July, 2012
July 31, 2012 Earl Altman Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring,
The increasing internationalization of employment has resulted in greater complexity for employers in determining which country’s laws will apply to the employment relationships they enter. While the general presumption is that the law of the province, territory or state in which the employee works will apply, the appropriate locale is not always easy to determine. The employee may work in a number of jurisdictions, or be hired in one jurisdiction and placed to work in another. In order to avoid the potential pitfalls in such relationships…
circumstances surrounding the execution of the agreement, commercial reality, commercial reasonableness, Confidentiality Agreements, employment contracts, employment law, employment relationship, globalization, intended relationship between the parties, internationalization of employment, restrictive covenants
July 30, 2012 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Wages and Compensation,
We’re pleased to present lawyer Andrew Langille of Youth and Work on what the law in Ontario says about unpaid internships. Here, Andrew focuses on the impact of unpaid internships on interns themselves, but organizations and businesses that use or hope to use unpaid interns must pay attention. It is crucial to know whether your intern is legally an intern (and therefore not subject to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act), or actually an employee. And the answer might surprise you.
academic program, Andrew Langille, benefit of the individual, co-op program, David Doorey, displace employees, employment law, employment standards act, Employment Standards Information Centre, Human Rights Legal Support Centre, internships, Law Society of Upper Canada, Lawyers Referral Service, Nav Bhandal, ontario, Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario Labour Relations Board, Ontario Ministry of Labour, remuneration, Ross Perlin, small claims court, students, trainees, unpaid internships, vocational school, young and new workers
July 27, 2012 Christina Catenacci Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation,
Regulations to amend the Employment Insurance Regulations have been published in the Canada Gazette to extend the Best 14 Weeks pilot project until 2013. The Working while on Claim pilot project is being replaced by a new project to encourage claimants to work more while receiving benefits. These Regulations are now in force.
Best 14 weeks pilot project, best practices, calculating employment insurance EI benefits, EI, EI pilot projects, Employment Insurance, Employment Insurance Regulations, encourage claimants to work more while receiving EI benefits, Federal Budget 2012, pilot project, Regular EI benefits, Special EI benefits, Working while on claim
July 26, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Union Relations,
Employer properly withheld documents in access to information request Alberta’s privacy commissioner confirmed that an employer properly withheld certain information from an employee because the personal information of a… Ontario Court of Appeal upholds nearly $200,000 in damages for loss of disability benefits during common law notice period Reasonable notice under the common [...]
Disability, Disability benefits, employment law, grievance, Labour Law, personal information of employee, post employment benefits, termination, termination notice, terminations, workplace violence
July 26, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employee Relations, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring,
On July 25, 2012, British Columbia’s Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham published an investigation report recommending changes to the B.C. government’s use of criminal record checks to assess current and future employees.
background checks, British Columbia Privacy Commissioner, criminal records checks, employee criminal record checks, employment law, employment-related record checks, Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Reference checks, risk of liability
July 26, 2012 Amery Boyer Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring,
According to Susan J. Herman, author of Hiring Right, A Practical Guide, the interview is the most frequently used selection tool and the least valid and reliable. Validity is the degree to which a selection tool like testing or interviewing measures what it is supposed to measure. The closer a statistic is to 1, the more valid it is. Yet interviews have an average validity of 0.14 while ability testing has an average validity of 0.53.
Ability testing, Applicant, bias, extracurricular leadership, Halo effect, hiring decision, HR issues, interview, interviewee, interviewer, interviewer bias, interviewing measures, job applicant, organizational behaviour, poor performance, qualifications, rater bias, selection tool, Stereotyping
July 25, 2012 Alison J. Bird Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation,
On June 21, the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed the trial decision in Bowes v. Goss. It held that the duty to mitigate does not apply where an employment contract contains a clause setting out an employee’s severance entitlement arising from a termination without cause. However, the decision maintains the duty to mitigate where it is expressly incorporated in the employment contract.
common law reasonable notice, duty to mitigate, employment contract, employment law, fixed notice period, reasonable notice, severance, severance entitlement, termination without cause, terminations, wrongful dismissal
July 24, 2012 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Wages and Compensation,
A closer look at the economic effect of unpaid internships on employers and interns themselves.
