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Use this form to keep vacation waiver arrangements with employees compliant with employment standards laws.
Here’s a Model Notice you can use to remind employees of their legal obligations to work safely.
Our guide for assessing salary surveys will help you get the most out of the information surveys present.
Use this form to get plan members' spouses to waive their survivor benefits
Deciding where to draw the line with regard to employee attendance during inclement weather can be challenging.
Is your flu plan up to snuff? Use this Checklist to find out
Model Policy to prevent flu--pandemic and seasonal--and other infectious illnesses in your workplace.
10 Cases where Courts Had to Decide If Employee Could Be Fired for Insolence
New rules for counting income for income assistance purposes in BC
Confused about what constitutes business casual attire? Well, your employees likely are as well. Business casual, which might also be called appropriate conference attire, is important to understand and share with your workforce. Why? Although you may already have a workplace dress code policy in place, what employees wear when attending business functions impacts how your organization is perceived—for better or worse. Obviously, you want your workforce to make a good impression—and they can, with attention to these
Use this form to keep vacation waiver arrangements with employees compliant with employment standards laws.
Here’s a Model Notice you can use to remind employees of their legal obligations to work safely.
Our guide for assessing salary surveys will help you get the most out of the information surveys present.
Use this form to get plan members' spouses to waive their survivor benefits
Deciding where to draw the line with regard to employee attendance during inclement weather can be challenging.
Is your flu plan up to snuff? Use this Checklist to find out
Model Policy to prevent flu--pandemic and seasonal--and other infectious illnesses in your workplace.
10 Cases where Courts Had to Decide If Employee Could Be Fired for Insolence
New rules for counting income for income assistance purposes in BC
Confused about what constitutes business casual attire? Well, your employees likely are as well. Business casual, which might also be called appropriate conference attire, is important to understand and share with your workforce. Why? Although you may already have a workplace dress code policy in place, what employees wear when attending business functions impacts how your organization is perceived—for better or worse. Obviously, you want your workforce to make a good impression—and they can, with attention to these
Here’s a Model Policy establishing your right to lay down 4 levels of progressive discipline for safety violations:
Employee referral continues to be the No. 1 source of external hires.
Your organization should already have a written policy to prevent gender, sexual preference and other forms of discrimination. If you’re in Ontario, Manitoba, Northwest Territories or Saskatchewan, it’s imperative to extend those policies to the transgendered.
This 20-page guide features behavioural interview questions organized alphabetically by category. It’s just what the busy HR professional needs to conduct focused, meaningful
Constructive dismissal Don't let Salary and Benefits Cuts Lead to Wrong Dismissal Liability The Business Case for HR Showing your CEO How HR Budget Cuts Cost More Than They Save
Layoffs & Restructuring Beware of 'Contructive Dismissal' Risks Workplace Violence Using Ricks Assessment to Manage Your Liability Risks
Paying Wages Are You At Risk of an Overtime Class Action? Sexual Harassment 8 Traps to Avoid When Investigating Harassment Complaints
The Year In Compliance Overtime Mega-Lawsuits, the Changing Face of Retirement & an Unexpected Victory on Termination Termination Traps How Not to Provide Notice of Termination
The Insider's 3rd Annual 'Just Cause' Scorecard Lessons from the Recent Cases, Part 2 Protecting The Pregnant Worker Drawing the Line between Safety & Discrimination
Terminating and laying off employees is potentially one of the biggest legal risks companies confront. Making the wrong moves can expose your company to costly lawsuits, unwanted legal fees, and negative publicity. But taking the right steps and properly documenting your actions can protect your company – and make your job as an HR Manager much easier. This 18-page Special Report covers what you need to know to navigate the legal minefield when terminating or laying off employees. You get practical, “how-to” help handling termination notices … making termination payments … avoiding common but costly termination mistakes …
GROUP TERMINATION Legal Requirements of Mass Layoffs
TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES What Are Your Legal Obligations to ‘Temps’?
