Employment of Consultant CONSULTANT will perform as an independent contractor all services under this Contract to the prevailing professional standards consistent with the level of care and skill ordinarily exercised by members of its profession, both public and private, currently practicing in the same locality under similar conditions, including reasonable, informed judgments and prompt, timely action. If CONSULTANT is representing that it has special expertise in one or more areas to be utilized in this Contract, then CONSULTANT agrees to perform those special expertise services to the appropriate local, regional or national professional standards.
Employment Matters (a) Neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary is a party to or otherwise bound by any collective bargaining agreement, contract or other agreement or understanding with a labor union or labor organization, nor is any such contract or agreement presently being negotiated, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, are there, any threatened or pending union organizing activities or representation campaigns respecting any of the employees of the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries. As of the date of this Agreement, there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, labor strike, dispute, walkout, work stoppage, slow-down or lockout involving the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries. During the 180-day period preceding the Closing Date, there will have been no “mass layoff” or “plant closing” as defined by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or any similar state, local law or provincial law. (b) The Company and the Company Subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with all terms and conditions of employment and all Laws respecting employment, including, pay equity, wages and hours of work and occupational health and safety, and to the knowledge of the Company, there are no outstanding claims, charges, complaints, investigations or order under any such Laws; (c) No trade union has applied to have the Company or any of the Company Subsidiaries declared a related employer pursuant to the Labour Relations Act (Ontario); (d) There are no outstanding assessments, penalties, fines, liens, charges, surcharges, or other amounts due or owing pursuant to any workplace safety and insurance legislation and neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary has been reassessed in any material respect under such legislation during the past three (3) years and, to the knowledge of the Company, no audit of the Company or any Company Subsidiary is currently being performed pursuant to any applicable workplace safety and insurance legislation. There are no claims or potential claims that may materially adversely affect the Company’s or any of the Company Subsidiaries’ accident cost experience in respect of their business. (e) Neither the Company nor any Company Subsidiary has or reasonably anticipates any direct or indirect liability that would be material to the Company and the Company Subsidiaries taken as a whole with respect to any misclassification of any person as an independent contractor rather than as an employee, or with respect to any employee leased from another employer.