360° perspective, college and university students, college internships, economic effect, employment law, exploiting their unpaid interns, Graduation, intern law, interns, labour market, motivated by non-monetary values, networking, organizational structure, practical experience, unpaid internships, work placements
July 23, 2012 Marcia Scheffler Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Wages and Compensation,
Senior managers and HR directors alike agree that the main challenge facing organizations in the future will be finding and keeping skilled labour. I’d like to suggest that your organization can start the process of recruiting future employees by providing a positive and successful experience to summer students. I outline six steps on how to do this…
Canada Summer Jobs Program, career development, career paths, clear job description, employee feedback, employee orientation, employee retention, employment law, hiring students, integrating new employees, internships, performance reviews, skilled labour, skills shortage, specific duties, Student hire, student jobs, summer employment, summer jobs, unpaid interns
July 20, 2012 David Hyde Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security,
Ontario’s recently enacted workplace violence amendment places a legal onus on provincially regulated employers to safeguard employees from the risk of domestic violence in the workplace. Additional jurisdictions are likely to follow suit. In legal terms, domestic violence is increasingly becoming a foreseeable workplace risk. In moral terms, inaction on this growing workplace issue would introduce unacceptable human risk.
Bill 168, domestic violence, domestic violence and the workplace, Due diligence, employment law, foreseeable harm, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, ontario, personal safety plan, reasonability, risk management, risk management strategy, safety plan, section 32.0.4, threat assessment, threat management plan, threat of domestic violence, threat of violence, workplace harassment, workplace injury, workplace investigation, workplace safety plan, workplace violence, workplace violence policy, workplace violence program, WorksafeBC
July 19, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights,
Gender identity and access to women’s washroom facilities Would it be discriminatory to prohibit a pre-operative, male-to-female transsexual from entering a women’s washroom? The answer should be of interest to any employer or business offering services or accommodation to the public. (In PDF) Performance review must take into consideration a person’s disability An [...]
consideration, Disability, duty to accommodate, employment law, gender identity, human rights complaints, National origin, performance review, race, termination, transgendered, transsexual
July 19, 2012 Henry J. Chang Corporate Immigration, Human Resources,
Citizenship and Immigration Canada recently updated its Foreign Worker Manual, which provides guidance to CIC and Canada Border Services Agency officers who adjudicate work permit applications. The updated version includes revisions to sections that describe the C12 and NAFTA intracompany transferee exemptions.
C12, Canada Border Services Agency, CIC, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, employment law, Foreign Worker Manual, ICT, intracompany transferee, intracompany transferee exemption, Labour Market Opinion, LMO, NAFTA, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, United States Customs Border Protection, work permit application
July 19, 2012 Henry J. Chang Corporate Immigration, Human Resources,
On June 29, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada published Operational Bulletin 438, which states that a temporary pause has been placed on new applications filed under the Federal Skilled Worker Program, excluding applications received under the PhD eligibility stream and those with a qualifying offer of arranged employment. A temporary pause has also been placed on all new applications filed under the federal Immigrant Investor Program.
CIC, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, employment law, Federal Skilled Worker Program, Foreign workers, FSWP, Immigrant Investor Program, Ministerial Instructions, Operational Bulletin 438, phd stream, program streams
July 18, 2012 Christina Catenacci Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations,
An Ontario labour arbitrator just allowed an employee’s grievance after the employer terminated him for swearing, refusing to leave the workplace and threatening the vice-president with a shovel. As horrible as this incident sounds, the employer had absolutely no proof of the events because the employer did not follow its own policy and conduct a proper investigation.
anti-harassment policy, anti-violence policy, collective agreements, disipline policy, employment law, grievance, Labour Law, lack of evidence, misconduct, no termination notice, prior incidents of discipline, progressive discipline, sunset clause, termination for cause, threats, workplace harassment, workplace investigation, workplace violence
July 17, 2012 Suzanne Cohen Share Accessibility Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Standard for the Built Environment,
A photo of a beautifully designed stairway with an integrated accessibility ramp recently caught my eye. It is a fine example of a creative and attractive solution to a problem we are seeing more and more. Unfortunately, I think the stair is actually a hazard for anyone who uses it, not just persons with disabilities!
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, accessible design, age, Americans with Disabilities Act, AODA, handrails, health and safety, human rights code, McCormick Tribune Campus Center, mobility, mobility device, ontario, ramp, seniors, Slips and falls, wheelchair
Good day, I have just recently started a new job in the Position of Regional Loss Prevention Manager. I am a former Military Police Officer... – May 16, 7:14 AM
Sarnia lawyer targeted by opposing party in family estate settlement: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/archives/sunnews/canada/2013/05/20130510-133258.html – May 10, 2:12 PM
