Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
The 2010 CLawBie Awards have been announced. First Reference Talks is one of the finalists!
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Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
The oddly named Open for Business Act 2010 received royal assent on October 21, 2010. The purpose of this Ontario statute, as its name implies, is to promote Ontario as being “open for business”. It amends and simplifies procedures within a number of government ministries, including the Ministry of Labour.
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Friday, December 17th, 2010
On December 10, 2010, the Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety submitted its report to the Ontario government, containing several significant recommendations that will help improve workplace health and safety. The panel believes that…
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Friday, December 17th, 2010
I recently read a news release by the Alberta Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner that indicated that there are still high incidences of laptops containing personal information being stolen—without having security measures such as encryption put in place. The commissioner was left scratching his head.
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Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
As Christina Catenacci recently blogged, my home Province of Nova Scotia has taken steps to create a unified labour board. While the establishment of the Labour Board itself has not been the subject of much debate, the Bill that introduced it did create some controversy as it also introduced changes to our Trade Union Act.
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Friday, December 10th, 2010
I recently read an investigation report from the Alberta Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, where an employer made a big mistake and ended up violating the privacy of at least 25 employees.
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Thursday, December 9th, 2010
I guess I’m lucky never to have experienced harassment at work and I certainly never expect to at my current job—unless you count some gentle ribbing at the annual croquet tournament. But nevertheless, First Reference recently had its first mandated workplace violence and harassment training session to educate me and my co-workers on the company’s new mandated policies.
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Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
A Manitoba business owner was fined $33,500 for numerous workplace and safety violations which contributed to the death of a 15-year-old boy who was buried in burning asphalt.
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Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
In Ontario, the Employment Standards Act (ESA) requires employers to pay at least time and a half for all hours worked by an employee in excess of 44 per week. Employers who, for different reasons, fail to pay overtime pay have faced two types of claims by employees…
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Monday, December 6th, 2010
Customers demand more of businesses in so many ways these days—better quality and safety, greater social and environmental responsibility, extra service, and accessibility. The law increases its demands frequently, too. Even our governments and public service providers have a hard time keeping up with the legal requirements! Making improvements in all of these areas can challenge an organization, but only accessibility offers the advantage of access to a market of unrealized potential.
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Friday, December 3rd, 2010
In a recent post, I discussed an example of the employer doing the right thing. Unfortunately, today’s story is an example of the employer doing the wrong thing.
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Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
A topic that I address often in presentations and with clients is the failure, on the part of the vast majority of employers in Canada, to use employment agreements properly (if at all). As I have said many times, policies and agreements are the easiest ways for employers to establish the rights and obligations of the parties and avoid having them imposed by common law or other principles.
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Tuesday, November 30th, 2010
The holidays are right around the corner and this often translates into lots of company-sponsored events, parties and commitments. While these events bring joy and merriment to employees, they can also bring legal troubles for employers related to alcohol, harassment, violence and discrimination.
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Friday, November 26th, 2010
I recently read about a Bill coming out of Nova Scotia that proposes to merge a number of official forums involving employment and labour relations into one Labour Board, to simplify how workplace disputes are handled, and to establish a committee to keep labour relations laws relevant.
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Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
How would you manage Gordon Ramsay if he was your employee? How many of you are thinking, “With the revenue he generates, he can act any way he wants”?
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