Xavier Hamel

 Partner
Key practice areas
Labour and Employment Law, Strategic HR Advice, Labour Relations, Business Immigration
Québec Bar 2014
Québec City
+1 418 650 7018
xavier.hamel@langlois.ca
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Xavier Hamel practises labour and employment law, with a particular focus on matters related to hiring, termination, labour standards, occupational health and safety, human rights and freedoms, restrictive covenants, certification and the interpretation and enforcement of individual employment contracts and collective labour agreements. He has extensive knowledge of and a practical approach to disciplinary matters, performance, unjustified absenteeism, disability and problematic behaviours in the workplace. Recognized for his knack for mitigating risk, he also acts for business clients during corporate reorganizations and sales.

Xavier represents clients before the administrative tribunals having jurisdiction in labour matters and before the civil courts. He acts as a spokesperson for institutional and private clients in the context of collective agreement negotiation and renewals. He also acts for various employers in unfair competition and client solicitation disputes. He regularly gives conferences on various topics in labour law and human resources management.

Finally, Xavier has experience in business immigration and international mobility and helps provide employers with various turnkey solutions, including obtaining the required Quebec and federal authorizations to hire foreign nationals in Canada.

  • Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services in relation to the negotiation of the framework agreement with the Federation of Medical Specialists of Québec for the purposes of implementing the Health Insurance Act.
  • Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services as part of the implementation and renewal of certain collective agreements with associations representing intermediate resources and family-type resources.
  • Representation of several members of employer associations as part of the challenge of the constitutional validity of shift schedules in Québec as a result of grievances filed, a file whose stakes were valued at $125 million.
  • Management of labour relation and employment law issues in connection with various business transactions, including the acquisition of a Québec corporation by a U.S. semiconductor corporation, in a transaction estimated at over $200 million.
  • Recurrent advice to several institutional or private employers operating globally regarding all their immigration law needs in Canada.
  • Representation of different public and private bodies in connection with review applications before the Commission d’accès à l’information as a result of requests for access to information.
  • Representation of and advice to several unionized employers in the negotiation of a first collective agreement or its renewal.
  • Representation of various employers before the Administrative Labour Tribunal in the context of accreditation matters or complaints for prohibited practices or termination without good and sufficient cause.
  • Representation of various unionized employers in the context of grievance arbitration or dispute resolution process.
  • Best Lawyers in Canada: Ones to Watch – Labour and Employment Law, 2024-2025
  • Université Laval’s Discipline Committee, External Decision-Making Member, since 2019
  • Service d’orientation et d’intégration des immigrants au travail, Member of the Board of Directors, 2019-2021
  • Author: “Promouvoir la rétention des employés clés d’une entreprise dans le cadre d’une transaction” [Promoting the retention of key employees in the context of a transaction], Deal Law Wire, June 2022.
  • Author: “Attirer ou conserver ses employés avec la mise en place de nouveaux avantages sociaux : attention aux obligations fiscales” [Attracting or retaining employees by implementing new fringe benefits: Beware of tax obligations], Global Workplace Insider, July 2022.
  • Author: “Mondialisation, mobilité internationale et télétravail : vers une possible obsolescence du cadre d’analyse des limites territoriales dans les clauses de non-concurrence en matière d’emploi” [Globalization, international mobility and teleworking: Towards a possible obsolescence of the analytical framework regarding the boundaries found in the non-compete clauses in the employment sector], Global Workplace Insider, August 2021.
  • Author: “Post-pandemic: The issues of working from home and the need for a related policy”, Legal Update, May 2021.
  • Author: “Détenir un motif sérieux de congédiement ne cautionne pas tout comportement – Rappel de savoir-vivre pour les employeurs québécois” [Even in cases of dismissal with cause, wrongful behaviour is not acceptable – A reminder of basic courtesy rules for Québec-based employers], Global Workplace Insider, September 2020.
  • Co-author: “La Cour d’appel reconnaît que le courriel professionnel d’un salarié peut servir à diffuser un message de nature syndicale dans le cadre de négociation” [The Court of Appeal acknowledges that the business email of an employee can be used to send out a message of a union nature in the context of a negotiation], Legal Update, July 2019.
  • Author: “L’article 46 de la Charte des droits et libertés de la personne : une approche restrictive consacrée récemment par une sentence arbitrale” [Section 46 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms: A restrictive approach recently confirmed by an arbitration award], Legal Update, Canada, July 2019.
  • Co-author: “Restriction territoriale des clauses de non-concurrence dans l’industrie technologique – lorsque la limitation semble elle-même avoir une limite” [Territorial limits of non-compete clauses in the technology industry – When the limit itself doesn’t seem to be limitless], Global Workplace Insider, March 2019.
  • Author: “La Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels dans le secteur privé a 25 ans : votre opinion sollicitée” [The Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector at 25: We welcome your opinion], Global Law Firm, March 2019.
  • Author: “Projet de recours accru à la biométrie” [Project for the expanded use of biometrics], Actualité juridique, June 2018.
  • Co-speaker: Harcèlement psychologique et sexuel - Considérations pratiques et modifications de la Loi 42 [Psychological and sexual harassment - Practical considerations and amendments to Bill 42], Congrès de la Corporation des services d’ambulance du Québec (CSAQ), June 20, 2024.
  • Co-speaker: Immigration 101 : meilleures pratiques pour les employeurs et obligations de conformité [Immigration 101: Best practices for employers and compliance obligations], Langlois Knowledge, webinar, March 21, 2024.
  • Speaker: Conference on cyber-harassment given to the Québec Business Council, May 3, 2022.
  • Speaker: Conference on the latest Québec labour market trends given at Université Laval's industrial relations seminar, September 8, 2022.
  • Speaker: Gestion des employés à l’ère du travail hybride – Analyse de récentes tendances dans le marché du travail québécois [Employee management in the era of hybrid work – Analysis of recent trends in the Québec workplace], as part of Université Laval's industrial relations seminar, September 2022.
  • Speaker: La prévention et la gestion du cyberharcèlement en milieu de travail du point de vue juridique [Preventing and managing cyberbullying in the workplace from a legal standpoint], Conseil du patronat du Québec, 2022.
  • Speaker: La gestion des employés à l’ère du travail hybride [Employee management in the era of hybrid work], webinar, September 2021.
  • Speaker: Embaucher au Canada un travailleur étranger en temps de pandémie : Ce qu’il faut savoir et les stratégies à adopter [Hiring a foreign worker in Canada during a pandemic: What to know and what strategies to adopt], webinar, October 2020.
  • Speaker: Le devoir de négociation de bonne foi [The duty to negotiate in good faith], as part of the symposium Droit du travail patronal-syndical, organized by the Éditions Yvon Blais, June 2019.
  • Speaker: Légalisation de la marijuana à des fins récréatives – Quels sont les changements en milieu de travail [Legalization of marijuana for recreational use – What are the changes in the workplace?], as part of Université Laval's industrial relations seminar, March 2019.
  • Speaker: Le vol de temps – un fléau gérable [Time theft – A manageable scourge], presentation to the members of the AGÉRIUL of Université Laval, March 2019.
  • Speaker: Droit de l’emploi et du travail – Rétrospective de l’année 2017 [Labour and employment law – 2017 in review], March 2018.

LL.B., Université Laval, 2013

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