Cross-Border Employment Laws in the USA and Canada

This Guidebook was created via considerable collaboration with U.S. clients, their attorneys, general counsel, and HR department officials. This document addresses frequently asked issues concerning Canadian employment legislation. The Guidebook includes cross-references to valuable material available on our website. McCarthy Tétrault is a national labor and employment law practice with offices in Canada's major commercial centers, New York, and London, UK. We offer legal guidance on complicated challenges faced by employers in Canada. This guidebook offers general information on Canada's labor and employment legislation. This Guidebook does not offer legal advice for particular circumstances. Please seek legal counsel if you need assistance with a specific issue or concern.Welcome to McCarthy Tétrault! We are Canada's leading labor and employment legal practice.

With a wide collection of labor and employment attorneys in Canada's leading Our attorneys have experience with employee, workplace, and HR concerns in commercial centers, New York, and London, U.K. This Guidebook is a joint effort and deals with the concerns we discuss in our Every day, we serve clients across the United States. We structured the information based on what you may require consultation, whether it is a high-level overview or a thorough account of how Canadian law addresses a specific topic. Our cross-border competence comes from decades of collaboration among our attorneys and U.S. businesses.

We retain strong professional contacts through a network of colleagues

and active participation in business organizations such as the American Bar Association. McCarthy Tétrault is recognized as Band 1 in the field of employment and labor by Chambers Canada 2022 and Chambers Canada 2021.McCarthy Tétrault is one of the leading labor and employment law firms in Canada. Offering a broad spectrum of guidance to US clients, including cross-border presence on local labor, Employment and Human Resources Issues: employment contracts, including severance, punishment, termination-at-will, and compensation Equity, overtime exemptions, pension, and benefits. Collective bargaining. Employment norms, human rights, workplace health and safety; employee concerns, including harassment complaints, confidentiality, and access to Information, mediation, and conciliation.

Although U.S. and Canadian employment regulations are similar, there are specific legislative concerns for managing the Canadian workplace. Given the breadth, Complexity of legislative, regulatory, and common law restrictions that impact employment We engage with our U.S.

clients and provide early adviseOur labor and employment attorneys are well-versed in the nuances that distinguish Legislation, business practices, and human resource policy from the United States and Canada. We aid them. US customers in: Understanding Canadian federal and provincial labor legislation. implementing Canadian corporate procedures and employment; guidance for issues, such as as accommodating sick or disabled employees. Canadianization of employee handbooks. Examining human resource processes, such as alcohol and drug testing rules. Ensure regulatory compliance with pay and other employment matters; Unions and labor legal advice, namely union avoidance. We hope that our Guidebook will assist you navigate Canadian employment law. to prevent expensiveMistakes and stumbles.

Happy reading!In Canada, almost 95% of the workforce is regulated. By provincial administrations. Each province governs labor, Employment issues are handled similarly, but not identically. The The remaining 5% of the workforce is federally controlled. Unlike Employers in the United States have no National Labor Relations. The board governs the whole country's unionized workforce. Likewise, Hours of employment and overtime are controlled (95 percent of the The provincial administration of the province where the The individual is truly employed. The importance of this distinction between Canada and the United States that if your company has several sites in Canada, then each set of HR regulations, employment agreements, etc. have to be assessed in light of the legislation specific to that jurisdiction. There are significant variations about how identical governmental institutions Each province approaches the same challenges (for example, Human rights tribunals may address age discrimination issues. varies depending on whether the complaint started in Alberta Or in Ontario).

There are no rules in Canada, and employees cannot opt out of Joining a union or paying union dues is a prerequisite of employment.The employer is required to offer adequate warning or pay In lieu of notice

In practice, it may be difficult to show the legal justification to fire an employee, resulting more frequently. More often than not, the Canadian employer provides a severance. package to employees (whether for a facility shutdown or job) Performance issues, etc.). In several Canadian jurisdictions, particularly the federal jurisdiction, Québec and Nova Scotia, specific staff who have achieved specific thresholds of years. Service may not be terminated without reasonable cause. As such jurisdictions may provide notice or pay in lieu of notice. not be sufficient to terminate the employment relationship, A qualified employee may be able to claim the right to be reinstated in his or her position based on the The circumstances behind his or her terminationIn Canada, an employer can constructively fire an employee if it affects the essential terms of the employment connection without the employee's permission. A loss in compensation, reduction in hours, and relocation

Employees are instances of what may be constructive. dismissal. Because there is no termination-at-will. In Canada, constructive dismissal can be comparable to really dismiss an employee, and therefore trigger the The duty to pay a hefty severance package (or Even the right to be reinstated in some areas). This In contrast with the United States, where positive Dismissal is also known as constructive discharge. Generally made out in significantly restricted conditions, For example, if working conditions are considered as Intolerable to a reasonable person.In Canada, determining whether an employee is overtime exempt controlled by the relevant jurisdiction's employment Standardization law. Generally speaking, unlike in In the United States, employers and employees cannot Establish a policy or sign a contract to decide if overtime is due. In Canada, save for the Employee works in a supervisory/managerial position. or is in an exempted occupation (i.e., in specific provinces).

If you are an accountant, engineer, or another exempt category, then The employer must pay overtime for all hours worked in. exceeds the statutory threshold.

In the United States, employers are forbidden from discriminating activities unless they fulfill certain criteria. strong bona fide occupational requirements (BFOR)

standard. In Canada, employers must accommodate Disabled employee. Nevertheless, the degree of accommodation is to the "point of undue hardship." The standard will vary. Depending on the employee's impairment and the extent of the employer's activities. Unlike in the United States, employers may have a low financial barrier before releasing the legal In Canada, there is no required compliance. requirements. Each case is evaluated on its own merit. Human rights commissions expect major employers to Consider the use of adaptive technologies or reassignment. of job responsibilities among workers to evaluate if all Solutions, short of extreme suffering, are explored before Exempting an employer from their human rights obligations to accommodate a handicapped worker. Furthermore, workplace privacy has become an important legislative compliance.

Matters in Canada. Workplaces in British Columbia and Alberta. Quebec and nationally regulated employers must comply. with rigorous regulations for collecting and usage and sharing of employee personal information. In Canada. Unlike the United States, privacy regulation governs practically every element. Employee privacy and data collection in workplaces, Not, for example, merely employee medical records. Some privacy commissions Some privacy commissions investigated whether the Using a "GPS" in employer-owned cars is reasonable. The collecting of information on an employee's driving habits. Similarly, the utilization of video and audio surveillance systems has also garnered the attention of privacy commissions. Same rationale.