HR Headlines

The duty to control ergonomic hazards—inside and outside Ontario

2 ways to prevent flu outbreak & liability risks

The 2012 flu season is now in high gear. And, while pandemic doesn’t appear to be in the cards, the good old fashioned seasonal flu can still wreak havoc on attendance and disrupt business operations.

A crane operator was killed trying to lift a communication tower. The question: Against which company’s experience account should workers’ comp charge the loss—Procrane, the victim’s employer or Westower, the company that hired Procrane? Both sides were negligent and equally responsible for the accident, said …

On Jan. 17, 2012, the federal government launched a free website to make it easier to secure recognition of foreign credentials of immigrants. International Qualification Network is a platform for government agencies and professional organizations to post information and tools that can be used to …

“Hire ‘em young, dumb and good looking” comment comes home to roost

When it comes to employment discrimination, we tend to focus on the gray area cases where it’s hard to judge if the employer complied.

A lead hand acknowledged that he was an asthma sufferer before; but he claimed that after the company relocated, he was exposed to so much additional dust, forklift exhaust, welding fumes, plasma cutting smoke, spray paint, canned oil, grease spray and cleaners that his asthma …

Reminder: Effective Jan. 1, 2012, all payments made from an employer-funded uninsured wage loss replacement plan are considered remuneration from pensionable employment and thus subject to CPP contributions. As noted in CRA Interpretation Bulletin 428, a wage loss replacement plan is an arrangement under which …

A bookkeeper sued the cattle ranch that employed her for overtime, annual holiday and stat holiday pay under the Labour Standards Act. The Saskatchewan LSA doesn’t apply to employees “employed primarily in farming [or] ranching.” But the Labour Standards Branch ruled that the exemption is …