Avoid ‘Inducement’ Risks When Recruiting Employees from Other Companies
Safety orientation training for new and young workers is either a legal requirement or best practice. Sometimes the best person for a job works at another company. Wooing these people is […]
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Can I Fire An Employee For Breaking Our Policy?
Many employers establish policies that they expect their employees to follow, but a policy is not likely to be followed if there are no consequences for an employee who chooses […]
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PRIDE Guide
June is PRIDE month, a time to celebrate all people of all genders and sexual orientations. PRIDE stands for ‘Promote Respect, Inclusion and Dignity for Everyone’. As an employer you […]
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Know The Laws Of Your Province on Minimum Age Requirements
All jurisdictions impose age restrictions to protect young workers from being hired for jobs that may harm their health, safety or welfare. Here’s a rundown of the minimum age requirements […]
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How to Manage Off Duty Conduct
Holding employees accountable for what they do when they’re off duty and away from work. What employees do when they’re away from work is none of your business; your disciplinary authority […]
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Off Duty Conduct – Ask the Expert
Can You Terminate an Employee for Posting Anti-Semitic Remarks on Facebook? Off-duty conduct is grounds for discipline when it directly impacts the workplace. QUESTION We just discovered that one of our employees is […]
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Video Surveillance Policy
Closed circuit television and other surveillance equipment can help you keep your work facility safe and secure. But it can also violate the personal privacy of individuals who are monitored. […]
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Honesty Is The Best Policy: Employer Punished For Misleading Employee About Sale Of Business
In Gascon v Newmont Goldcorp. ("Gascon"),1 an Ontario court has sent a strong warning to employers about the consequences of misleading employees into believing that they will remain employed following a sale […]
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Time Theft Policy
With labour in short supply, HR directors face the challenge of getting maximum productivity out of the employees they have. Perhaps the greatest obstacle standing in the way of that […]
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Are You Prepared For An Incident Of Workplace Violence In Your Workplace?
Many of us were stunned to witness Will Smith slapping Chris Rock live on stage at the 2022 Oscars award show. Fallout from that incident is still continuing to mount […]
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Avoiding Liability For Gender Expression & Identity Discrimination
The transgendered and gender non-conforming remain a common target for workplace discrimination, harassment and even violence, even though human rights laws are supposed to protect against discrimination on the basis […]
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At a Glance: Termination of Employment in Canada
Termination of employment Grounds for termination May an employer dismiss an employee for any reason or must there be ‘cause’? How is cause defined under the applicable statute or regulation? In most jurisdictions, […]
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The Right to Disconnect
Never has it been more difficult for Canadian workers to achieve a proper balance between life and work. With labour in short supply, employees are being pressured to work longer hours; […]
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Cameras in the Workplace: From Justified Surveillance to Psychological Harassment
In a recent decision,[1] the Tribunal administratif du travail (the “Tribunal”) concluded that an employer’s excessive surveillance by means of security cameras was a violation of its employees’ right to dignity and integrity, and […]
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Workplaces Need Ethics
Dias case highlights need for code of ethics in workplaces. In the wake of allegations against Unifor former national president Jerry Dias, experts say companies should make sure their ethics policies […]
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Gender Identity & Expression Policy
Gender expression and identity discrimination tends to be a blind spot in organizational efforts to comply with human rights laws. While general anti-discrimination policies mention these traits, they rarely address […]
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Canadian Workforce Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
When we talk about diversity we often reference several aspect of diversity. Diversity as defined by Employment Equity refers to 4 groups: Women, Visible minorities, Indigenous people, People with a […]
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The Legal Risks of Digitally Monitoring Employees
The Legal Risks of Digitally Monitoring Employees Use of digital monitoring solutions may violate employees’ privacy rights under the following laws: PIPEDA & Provincial Privacy Laws Personal privacy legislation, including the federal Personal Information […]
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…Introducing Electronic Monitoring Legislation, A First Of Its Kind
On February 28, the Ontario government tabled Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, 2022, which, if passed, would enact the Digital Platform Workers’ Rights Act, 2022 and make amendments to the Employment Standards […]
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Termination: Employee Fired for COVID-19 Insubordination Gets His Job Back
A supervisor ordered a worker with COVID-19 symptoms to get tested and self-isolate while awaiting the results, in accordance with company protocols. The worker did neither of these things; to […]
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Revenge Porn – Know The Laws Of Your Province
Most provinces have either adopted or soon will adopt revenge porn legislation Posting intimate images of a person without their consent, typically referred to as revenge porn because it often occurs […]
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Does Mental Illness Excuse Theft and Other Serious Employee Violations?
The “it wasn’t me, it was my mental illness” excuse for workplace misconduct rarely works “It wasn’t me; it was my mental illness.” That’s something employees are apt to say after […]
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Workers Comp Bars Assault-Based Constructive Dismissal Lawsuit
A lab chemist slammed a female co-worker in the arm with her fume hood window, causing a bruise. The chemist claimed the hood was too far open and that he […]
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OK to Fire Librarian for Loaning Sexually Explicit Novels to High School Students
A few years after being suspended for 5 days for engaging in an inappropriate Facebook Messenger conversation with a vulnerable female student, a teacher librarian was terminated for lending out […]
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Nurses’ Union Loses Bid to Widen COVID-19 N95 Respirator Directive
In the early days of the pandemic, the Ontario Chief Public Health Officer issued a directive that healthcare workers be equipped with N95 respirators to protect against exposure to aerosols […]
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Privacy Law in the Workplace
Recorded Date: November 23, 2021 Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM PST Speaker: Jill Wilkie Recording: To access the recording of this webinar, please go here. As a member of OHS Insider, use discount […]
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An Employment Lawyer’s Guide to Leaning In on DEI
When a company’s HR or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) department has a new idea for advancing diversity, one of the first things they do is reach out to their […]
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Code of Conduct for Virtual Meetings
Harassment-wise, the virtual meeting has become the digital equivalent to the holiday office party. Far from eliminating workplace harassment, telecommuting has only caused it to morph into digital forms. As a […]
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13 Ways to Battle Islamophobia in Canadian Workplaces
In January of 2017, an act of terror took the lives of six people at the Grand Mosque in Québec City and seriously injured 19 others. Their deaths were heartbreaking […]
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July 28: Using Mediation for Conflict Resolution in the Workplace
RECORDED DATE: July 28, 2021 TIME: 9:00-10:30AM PDT SPEAKER: Heather Hettiarachchi, LLB MSc CPHR To access the recording of this webinar, please go here. As a member of OHS Insider, use discount code HRIVIP21 to watch […]
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