Employment Law Assignment 1 (ESA application) Winter 2019 PDF

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I had George teach this course....

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THE SHERIDAN COLLEGE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED LEARNING COURSE: EVALUATION: DATE:

LAWS20009 – Employment Law for Paralegals Assignment #1 – Employment Standards Act, 2000 Claim (15%) Winter 2019

Professor:

Hand out: Week 2

Submission method:

Due: Week 4 – within the first 30 minutes of class. Late assignments will be penalized 10% per day (including weekends and holidays) to a maximum of 5 days at which time the student will receive a grade of zero.

Students to submit hard copy in class or my assignment box in the hallway opposite H150.

Assignment Description: 1.

The Rationale:

The object of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to analyze a fact situation relating to rights under the Employment Standards Act, 2000, answer questions and complete a Ministry of Labour employment standards claim form. 2.

Fact Situation:

Malcolm Costa has come to see you (a licensed paralegal) about an employment matter. He is 29 years old. Malcolm started working for ARM Publishing Co. full time on June 1, 2011. ARM is a small non-unionized publishing company employing only 6 people. Malcolm worked 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a 30 minute unpaid lunch break Mondays to Fridays. On Friday June 15, 2018 at 5:45 p.m. just as he was packing up to leave the owner and President of the company, Marvin Marlo, told Malcolm that he had to let him go as business was very slow. He said he would pay him all his outstanding wages on the next regular pay day which was Friday June 22, 2018 (he was always paid by direct deposit to his bank account every other Friday). Malcolm had been earning $26.75 per hour. Marvin also told Malcolm that he would send him his Record of Employment (which he needs to claim federal employment insurance benefits). The news came as a complete surprise to Malcolm and he was very upset and left without asking Marvin anything.

On June 22 Malcolm discovered that his pay had not been deposited as Marvin had promised. He immediately called Marvin at ARM (905-555-1212) but was unable to speak with him. He left a detailed voice mail message asking Marvin about his outstanding wages. He also wondered if he would be getting any kind of package. Malcolm left his home and cell phone numbers and asked Marvin to call him as soon as possible. As Malcolm did not hear back, he called Marvin on Monday June 25, 2018. Marvin answered the phone and again, Malcolm asked about the unpaid wages. Marvin promised him the money would be deposited by the end of that day. On Tuesday June 26, Malcolm checked his account but the money still had not been deposited. He called Marvin a third time but was unable to reach him. He left another detailed voice mail message asking about his outstanding pay. Malcolm doesn’t know what to do about getting his money. Malcolm tells you he is owed wages for the pay periods May 28 – June 8, 2018 and June 11 – June 22, 2018. He always received 4% vacation pay on each paycheque which he is also owed for the two week

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period. He is very upset about not receiving his pay but doesn’t know what to do. Malcolm is relying on you to advise him through the process and complete any necessary paperwork on his behalf. He doesn’t have an employment contract but has been able to bring in some paperwork including the last pay stub he had received before he was let go, his T4 from taxation years 2016 and 2017 and his personal calendar listing the hours he worked during the 2 week period. Malcolm also mentions that about a month ago, Marvin had deducted $125.00 from his paycheque because of a production mistake. He asks you whether or not Marvin was allowed to do that and if anything could be done to get the money back. Malcolm Costa lives at Unit 12, 4829 Civic Circle, Brampton, Ontario L1L 2M2, telephone (905) 555-1313, email [email protected]. ARM is located at 2049 Main Street, Mississauga, Ontario L2L 2N2, telephone (905) 555-1212, cell (905) 555-2222. Marvin Marlo is the sole owner and president of ARM. His e-mail address is [email protected]. The company’s website is www.ARM.ca. The store is still open. Questions 1.

Does the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) apply to Malcolm? Are there any reasons why Malcolm would not be entitled to file a claim? Give reasons for your answer and cite the applicable statutory provision(s). 2. Is there any time limitation within which Malcolm should submit his claim to the Ministry of Labour (MOL) in order to receive any money owed to him? What is the latest date that Malcolm should submit a claim? Cite the applicable statutory provision. 3.

