszynski Speaker, U of T faculty of dentistry

Jun 5, 2020

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

COVID-19 and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”)

Peter C. Straszynski On March 24, 2020, the Canadian Government passed Bill C-13, introducing (among other measures in response to COVID-19) the new Canada Emergency Respo...

Mar 26, 2020

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

COVID-19 Update: Quarantine and EI Benefits

Peter C. Straszynski The Federal Government has taken steps to change the Employment Insurance (“EI”) rules for those employees who are required to self-quarantine on acco...

Mar 16, 2020

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)

COVID-19 and the Workplace: FAQ

Peter C. Straszynski Employers are increasingly facing questions and decisions surrounding the possibility of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) affecting their workplace.

Mar 5, 2020

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Is it Time to Update Your Employment Contracts?

Peter C. Straszynski For Canadian employers, one of the most important purposes of written employment contracts is to lawfully limit the amount of notice or compensation t...

Feb 3, 2020

Article

Workplace Policies That All Businesses Need

Peter C. Straszynski and Shreya Patel Ontario employers are required by law to have certain workplace policies in place at work.

Jan 17, 2020

Accommodating Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals in the Workplace

Shreya Patel and Peter C. Straszynski E-Alert The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (“AODA”) applies to all employers in Ontario. The AODA and its regulation...

Oct 31, 2019

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Enforcing Restrictive Covenants: The StressCrete Case

Peter C. Straszynski Torkin Manes LegalPoint In Canada, restrictive covenants in employment agreements can be very difficult to enforce, particularly by way of injunctive relief. This is often be...

May 14, 2019

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

Medical Cannabis and Safety Sensitive Work

Peter C. Straszynski Provincial and Federal Human Rights legislation requires that an employer accommodate an employee's medical condition to the point of "undue hardship"...

May 3, 2019

Presentation

Whitby Chamber of Commerce

Peter C. Straszynski Speaker, LEARN Series: Cannabis

Nov 28, 2018

Presentation

Society of Design Administration (“SDA”)

Peter C. Straszynski Speaker, “Cannabis and Your Workplace”

Nov 21, 2018

Torkin Manes LegalPoint

New Signs Required To Be Posted At Your Workplace Are Now Available

Peter C. Straszynski and Shreya Patel Torkin Manes LegalPoint The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017, requires employers and proprietors to post mandatory signs relating to the prohibitions on smoking and vaping in a c...

Oct 31, 2018

Presentation