When to hire an employment lawyer<\/h2>\n
Whether you are an employer or an employee, you have a responsibility to understand some basic concepts related to the labour laws in Canada<\/a>. Your failure to do so could lead you to inadvertently violate the law as an employer or miss out on opportunities due to you as an employee. This article goes into a very common question often asked by recently terminated employee’s, employees in doubt regarding employment conditions and employers seeking answers as too when is it time to hire and an employment Lawyer?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In the sections below, we want to help you focus on when to hire an employment attorney to protect you or your company\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 1. How can an employment lawyer help with: Employer Harassment Issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The law does not permit your employer to harass (verbal abuse, mental psychological abuse) you in any way, shape, or form. If you don\u2019t report harassment issues within the guidelines<\/a> as set forth by the law, you run the risk of denying yourself your rights.<\/p>\n If you feel your employer is harassing you over performance issues or without cause, you would be well within your rights to contact an attorney. Your attorney could then advise you on how to protect yourself during further interactions with your employer. They would also likely advise you not to retaliate in any way. Should the situation lead you to want to resign, your attorney would be there to make sure your resignation is handled properly as to not compromise your rights to any due compensation or benefits.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 2. Wrongful Termination Issues<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The law<\/a> is very clear about the fact your employer has to have cause to terminate you unless an employment contract says otherwise. Excluded from wrongful termination laws would be layoffs necessitated by workload issues or economic concerns. Otherwise, the law dictates that employer must handle terminations by the book.<\/p>\n If you feel your termination was handled in violation of the law, you will want to immediately contact a local labour attorney. It would be your lawyer\u2019s responsibility to review your circumstances and decide whether or not your employer violated the law and whether or not your severance or final compensation was handled appropriately.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Employment Contract Negotiations and Violations<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are considering an employment opportunity as a high-level executive, there is a good chance your employer would want you to sign an employment contract. This would be a good time to hire labour law experts<\/a> who could look after your interests during the negotiation process. An unbiased representative with knowledge of the law would be the best way for you to get all that you can during negotiations.<\/p>\n Once your employment contract is in place, both you are your employer are expected to abide by the terms of the contract. If you feel your employer is violating the terms of the contract, you need to immediately contact an attorney for possible corrective action. Preferably, you would want to consult with the same attorney who might have helped you negotiate that applicable contract.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Sexual Harassment Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyone within every organization is expected to fully refrain from anything that could even remotely be considered sexual harassment. As labour lawyers, we have represented both employees who felt they were sexually harassed and employers who needed advice on how to deal with sexual harassment situations.<\/p>\n This is a real hot button in terms of making sure everyone in the workplace feels respected and safe. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, you need to get an attorney to help guide you through any applicable sexual harassment issue.<\/p>\n If you are an employer or the representative for an employer, you are required by law to take reasonable measures to prevent all forms of sexual harassment. A good employment lawyer can help you create policies and procedures for your company related to the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>Whistleblower Protection Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n To make employees feel safe to report possible health or criminal violations by their employer, there are whistleblower laws in place to provide would-be whistleblowers with certain protections.<\/p>\n If you are contemplating going forward to authorities with information about potential violations by your employer, you could benefit from speaking to an attorney before filing your complaints. If you make said complaints and feel your employer might or is retaliating, you need to contact a labour lawyer immediately.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Collective Bargaining Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n As an employer in an industry where unions have great influence, you most likely will have to engage in collective bargaining agreements<\/a> with said union or unions. That poses you two problems.<\/p>\n First, collective bargaining negotiations can take up a lot of your time. A good employment lawyer should be able to handle most of the negotiations until it\u2019s time to fine-tune the final agreement. Second, negotiations can get heated due to opposing sides trying to nail down the best agreement possible for their side. In such cases, lawyers can serve as mediators to help bring opposing sides together.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.14.2″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n NOTE: This article does not constitute legal advice from or legal opinion. It is only used to inform readers about certain aspects of labour law.