While they may be unavoidable, workforce reductions don’t always have to be permanent. Structuring layoffs as temporary can enable you to maintain ties with key employees you hope to recall and if not avoid, at least delay, having to provide notice and other termination payments.
Attendance management programs (AMPs) have proven effective in helping employers get absenteeism under control. But they’ve also stirred up a hornet’s nest of litigation. Among other things, employees and their unions have attacked AMPs as a form of disability discrimination.
Don’t run criminal record checks on job applicants unless you’re prepared to manage the legal risks. Stage 1: Make sure that a criminal check is an appropriate way to screen for the position; get the applicant’s consent; and, keep the check within the bounds of privacy law.
The recent Swine Flu epidemic may have gone away for now – but you know it’s only a matter of time before Swine Flu of a similar pandemic strikes again. This 8-page special Report tells you how to handle Swine Flu and other potential pandemic situations in your company. You find out what you legal obligations are under current law … and what practical steps you should take to protect your employees – and reduce potential legal risk to your company. You find out:
Ironic, isn’t it? Here we are, smack in the middle of the Information Age
We all face the same dilemma -- how to fight fires and attend to business demands, while keeping an eye on the horizon to position our organizations for future success.
Hydro One sought to partially wind up a management compensation with respect to laid off members. Sec. 69(1)(d) of the Pension Benefits Act allows partial wind-up when a “significant number of” members cease to be employed as a result of reorganization. The Superintendent rejected the wind-up but the Appeals Tribunal let it go through. Even though the terminated members represented only 73 of 3,913 plan members, “significant” isn’t just about the size of the group but its importance. The court found the Tribunal’s ruling reasonable [Hydro One Inc. v. Ontario (Superintendent of Financial Services), [2010] O.J. No. 52, Jan. 11,
A company’s director accused the business development coordinator of spreading rumours about him. A month later, the coordinator’s supervisor gave her a negative review and four days after that told her that her contract wouldn’t be renewed. This news greatly upset the coordinator who eventually went out on leave as recommended by her doctor. When she was ready to return to work, she was told that she’d been replaced. The coordinator filed a discrimination complaint, claiming that she’d been fired because of a disability. The Human Rights Tribunal dismissed her complaint. There was no evidence that the coordinator had suffered
Situation Emma Reebord is self-conscious about her chipped nails. So she treats herself to a set of “sculptured,” i.e., false nails. Her fellow housekeepers at the Hans Zarkleen Nursing Centre where she works love Emma’s new look. But false nails are a violation of the Centre’s Dress Code. Even though Emma doesn’t directly treat residents, the Code applies to indirect caregivers, including housekeepers. Emma claims that the Dress Code violates her right of self-expression. The Centre argues that the policy is an important infection control policy and is based on accepted scientific evidence that false nails accumulate bacteria at an abnormally
An employer facing difficult financial circumstances was routinely late in remitting union dues it collected from employees. It admittedly relied on the collected dues to finance its operations. The union eventually got fed up and filed a grievance. A labour arbitrator said the company's financial difficulties didn't excuse its late payments but that punitive damages weren't justified because the union tolerated the late payments for so long. The arbitrator ordered the overdue payments be made with interest and threatened more severe consequences if the company didn't make future payments on time [Wabi Iron and Steel Corp. v. United Steelworkers Local
Talking on cell phones and texting at work is distracting and often minimizes productivity—especially when the communication isn’t work-related. It can also increase the risk of accidents. And it’s not just a traffic safety issue. While most of society has caught on to the dangers of cell phones and texting while driving, these practices may be even more dangerous to workers on assembly lines, operating heavy machinery or performing other safety sensitive jobs that don’t involve holding a steering wheel in their hands. And while injuries at work are never a good thing, in this economy, the costs of a
