On January 31, 2015 the Ontario Superior Court of Ontario
certified a $100 million dollar class action lawsuit for unpaid
overtime against Canada Cartage, a transportation company governed
by the Canada Labour Code. The case is a stark
reminder to employers of the potential costs of not complying with
provincial or federal overtime requirements.
Overtime claims usually arise in one of the following
circumstances:
- An employer mistakenly believes that the employee is not
entitled to overtime because they are paid a salary rather than on
an hourly basis. Most provincial employment standards legislation
set out the specific exemptions to the overtime requirements.If an
employer can't fit within one of the exemptions, overtime will
be owed. In Ontario, for example, the method by which an employee
is paid is not relevant to the issue of entitlement – it is
the nature of the position that matters, not whether the employee
is paid a salary or an hourly wage. Regard
