Employer Financial Status Will Not Reduce Termination Notice

by | Jan 28, 2016 | Charity & Not-for-Profit Law, Employment Law, Expertise

Charity Law Bulletin No. 376, January 27, 2016

Financial difficulties are a common reason for terminating employees, whether the employer is a not-for-profit or a for-profit business. In Michela v St. Thomas of Villanova Catholic School, a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Court clarified that where an employer is in difficult economic circumstances, those circumstances “do not justify a reduction of the notice period to which an employee is otherwise entitled.” This Charity & NFP Bulletin will review the Michela decision and comment on how charities and not-for-profits may reduce their exposure to liability so that, should financial difficulty arise, such as those that have been reported in the press recently concerning Goodwill Industries in Toronto and other Ontario locations, they will not be faced with unexpected and onerous financial burdens in terminating employees.

To read more, please see Charity & NFP Bulletin No. 376.

Anti-Terrorism Law Update

by | Jan 28, 2016 | Counter Terrorism Law, Expertise

Risk Management Toolkit of NRC

On December 16, 2015, the Norwegian Refugee Council (“NRC”) released its Risk Management Toolkit (the “Toolkit”), which addresses challenges faced by humanitarian aid groups operating in zones of armed conflict. The Toolkit does not provide specific advice for humanitarian groups themselves but seeks rather to aid policy- and decision-making bodies in understanding the dynamics of counter-terrorism measures. Interestingly, it addresses how balance may be achieved between counter-terrorist measures that subject organizations to potential sanctions, and the need to implement risk management protocols to avoid diversion of aid and assets to terrorism.

In particular, the Toolkit advocates for the use of codes of conduct, due diligence and monitoring and evaluation procedures. Its content is based on methods and procedures that have been employed by a number of United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations operating in areas vulnerable to threats of terrorist activity. The Toolkit will, therefore be of interest to Canadian charities and not-for-profits that operate in or in any way support or have connections with entities in conflict zones

Bank De-risking and its Impact on NFPs

On January 7, 2016 the Charity and Security Network hosted a webinar entitled “Bank De-risking and its Impact on Non-profits“. The webinar was based on two recent papers, “Unintended Consequences of Anti-Money Laundering Policies for Poor Countries” and “Understanding Bank De-risking and its Effects on Financial Institutions” and featured a moderated discussion of the reports by their respective authors focusing on the bank de-risking phenomenon and its impact on charities and not-for-profits in an international context.

Bank de-risking refers to a practice in which banks and financial institutions seek to minimize liability by ending banking relationships with clients that are considered to be of “high risk.” “Understanding Bank De-risking and its Effects on Financial Inclusion” is based on a four-month exploratory study and examines the increasing trend of de-risking. It asserts that overly restrictive anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism measures may decrease access to financial services and that this constitutes a market failure. It also contends that, in order to ensure financial inclusion, government and public sector regulators must intervene to re-align market factors.

“Unintended Consequences of Anti-Money Laundering Policies for Poor Countries,” similarly examines the financial exclusion of “high risk” clients. It asserts that such exclusion, motivated by the financial sector’s interest in maintaining profitability and maximizing compliance, may negatively affect poor countries and poverty alleviation. This is because smaller scale bona fide organizations and poorer may be precluded from financial access if they are located in difficult environments.

A recording of the webinar by Charity and Security Network may be accessed here.