On his last day of work, a laid off regional sales manager wrote his customers an email thanking them for their support and ruing the “diminishment of service” layoffs portended. “It’s a shame that the corporation doesn’t feel the need to provide support” to you, he wrote. The company claimed the email was just cause for termination and tried to nullify the manager’s severance deal. But the court said no. The email was little more than a “snarky parting shot from a mid-level employee pushed out the door” and there was no evidence customers took it seriously [Anderson v. Culligan
When a company had an urgent need to fill a switchboard position, it offered the job to a crane operator who had been injured 10 years ago and was still on the payroll. The company told her to get her doctor’s permission and asked her to hurry because there were other employees in line for the job. The operator knew that her doctor was away for seven weeks, but decided to wait for his return rather than have one of his colleagues evaluate her. Meanwhile, she didn’t get back to the company. The company dismissed her and she sued the
Highlights of the Chief Prevention Officer’s briefing:
Highlights of reports issued by some of Canada’s leading compensation consulting firms:
The German word Schadenfreude means deriving joy at the suffering of others. If you’re into Schadenfreude, 2009 was a great year. For the rest of us, it was a year to forget. On a national level, HR compliance was dominated by one big story: recession. And, as if all of the economic suffering wasn’t bad enough, 2009 will also be remembered as the year of pandemic. January 1, 2010 can’t get here fast enough! As we do every year, the Insider steps back and tries to put the HR compliance year into perspective. In addition to pointing out the key changes
Many employers rely on testing to control employees’ use of drugs and alcohol. But to use this method, employers must somehow frame a drug and alcohol testing policy so that it’s a legitimate safety measure and respectful of employees’ privacy and civil rights. That’s easier said than done. The legal standards for drug and alcohol testing are vague. One of the only ways to determine what you can and can’t do is to look at where courts, arbitrators and labour boards (which, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to collectively as “courts”) have drawn the lines on testing and structure your
Workplace bullying remains a major liability risk as a recent $1.2 million case against WalMart illustrates
Just having a distracted driving policy for employees who use cell phones while operating company vehicles isn’t enough; as illustrated by a new case from the US, to avoid liability, you must ensure your policy is effective.
An arbitrator ruled that an employer could make aluminum smelter workers submit to immediate drug or alcohol tests where there are reasonable grounds for testing but couldn’t discipline workers for refusing to undergo broad medical evaluations not tied to drug or alcohol use. It also ruled that the “zero tolerance” policy calling for immediate termination of workers who tested positive was unreasonable and violated “just cause” standards [Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal Kitimat/Kemano Operations BC v. National Automobile, Aerospace Transportation and General Workers of Canada, Local 2301, [2011] CanLII 7211 (BC L.A.), Feb. 6,
The National Capital Commission (NCC) agreed to create a new committee to provide guidance on ensuring accessibility to disabled people. The agreement was brokered by the Canadian Human Rights Commission in mediating a settlement to a dispute that began back in 1994 when NCC constructed the York Street Steps staircase linking its Sussex Drive to Mackenzie Avenue offices in Ottawa [Canadian Human Rights Commission Press Release, May 27,
A terminated employee waited more than a year after she was fired to claim unpaid severance and termination pay. She admitted her claim was late but argued that she had been “preoccupied” and didn’t know she had a right to make the claim. But the Labour Relations Board wasn’t impressed and refused to let her file the claim [Malwatta v. Zellers Inc., 2009 CanLII 21073 (ON L.R.B.), April 28,
A U.S.-based IT services consulting company hires an experienced Canadian financial professional as director of special projects to work out of its Newfoundland office. The director signs an employment contract that says his relationship with the company is “terminable at will”— that is, either the director or the company may terminate the employment at any time and for any reason or for no reason. The clause goes on to say that any dispute arising over this clause will be governed by and construed in accordance with “substantive Canadian employment laws.” The company is disappointed with the director’s performance and fires him
