Shefali Rajaputra

About Shefali Rajaputra

Shefali Rajaputra is an employment lawyer who works with employers as an associate in Gowling WLG's Employment, Labour and Equalities Group, splitting time between the Waterloo Region and Toronto offices. The everyday files are the ones most workplaces eventually face: drafting contracts, handling dismissals, putting policies in place, and sorting out routine HR questions. Rajaputra also enforces restrictive covenants and works on executive pay, including equity awards and long-term incentive plans.

Rajaputra's legal career began in India. After a BA and an LLB at Bangalore University, the call to the bar there came in 2012, followed by practice at a full-service Indian firm covering both corporate and employment work. Rajaputra completed the National Committee on Accreditation process in 2017 and was called in Ontario the following year. Rajaputra is licensed in Ontario and India.

Workplace human rights and accessibility are part of the practice too. Employers come for help with accommodation duties, workplace investigations, human rights compliance and policies meant to build inclusive workplaces, and with meeting federal and provincial accessibility rules through training, policy work and dealing directly with regulators. On the transactional side, Rajaputra handles the employment piece of mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital deals, from diligence right through integration once a deal closes.

It's a practice that shows up in print, too. Rajaputra has written about RSU vesting after termination, Ontario's 2026 accessibility reporting deadline and, with colleague Carson Healey, the Court of Appeal's Baker/Li ruling on termination clauses. Rajaputra's also spoken to HR leaders at charities and not-for-profits at the 2025 DS HR Forum, and serves clients in English and Hindi.