Or maybe not. But there is a new resource that is freely available to anyone with access to the internet which provides interesting reading for anyone with an interest in employment law.
CanLII (it’s short for the “Canadian Legal Information Institute”) maintains a searchable database of case law from across the country. The CanLII database is a free service provided by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The CanLII database is a tremendous resource but it can be challenging for non-lawyers to wade through all of the cases that a typical search turns up.
Now CanLII has paired up with Lancaster House, a legal publisher which specializes in labour and employment publications, to provide free access to Lancaster’s online text, “Wrongful Dismissal and Employment Law” at http://www.canlii.org/en/commentary.html.
I should provide a couple of cautionary notes. First, this is but one of a number of employment law texts used by lawyers who practice in this field and cannot be considered as providing definitive statements of the law. Second, reading any text is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer who is experienced in applying legal principles to a specific set of facts. That said, this free resource is worth knowing about whether you are trying to get a general understanding of employment law or whether you are hoping to do some background research on a specific issue before speaking with a lawyer.