Does your organization’s sexual harassment policy cover all forms of sexual harassment “in the workplace”? If so, it might contain a big loophole. Here’s what the loophole is and what you need to do to plug it.
THE LOOPHOLE
Employers clearly have a duty to protect their …

CPP
Jan. 1: The following Canada Pension Plan changes took effect:

What’s Changed
Old Rule
New Rule

Pensions taken after age 65
Pension increased 0.5% for each month after 65 that payment delayed (up to age 70)
Each month of delay now increases pension by 0.7%

Pensions taken …

BC Court: Fired Employee Needn’t Stay at Job to ‘Mitigate Damages’
Wrongfully dismissed employees are entitled to damages for the economic losses they suffer as a result of losing their job. But they can’t just sit back, eat bon-bons and collect a cheque from their ex-employer …

Like many employers, you may be mining social network sites (which, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to collectively as “Facebook”) for personal information about individuals applying for jobs with your organization. In a recent employer survey, 70% admitted to rejecting an applicant because of something …

How would you handle this situation? Raj works on a construction site where all personnel must wear hardhats. Raj cares about safety. But donning a hardhat would force him to remove the turban his religion requires him to wear at all times. So he refuses …

An employer’s authority over employees goes only so far. The General Rule: You can regulate conduct in the workplace but have no control over what employees do away from work. In reality, though, the lines are blurred. In fact, there does come a point when …

Is It Discrimination to Pay Foreign Workers from Poorer Countries Less?
SITUATION
Glow Bull Worming (GBW), a tunnel construction firm, has a policy of paying foreign workers a blended rate based on wages at their last project and the labour rates for equivalent work in the …

Labour Market
Feb. 4: Employment rose for the second straight month in January, with a gain of 69,000 jobs. Unemployment increased 0.2% to 7.8% as a result of the rise in participation, i.e., percentage of people actively looking for work. Provinces that posted employment gains: ON, …

Alberta Court Nixes Employment Discrimination Lawsuit by Non-Employee
Drug use may be considered a disability under human rights laws. So, if Company A fires somebody for failing a drug test, it could be liable for disability discrimination. That’s old news. But here’s a new twist: …

Winners & Losers: Can Contract Limit Termination Notice?
Employees fired without just cause can’t be paid less than the termination notice guaranteed by the province’s employment standards law (ESA). But they can be paid more—sometimes a lot more. For example, employees might be entitled to …

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Workplace Violence:
Test article for Hot Topic. Test article for Hot Topic. Test article for Hot Topic. Test article for Hot Topic. …

Must Notice Damages Include Lost Pension Benefits?
Employees terminated without cause are entitled to notice or compensation in lieu of notice. The latter can encompass benefits employees would have earned if they hadn’t been fired, including, theoretically pension benefits they’d have accrued if they had …

Avoiding Wallace Damages
Although, courts don’t dish out Wallace damages as liberally as they used to before the Supreme Court of Canada’s June 2008 ruling in Honda Canada Inc. v. Keays, employees are still winning Wallace damages. And in the post-Keays world, Wallace damages may …

What Evidence Do Courts Use to Resolve He-Said, She-Said Disputes?

Situation
Croissant shop owners persuade a real French pastry chef, Tyra Missou, to come work for them in Toronto. The contract runs 18 months and guarantees Tyra 40 hours of employment per week at $13 …