Employment Law: Employees

For many of us, the workplace is of central importance. It is not just a place to earn money, but the world in which many of us spend most of our waking hours. When something goes wrong at work, or we lose a job, it can affect every aspect of our lives.

The employment lawyers at Vice & Hunter LLP have extensive experience dealing with workplace issues. We understand how problems at work and job loss can profoundly affect our clients’ lives.

We also understand Ontario employment law and its many intricate details. A wide variety of laws interact to define your rights and responsibilities as an employee or independent contractor, and familiarity with them is essential to ensuring that your rights are respected.

Standing With Employees

Our lawyers can help you deal with:

• Employment agreements: Understanding your contract helps you understand your rights and responsibilities as an employee. Where possible, we can help you negotiate for a contract that will be advantageous to you and protect your rights.
• Independent contracts: In many businesses today, many workers are technically not employees at all, but are considered independent contractors. This can have many advantages for both employers and workers, but may also leave an independent contractor vulnerable to exploitation, especially when it comes to dismissal. If you are a current or former independent contractor, and feel that your rights as a worker have been diminished because of your status as an independent contractor, talk to us.
• Wages and hours: The Employment Standards Act (ESA) governs minimum wage, overtime pay, breaks and hoursworked. However, many employers routinely violate this law. If you have experienced an illegal workplace practice that violates the ESA, contact our firm.
• Work environment: Every worker has the right to work in an environment free of harassment, sexual harassment, violence and age, gender, and disability-based discrimination. Basic requirements for safe, healthy workplaces are encoded into various provincial and federal laws to protect your safety, wages and other aspects of your work.
• Job loss: If you have been dismissed, fired, or driven to resign from your job, you have a number of rights in terms of being given sufficient notice and compensation. We can help make sure your rights are respected, and get suitable compensation from your employer.

Although most matters we see can be settled through negotiation or mediation, if going to court is necessary to defend your position, we will advance a claim on your behalf or defend you against an employer’s claim. We also help executive and senior level management dismissals, as well as unjust dismissals for non-unionized government employees.

Contact Vice & Hunter LLP

Call our employment lawyers at 613-232-5773 or 866-252-0670 toll-free or fill out our online form below. We represent employees and independent contractors in Ottawa and nearby areas of Ontario.