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Six Reasons to Hire an Employment Lawyer When to hire an employment lawyer Whether you are an employer or an employee, you have a responsibility to understand some basic concepts related to the labour laws in Canada. Your failure to do so could lead you to inadvertently violate the law as an employer or miss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Typically, when people think of a family inheritance or anything related to an inheritance people think about last will and testaments and the distribution of an estate. Many people assume that if there is a will in place, then everything will go according to the deceased\u2019s plans. That an executor will execute all of the commands as per the deceased\u2019s wishes in their will. \u00a0 It is less often that someone thinks about the possibility of someone contesting a will<\/em><\/strong>. This article will go over the main points that one should be familiar with if they find themselves asking how to contest a will or how to fight a contested will.. \u00a0 What many people don\u2019t typically think about, although should be aware of is when certain \u201ctitled\u201d individuals at the time of an inheritance feel they need to contest the will<\/em><\/strong> for one reason or another. \u00a0 Specifically, some people after learning the details of a deceased\u2019s will often ask themselves how to contest a will<\/em><\/strong> and what are the steps to take when contesting a will. \u00a0 When the wheels are in motion and it is obvious that will litigation will be taking place, whatever the reason, parties involved know that the dispute will be resolved in court, sometimes at the risk\u00a0of\u00a0impairment some family ties. \u00a0 Besides common problems related to a will (its form and structure or lack thereof), there are two main reasons for contesting a will<\/em><\/strong> or litigation of a will: lack of testamentary capacity and indue influence (captation). The Civil\u00a0Code of Quebec<\/em> assumes\u00a0that\u00a0every adult,\u00a0has the capacity to understand and sign a\u00a0will<\/a>.\u00a0This is the basic rule. \u00a0 Disability is the exception to this rule.\u00a0It is the burden or the person who is contesting a will or who alleges the person who wrote a will lacked testamentary capacity to prove their point and make their case. This is typically done in Canada with the legal assistance of an\u00a0estate lawyer<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0 A lack of testamentary capacity<\/em><\/strong> or\u00a0failure<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>is characterized by an\u00a0altered mental\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0physical state<\/strong> of a person where they are no\u00a0longer able to take care of themselves, specifically from a judgement and decision point of view. \u00a0 A judge is ultimately the person who decides whether or not the person who wrote the will or decided what details went into the was of sound mind at the time of the writing of the will. A judge will be the one to determine whether incapacity has been properly demonstrated in court or not. \u00a0 The judge will often asses the testamentary capacity of the person who wrote the will by assessing if the person suffered from any of the following:<\/p> Signs that demonstrate to a judge that the person at the time of writing the will lacked testamentary capacity could be considered\u00a0as factors that prevented him\/her from signing a legal act due to lack of full possession of his\/her means.<\/p> If you are contesting a will, you will need to be familiar with the concept of the incapacity of the testator. In inheritance law, the\u00a0proof of the testator's incapacity\u00a0<\/strong>must clearly answer the following question: did the deceased possess all his intellectual faculties when signing his last will and testament and fully\u00a0understand\u00a0its scope? \u00a0 Initial presumption is that the deceased had their full capacity to write and understand the contents and implications of their will. However, as this person will have been deceased and so is no longer alive to testify about their condition,\u00a0it is the burden of the party pleading the incapacity of the testator<\/em><\/strong> to provide the proof. \u00a0 Consequently, an estate lawyer will collect concrete evidence to demonstrate the incapacity of the testator from relatives and doctors of the deceased to better litigate their case. \u00a0 As an example, a lawyer contesting a will on your behalf will make note of:<\/p> All that can explain and\u00a0prove the impairment of mental faculties\u00a0<\/strong>will be presented in the courts.<\/p> At the opposite side of the spectrum of facts involved in the contestation of a will, is the concept of the capacity of the testator. If you wish to maintain that the capacity of the testator was fully intact and defend the will as it was written at the time of the deceased\u2019s death, you will have to\u00a0prove\u00a0that the deceased was in fact of sound mind. \u00a0 We advise you to consult an estate lawyer with experience in inheritance law if ever you should find yourself defending the will of a loved one. \u00a0 In the same way as the opposing party, you will have\u00a0the burden of\u00a0providing proof that the person who wrote the will was of sound mind and judgement.\u00a0This will demonstrate that\u00a0the will was drawn up and signed at a time when the deceased was in full possession of his means. \u00a0 During the litigation steps of contesting a will and testament, it is also possible to demonstrate to the judge that the will is not abusive.\u00a0For\u00a0example, if\u00a0it\u00a0tends to favor the relatives of the deceased or causes that were notoriously precious to him.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p> If you feel you have the grounds to contest a will, then the second most common reason in will litigation is\u00a0undue influence<\/strong>. \u00a0 More insidious, this concept describes attempt(s) made by\u00a0certain people surrounding the deceased prior to the deceased\u2019s death to divert all or part of an inheritance their way. \u00a0 For undue influence to be proven, it needs to be shown there was deliberate attempt\u00a0to:<\/p>![\"Reasons](\"https:\/\/www.sabbagh.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/reasons-to-hire-an-employment-lawyer-300x200.jpg\")
When doubts arise, your best recourse is to immediately contact an employment lawyer. More specifically, you might want to contact a labour lawyer from your province. Yes, an employment lawyer in Montreal<\/a> would be ideal if you are employed in the Montreal region. That would help ensure you get guidance that is most applicable to your circumstances.<\/p>\nContesting a will \u2013 capacity versus incapacity<\/strong><\/h2>
![\"incapacity](\"https:\/\/www.sabbagh.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/contesting-a-will-incapacity-of-testamentary-photo.jpg\")
<\/p>Lack of testamentary capacity<\/strong><\/h2>
Prove the incapacity of the testator\u00a0...<\/strong><\/h3>
\u2026\u00a0Or on the contrary, prove the capacity of the testator<\/strong><\/h3>
![\"undue](\"https:\/\/www.sabbagh.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/contesting-a-will-undue-influence-photo.jpg\")
<\/h2>Undue influence or captation<\/h2>