Go to the Ministry of Labour website at www.labour.gov.on.ca and locate the claim form. The MOL Claim Guide can provide guidance on properly completing the form. Prepare a claim on Malcolm’s behalf. The document must be typed (not handwritten) and printed single-sided. If there is any information that has not been provided in the facts above but you believe is necessary to complete the form correctly, highlight it in yellow. ONLY highlight the information you would need for Malcolm’s situation. Do not highlight fields on the form that do not apply to Malcolm. Marks will be deducted if irrelevant fields are highlighted. 4. What orders or notices might an Employment Standards Officer (ESO) issue in this matter once a contravention of the Act is found to have occurred? Describe two and cite the statutory references in your answer. 5. While investigating Malcolm’s claim, the ESO discovers that the personnel records Marvin kept were not in compliance with the ESA. The ESO issues a Notice of Contravention to ARM. (a) (b)

What section of the ESA has ARM violated? What is the penalty relating to a violation of the ESA for which a Notice of Contravention is issued? Provide the statutory reference.

6. If ARM was prosecuted in Provincial Offences Court for producing falsified records, (a) (b) (c) (d)

7.

What What What What

is the offence? Provide a statutory reference. type of offence is it? does the prosecutor have to prove? is the standard of proof?

Is it possible for Marvin Marlo to be prosecuted even though Malcolm’s employer was ARM? Explain with statutory reference(s).

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3.

Specifications:

Your answers to the questions must be typed and double-spaced in 12-point font. The MOL Claim form must be single-sided. You must write in complete sentences, not point form. Refer to the question numbers below in your response but do not repeat the question. The assignment should be submitted with a properly formatted title page and follow the requirements in the Formal Writing Expectations document in the Course Resources module in SLATE. The title of this assignment is: LAWS20009 – Employment Law Assignment #1. A rubric is attached. Please staple it to the back of your assignment. This is an INDIVIDUAL assignment. You may NOT work with anyone else. Working with anyone else, including discussing answers with others, sharing your answers, showing your work or failing to properly protect your work, is a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy. Be sure to properly reference any resources used in completing this assignment ( including websites and guides available on the Ministry of Labour website) using APA format including both in-text citations and a “Works Cited”. Remember: legislation and case law are primary sources, not “works”, and must be cited using the McGill Guide. See the Library website for how to cite properly in both APA and McGill format. Failure to reference your work is a breach of Academic Integrity. 4.

Course learning outcomes:

This assignment corresponds to the following learning outcomes identified in the Sheridan Course Outline for LAWS20009 Employment Law for Paralegals:

2.

Analyze the primary legal rights and obligations of employers.

3.

Analyze the primary legal rights and obligations of non-union employees.

7.

Explain minimum requirements under employment standards legislation.

9.

Evaluate the applicable legislation (the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act the Labour Relations Act etc.) as it applies in various employment situations, both union and nonunion.

10.

Examine the prosecution and defence of regulatory offences related to employment law.

5.

Rubric

This assignment is worth 15% of your final grade in this course. The attached rubric details the method by which students will be evaluated.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

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LAWS20009 Assignment #1 RUBRIC Student Name:

________________________________________________________________

Question #1 Entitled to file claim? Reasons? Statutory authority?

/1 /2 /1

Question #2 Limitation period? Last date to submit claim? Statutory authority?

/1 /1 /1

Question #3 ESA Claim form: “Information about You” “Information about the Employer” “Details about your claim” “Claimant’s Declaration”

/6 /8 /10 /2

Form: professional, typed, no spelling errors, single sided Question #4 MOL enforcement and statutory references

/4

Question #5 (a) section of ESA violated (b) Penalty and statutory reference

/1 /2

Question #6 (a) offence and statutory reference (b) type of offence (c) proof required (d) standard of proof

/1 /3 /3 /1

Question #7 officer, director liability

/2

Proper spelling, grammar, title page, citations

/6

TOTAL VALUE:

/4

/60 /15%

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