Victor Kasowski, Toronto Business Lawyer
Suite 205 - 28 Finch Avenue West M2N 2G7 Toronto, ON, Canada

Are we leaving unpaid interns to the whimsy of the market? Under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) workers including student workers are given certain basic protections including entitlement to the minimum wage and limits on the maximum daily and weekly hours worked. However, these protections are not afforded to student interns under a program approved by a college of applied arts and technology or a university. An exception which exists to encourage employers... to provide students enrolled in a college or university program with practical training to complement their classroom learning. The following government website will provide more information on student workers' rights and the exemption for unpaid internships. The link to the The Guardian newspaper will serve as a cautionary tale that may require us to reconsider the "intern exemption" http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/es/pubs/internships.php http://www.theguardian.com//goldman-sachs-interns-work-hou What are your thoughts?

Quiz of the day... See the link below. Can you name the big financial players in Canada that have been implicated in similar banking scandals (strictly financial sector - SNC Lavalin doesn't count) Bonus point if you can name which Bond Rating Agency was implicated in the 2008 crisis. http://news.nationalpost.com//kelly-mcparland-forget-fifa-

http://business.financialpost.com//winners-behaving-badly/ Courts encouraging reasonable behaviour of parties through the award of costs is not new but these cases are a great reminder. If you can settle on a reasonable basis and don't, you may be punished by being ordered to pay the other side's legal costs even if you won the case!

"The same rules need to be applied to everyone. I will therefore not hear you if you are wearing a scarf on your head..." - Judge Eliana Marengo By the same reasoning people wearing kippahs, turbans, crucifixes etc. also could not have their day in court. Denying access to justice on the basis of race or religion is unacceptable. Comments?... http://www.cbc.ca//quebec-judge-wouldn-t-hear-case-of-woma

! Happy Chinese New Year!