Texting at Service Stop Is Just Cause to Fire Driver with Disciplinary History
Sending a text message on her cell phone while her vehicle was parked at a service stop with its four-way flashers on was the last straw for a city bus […]
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Oct 13 – When Equality Doesn’t Cut It: How to Bring an Equity Lens to Workplace Violence Prevention PART 2
Recorded Date: October 13, 2021 Time: 9:00-10:30AM PDT Speaker: Jennifer Mak and Glenn French Recording To access the recording of this webinar, please go here. As a sequel to Part 1 of this two-part webinar series, […]
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Court Quashes WSIAT Stress Decision and Allows Constructive Dismissal Case to Proceed
Historically, workers’ compensation law placed a highly restrictive definition on traumatic mental stress injuries, which meant as a practical matter very few stress claims would ever be allowed. However, successful […]
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Repeated Absences Are Just Cause for Termination
A welder terminated for failing to show up for 6 scheduled shifts over a 3-week period blamed his absences on a bad back and sued for wrongful dismissal. The company […]
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Negative Tweets about Boss Are Grounds for Discipline, but Not Termination
Getting into a Twitter war with his boss, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, proved to be an unwise career move for a government legal official. The series of tweets personally […]
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Fatal Accident Costs Bus Driver His Driving Position but Not His Employment
A Toronto Transit Commission bus driver got fired after running over a 14-year-old passenger right after she exited the bus. Adding to the gut-wrenching was that the driver continued on […]
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Criminal Weapons Possession Charges Doesn’t Justify Worker’s Suspension
A hog fuel operator was suspended after police raided his home and seized a cache of 27 firearms, including a sub-machine gun, three semi-automatic rifles, two shotguns, a stun gun, […]
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Employee Gets 10-Day Suspension for Ill-Advised COVID Prank
An apprentice gardener just returning to work after a 2-week COVID absence thought it would be funny to prank a co-worker by waving him down, getting him to open his […]
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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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Ontario Decision: Important Reminder to Review and Update Termination Provisions
Last year, we wrote about the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Waksdale v. Swegon North America that cast doubt on the enforceability of termination provisions in many employment contracts in Ontario. […]
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OK to Treat Union’s Failure to Object as Approval of Disciplinary Action Extension
To ensure speedy action, a collective agreement required the employer to impose discipline within 21 days of its “first reasonable opportunity to have knowledge of the circumstances giving rise to […]
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Worker Did Commit Sexual Harassment but Didn’t Deserve to Get Fired
A government worker was fired after a co-worker accused him of sexual harassment. The union contended that the charges were false, even though the worker admitted to calling the alleged […]
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Infectious Disease Emergency Leave And Wrongful Dismissal
Ontario employees on temporary layoff (or on reduced hours) due to COVID-19 are currently deemed to be on Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (“IDEL”) under the Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”), but may nonetheless […]
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Employee Privacy And Disciplinary Actions
Employers should have strong privacy management programs in place and should consider potential privacy issues when making disciplinary decisions. Generally, employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy on workplace computers and […]
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Employee Privacy And Disciplinary Actions
Employers should have strong privacy management programs in place and should consider potential privacy issues when making disciplinary decisions. Generally, employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy on workplace computers and […]
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Teacher Disciplined for Leaving Work to Participate in Protest Without Permission
A school district issued a letter of discipline to a long-tenured, highly regarded music teacher for leaving work to participate in a public protest against budget cuts on school grounds. […]
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Court Refuses to Give Employer Blank Cheque to Discipline for OHS Infractions
After her fourth safety violation, the City of Halifax decided that progressive discipline had run its course and fired a municipal bus driver. The Nova Scotia arbitrator found the penalty […]
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Employers’ First Glance At Vaccinations – Mandatory In The Workplace Or Not?
With the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations expected to soon be administered to Canadians, some employers are no doubt asking one important question: to what extent can vaccination be mandatorily […]
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Can You Fire Employees for Off-Duty Conduct?
Yes, when the misconduct does or has the potential to harm the organization’s reputation. There’s a widespread myth that what employers do when they’re away from work is their own business […]
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Managing Challenging Employees During the Pandemic
Date: December 2, 2020 Duration 60 Minutes Presenter: Alanna Twohey, Research Layer at Emond Harnden Download Slides Below About the Webinar The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is now well underway, and employers are […]
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Recent Ontario Employment-related Decisions Heavily Favour Employees
A number of recent cases decided by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal are changing the likely outcomes of wrongful dismissal litigation in Canada […]
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Progressive Discipline Quiz
QUESTION What factors should an employer consider if misconduct or behavior of an employee is severe enough to fire an employee? ANSWER Seriousness and/or frequency of a problem with an employee. Employee’s […]
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You Make The Call: Is This a Valid COVID-19 Screening & Quarantine Measure?
PANDEMIC QUARANTINE LAW, 101 OHS laws require employers to take reasonable or reasonably practicable health and safety measures to protect workers and others at the workplace against known hazards. Risk of […]
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HR Compliance Briefing: Key Trends in Employee Drug Testing Law
What's At Stake An employer's right to test and discipline employees for workplace drug and alcohol use or impairment comes down to a balancing of competing interests: The employer's interest, nay […]
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How To Use Positive Discipline Within The Workplace
Date: March 28, 2018 Speaker: Alka Ramchandani Employers are highly scrutinized for all adverse employment actions, whether it be a demotion, change in title, suspension or termination. Many employers often refrain from […]
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The Latest and Greatest from the World of Employment and Labour Law: A Review of Key Recent Decisions and Must-Knows for HR Professionals
Date: September 20, 2017 Speaker: James D. Kondopulos, Partner at Roper Greyell LLP The world of employment and labour law is constantly evolving. Join James D. Kondopulos of the Vancouver-based employment and labour law boutique of Roper […]
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Bullying & Harassment in the Workplace
Date: February 8, 2017 Speaker: Heather Hettiarachchi, LL.B; M.Sc; CPHR This webinar provides an overview of employer obligations in relation to workplace bullying and harassment with an emphasis on British Columbia's legislation in this regard. Upon completion […]
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Top Employment Cases and Legislative Changes of 2016: A Year-in-Review of Lessons for Employers
Date: November 30th, 2016 It has been another busy year in employment law, both in the courts and in the halls of government. As 2016 draws to a close, we take […]
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Converting Entitlement to Partnership: What To Do When Your Employees Act Entitled
Converting Entitlement to Partnership “We do our best to foster a spirit of engagement and ownership but, somehow, certain employees seem to feel they’re entitled to automatic pay increases and bonuses. […]
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Firing Employees for the Things They Post on Facebook
“How could I have assumed that a release on a Facebook page would be grounds for dismissal?” “Facebook is a social networking site, it is merely the equivalent of […]
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