Torys’ Pension and Employment Practice consists of lawyers with broad expertise in pensions, executive compensation, employee benefits and employment matters in Canada and the United States. We work with our clients to provide specialized, strategic, business-sensitive advice on day-to-day matters and in the context of mergers and acquisitions, outsourcings, offerings, income trust transactions and other corporate transactions.
Pensions and Benefits
Our lawyers advise on all aspects of pensions, including pension plan wind-ups; pension solvency funding; the use of pension surplus in ongoing and terminated pension plans; plan mergers; contribution holidays; compliance and investment issues; ongoing plan administration; plan governance; and tax issues in pension and other retirement plans. We also handle litigation related to pension and other benefit plans. We work with accountants, actuaries and other professionals, as well as with government and regulatory representatives, to coordinate the resolution of our clients’ issues, particularly at times of transition. We provide advice on compliance with federal income tax legislation and provincial pension standards to financial institutions involved in plan administration, corporations sponsoring plans, and pension funds and trustees of multi-employer pension plans.
Corporate Transactions
The members of our practice have extensive experience in advising on the transitioning of employees and their benefits within the framework of corporate restructurings. Our services in this area include developing new compensation and benefit plans, and employment policies; advising on the transfer of personal information; advising on and implementing new pension plans; and dealing appropriately with pension surpluses, deficits and plan transfers. We provide practical solutions and advice on employee downsizing, including voluntary employee buyouts and involuntary reductions-in-force; underfunded pension plan and pension plan wind-ups; and communication and other strategies to facilitate the transition of, and minimize the disruption to, employees.
Executive Compensation and Employment
Our lawyers advise on the establishment and implementation of executive contracts, change-of-control agreements and retention arrangements. We also advise on supplementary retirement plans and incentive compensation arrangements, including stock option plans; phantom stock plans; share appreciation rights; deferred share unit plans; restricted and performance share unit plans; employee share purchase plans; and long-term incentive plans. We also draft and provide advice on non-competition, non-solicitation and proprietary rights agreements. Our clients also benefit from our advice on compliance with the employment laws that apply to their businesses, including laws pertaining to employment standards; workers’ compensation; labour; privacy; and human rights, including discrimination and sexual harassment.
Governance
Recent developments in corporate governance have made reporting and disclosure requirements of compensation, pension and benefit arrangements increasingly complex. We have the extensive corporate governance experience required to be able to advise our clients, their boards of directors, and their human resources and compensation committees on the full range of governance issues, and help them meet their business objectives in light of increased shareholder and regulatory scrutiny.