First Reference Talks

Women’s expectations in the workplace may play critical role in how they are treated at work

Friday, May 27th, 2011

Canadian women starting their careers still expect to earn considerably less than men, wait longer then men for promotions, and have lower salaries after five years of working, according to a soon-to-be-released study. This despite the fact that some believe we are reaching the point of equality in the workplace. Why is this happening? Why do women still have these expectations?

Tags: career, career counsellors, discrimination, employment law, equal pay for equal work, equality for women, equality in the workplace, gap in actual earnings, gender gap, historical gender-role stereotyping, labour market, lower earnings, male-dominated fields, management, negotiation, Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office 101, pay equity, salary, salary expectations, Unconscious Mistakes Women Make that Sabotage Their Careers, under-representation of women in male-dominated fields, Women’s expectations in the workplace, work-life balance
Posted in Employee Relations, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | 2 Comments »

AODA: Inappropriate words can bite – the customer service standard

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

The Accessibility Standard for Customer Service Regulation obligates Ontario businesses and their employees to communicate with persons with disabilities in a manner that takes into account the person’s disability. Employers must train employees to interact and communicate with people that have various types of disabilities…

Tags: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Accessibility Standard for Customer Service Regulation, AODA, appropriate terminology, customer service standard, Disability, discrimination, disease, disorder, dysfunctional, employment law, malicious intent, medical model of disability, medical terminology, mental disability, method of communication, negative stereotypes, people with disabilities, person with a disability, social model of disability, stigmas, training, traumatic incident, words to perpetuate negative stereotypes
Posted in Accessibility Standards, Standard for Customer Service | Make a Comment »

Bill 168, workplace violence and harassment provisions in OHSA – A year in review – Learn the latest

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Nearly one year ago, the Ontario government enacted Bill 168, which added workplace violence and harassment provisions to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Many employers were ready, but many are still scrambling to comply, which, among other things, includes developing written policies to address both violence and harassment at work and to review those policies at least once a year.

Tags: Bill 168, Due diligence, employment law, measures and procedures, MOL inspections, non-compliance, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, Ontario Ministry of Labour, policies and programs, risk assessments, training, Training of employees, workplace harassment, workplace violence, workplace violence and harassment, written policies
Posted in Conferences, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Listen to your employees and reduce your workload!

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

The Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) requires that when conducting a workplace violence risk assessment you take into account both the nature of your workplace and type of work you perform…

Tags: Bill 168, canadian employment law, employment law, harassment and violence policy, occupational health and safety act, OH&S, OHSA, ontario, policies and procedures, risk assessment, safety, training, training workshops, workplace violence, workplace violence risk assessment
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

May 23, 2011: Victoria Day, public holiday in some jurisdictions

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Employees get a day off with regular pay or public holiday pay (depending on the province or territory of employment). If the employee is required to work on the holiday, the employee must be paid regular wages and get a substituted day off with pay at a later date (depending on the province or territory of employment).

Tags: Diamond Jubilee in 1897, Empire Day, employment law, employment standards act, Public Holiday, Public Holiday Pay, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, retail holiday, Shop's closing act, Victoria day
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Preventing injury and deaths of the scaffolding workers

Friday, May 20th, 2011

Last August, I told you about the horrific scaffolding accident where five workers fell 13 storeys from an apartment building on Christmas Eve 2009. Four died and one suffered serious leg and spinal injuries. At this point, we must learn from this accident in order to ensure it never happens again.

Tags: accident prevention, bodily harm, Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine, criminal charges, criminal code, criminal negligence causing death, fatality, injury, Ministry of Labour, occupational health and safety act, ontario, safety training, Scaffold safety tips, scaffolding
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Slaw: Manitoba introduces Canada’s first Adult Abuse Registry

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

On May 11, 2011, Manitoba proposed Canada’s first adult abuse registry as well as tough new offences and penalties to better protect adults with intellectual disabilities. The registry would make the names of those who abuse or neglect vulnerable adults under any Act available to employers for screening potential employees or volunteers. Similar registries already exist in the United States.

Tags: Adult Abuse Registry, adults with intellectual disabilities, employment law, history of abuse, intellectual disabilities, manitoba, offences and penalties, screening potential employees or volunteers, vulnerable adults
Posted in Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

CIO provides insight into federal skilled worker processing

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

During the recent Canadian Bar Association Citizenship and Immigration Conference in Gatineau, Quebec, representatives of the Central Intake Office (“CIO”) in Sydney, Nova Scotia, provided some helpful insight into its processing of Federal Skilled Worker (“FSW”) applications. The CIO screens all FSW applications in order to verify that submitted applications satisfy the Ministerial Instructions, which currently restrict who can apply under the FSW class.

