On July 14, 2016 the Supreme Court of Canada published its decision on WIlson v Atomic Energy Canada Limited concerning the rights of non-unionized employees of federally regulated employers.

James LeNoury was Lead Counsel for Joseph Wilson in the case and was successful in arguing that non-unionized employees are due the same rights as unionized employees in cases of unjust dismissal. James took on the file in 2012 and is the acknowledged expert on this section of Canadian labour law, having been awarded the HR Reporter 2016 Employment Lawyer of the Year for his work.

This landmark decision affects approximately 10,000 Canadian employers and 500,000 employees working for corporations in federally regulated industries.

As taken from the Government of Canada website, those industries are:

• • banks
  • marine shipping, ferry and port services
  • air transportation, including airports, aerodromes and airlines
  • railway and road transportation that involves crossing provincial or international borders
  • canals, pipelines, tunnels and bridges (crossing provincial borders)
  • telephone, telegraph and cable systems
  • radio and television broadcasting
  • grain elevators, feed and seed mills
  • uranium mining and processing
  • businesses dealing with the protection of fisheries as a natural resource
  • many First Nation activities
  • most federal Crown corporations
  • private businesses necessary to the operation of a federal act

If you would like to know if your business falls under this category or more about how this decision may have an impact on your employer/employee policies and practices, please contact us.