A Power of Attorney for Personal Care (“POA”) is a legal document in which an individual can specify who has authority to make care decisions on his or her behalf in the event that person becomes mentally incapable of doing ...

The Ontario Human Rights Code recognizes and protects employees against discrimination on the basis of “family status”.  Traditionally, employees have requested accommodation on the basis of family status relating to obligations associated with child care; however, as the population of ...

The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) is the primary piece of legislation governing Ontario’s workplaces.  It establishes minimum standards with respect to hours of work, overtime, vacation, public holidays, wages, leaves of absence, layoffs, terminations, severance, and other work-related issues.  ...

Do you provide your professional medical services directly to a health care institution rather than through a corporation you control? If you do, you may be paying more taxes than you have to. Generally, you can save on taxes if ...

Social media has connected the world and provided us with instant access to information in a way that no other innovation has. Most enlightened employers, recognizing the benefits of social media (and that it is not going away), now endorse ...

Family emergencies can impose urgent and important responsibilities on us at any time. When you have to take time off work to help a relative or deal with a personal emergency, how does the law protect your job and your ...

In an environment where sensitive personal information can be accessed easily, such as in a hospital, invasion of privacy is a concern for employers, employees and the public. The amount of personal information available within the hospital setting, whether about ...

It has now been over a year since Bill 168, the Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) came into force.  So far, there have not been any reported prosecutions dealing with workplace violence or ...

A recent article in the Globe and Mail described how Canadians spend on average approximately 43.5 hours a month on the Web, which is, almost twice the worldwide average of 23.1 hours. With numbers this high, hospitals have to wonder: ...

Class actions would appear poorly suited to conventional medical malpractice litigation as individual issues invariably dominate.  Nevertheless it would be a mistake to believe that hospitals are immune from these proceedings.  Infection claims and claims challenging physician competence are being ...