Tags: Canadian Bar Association Citizenship and Immigration Conference, Central Intake Office, designated occupation, employment law, federal skilled worker, federal skilled worker processing, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Immigration Law, Minister of Citizenship
Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Moral damages: still an unsettled question

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

A recent case out of the Quebec Superior Court Lysecky v. United Parcel Service of Canada Limited 2010 QCCS 5098 is indicative how the question of “moral damages” is still unsettled law.

Tags: bad faith during the termination, Civil law, common law, employment law, extension of the notice period, Fox v. Silver Sage Housing Corporation, Honda v. Keays, Lysecky v. United Parcel Service of Canada Limited, manner of dismissal, mental distress, moral damages, notice period, Quebec, Quebec Superior Court, Supreme Court of Canada, terminations, Wallace damages, Wallace v. United Grain Growers, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Social networking and Internet abuse in the workplace – Learn the latest

Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

We’ve written plenty on First Reference Talks about the significant effects—both negative and positive—that online social networking can have on workplaces. Whether its Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, news or entertainment blogs or what-have-you, employees are using social media, and increasingly they’re doing it on your time. Employers should be aware of the potential value they can derive from social media, as well as the potential risks.

Tags: blogs, communication, defamation, employment law, facebook, harassment, Internet, internet policies, LinkedIn, morale, Network Security, Ontario Employment Law Conference, performance management, productivity, security, social media, social networking, social networking policies, Stringer Brisbin Humphrey, termination, time theft, twitter, YouTube
Posted in Conferences, Human Resources, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Duty of care and sending employees abroad: How much do organizations need to care?

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

More and more organizations are asking the question: “What are the responsibilities associated with managing a travelling workforce?” This question has been increasingly relevant as of late, with a number of Canadian companies taking notice of the recent events in Egypt, Libya, and Japan.

Tags: business travel, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Canadian Department of Justice, Conduct risk assessments, criminal code, directing the work of others, Duty of care, employment law, ensure the safety of workers, health and safety management, health and safety system, high risk destinations, managing a travelling workforce, provide training for employees travelling, provincial health and safety regulations, reasonable standard of duty of care, sending employees abroad, travel risk analysis
Posted in Corporate Immigration, Health and Safety | Make a Comment »

The importance of a well-crafted employment agreement

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Despite being one of the most basic and fundamental legal protections employers can have, many employers do not use written employment agreements when they hire new employees.

Tags: anti-competition clauses, employment agreement, employment contract, employment law, employment relationship, employment standards act, Enforcing employment contract, hiring, litigation, minimum standards, reasonable clauses, restricitve covenants, Termination clause, terms of employment
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | 2 Comments »

Why measure HR?

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

The most frequently used analogy when it comes to measuring HR is that of driving a car without a speedometer: how would you drive if you did not know your speed?

The deeper we look into HR measurement the less satisfying this analogy becomes. The basic premise that you need information to perform well is correct. However, when you have a speedometer and you are going too fast, your actions are obvious – you take your foot of the gas pedal.

This direct link between information and action is not the case for HR.

Tags: Analytics, dashboard, Data, exit interview data, HR Metric Service, HR metrics, HR profession, HR professionals, measurement, measuring HR, turnover, Why measure HR
Posted in HR Analytics, HRMS, Human Resources | 2 Comments »

Applying overtime rules in Ontario can sometimes be complicated

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

Ontario’s Employment Standards Act provides that in most circumstance, an employee who works more than 44 hours in a given week shall be paid at least one and one-half times his or her regular rate of pay for overtime hours worked. However, this simple rule can become complicated and lead to lawsuits, as several employers have found out recently due to their failure to pay statutory overtime.

Tags: canadian employment law, employment law, employment standards act, Employment Standards regulation, managers or supervisors, O. Reg. 285/01, ontario, Ontario Labour Relations Board, Overtime guide, overtime hours, overtime hours worked, overtime pay, overtime rules, Overtime rules in Ontario, Overtime threshold, policies and procedures, policy manual, statutory overtime
Posted in Compensation, Employment Standards, Human Resources, Payroll | 1 Comment »