A black truck driver claimed his manager committed racial discrimination. As evidence he noted that the manager referred to him as a “black man” and cited an incident when the manager quipped: “You don’t get paid—you are still a slave.” The human rights tribunal ruled that the joke about slavery, while in poor taste, was an isolated incident and, given the friendly bantering between the two men, not enough to constitute discrimination [Feleke v. Cox, 2009 BCHRT 7, (CanLII), Jan. 9,
The Federal Court recently ruled that the Canadian Human Rights Commission should not set an unduly restrictive threshold to establish a prima facie case of discrimination on grounds of family status. In Johnstone v. Canada (Attorney General) [2007] F.C.J. No. 43 (Fed. Ct.), Johnstone was a customs inspector employed with the Canada Border Security Agency (“CBSA”) at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. She could not find childcare that matched her or her husband’s shift schedule upon her return from maternity leave. With both her and her husband working rotating shifts, it was essentially impossible to find childcare. Johnstone requested accommodation
A company that installs HVAC equipment paid employees their regular wages for working on Good Friday and Victoria Day. But the company claimed that employees got their due because their regular wage rate during the year was actually “grossed up” to $15 per hour. The Labour Relations Board ruled that the arrangement violated the ESA. Unlike vacation pay, there’s no substitute formula for calculating statutory holiday pay under the ESA. Employees should either have gotten overtime or an extra day off [Polar Bear Geo-Thermal Systems Inc. v. Mai, No. 3112-08-ES, Labour Relations Board, April 9,
Here’s how human rights laws in each part of Canada define “family status”: FEDERAL: Not defined. ALBERTA: Being related to another person by blood, marriage or adoption [Alberta Human Rights Act, Sec. 44(1)(f)] BRITISH COLUMBIA: Not defined in statute. MANITOBA: Not defined in statute but government guidelines say it includes “being single, married, separated, divorced, remarried, common-law or widowed” as well as “being a parent, having children or dependents” and that “family relationships based on blood or marriage ties are also covered.” See, http://www.gov.mb.ca/hrc/english/publications/factsheets/prohib.html. NEW BRUNSWICK: Only jurisdiction that doesn’t specifically ban family discrimination. NEWFOUNDLAND/LABRADOR: Being in a parent and child relationship where "child"
A collective agreement allowed senior employees to “bump” into lower ranked positions to avoid a layoff. An employee with seniority wanted to bump to a lower position in one of the company’s offices nearer his home. The company wanted to bump him to a position at his current workplace. The court ruled that the employee had the right only to bump to a lower position, not to choose the site of that position. It noted that the agreement specifically gave the employer control over which locations employees worked [Hertz Canada Ltd. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, Local 175,
A new court ruling from Ontario sends an important message to employers in all parts of Canada: Consider employees’ emotional state when you negotiate severance packages with them. If you push the employee too hard to accept the deal, you might be found liable for acting “unconscionably.” Result: You may have to pay damages that far exceed what you saved by getting the employee to take the deal in the first place.
Tell newly hired employees that they must sign their employment contracts before they begin working. Letting employees sign their contracts after they’ve started the job could make the contract unenforceable later on. In order for a contract to be enforceable, each party must get “consideration”—that is, something of value—in exchange for signing it. When a newly hired employee signs an employment contract, the consideration for doing so is getting the job. But if you ask the employee to sign an employment contract after he’s started work—and thus already has the job—you must give him something else of value, such as a
Starting today, individuals ages 14 and 15 won’t be allowed to work unless they provide their employer proof of age, written consent from a parent or guardian and a certificate showing they’ve completed a course called the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course. The YWRCC requirement is the first of its kind in
Taking a page from BC, the territory adopted a new Code of Practice that requires employers to take special measures to protect new and young workers, including:
The bill granting unpaid leave for reservists received Royal assent. Conditions for leave: Purpose must be call up for active service or 15 days of annual training; employee must have worked at company for six consecutive months and, if possible, provide written notice to the employer four weeks before leave
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