Myths and misunderstandings regarding employees on leave
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
As more employees spend time on leaves of absence, employers seem to be struggling to understand their rights and obligations…
Read the rest of this post »Business, Payroll, Employment Law, Internal Controls & You!
Monday, January 16th, 2012
The federal government gave royal assent to Bill C-13, Keeping Canada’s Economy and Jobs Growing Act on December 15, 2011. Several of the measures enacted have an impact on employment law for federally regulated workplaces. One of the measures amends the Canadian Human Rights Act to eliminate the mandatory retirement age for federally regulated employees.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: age, age discrimination, age-based job requirement or qualification, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies, BFOR, Bill C-13 Keeping Canada’s Economy and Jobs Growing Act, bona fide occupational requirement, Canadian Human Rights Act, duty to accommodate, employment law, federally regulated employers, mandatory retirement, The normal age for retirement in Canada is 65, The Supreme Court of Canada, workplace policies
Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
As more employees spend time on leaves of absence, employers seem to be struggling to understand their rights and obligations…
Read the rest of this post »Tags: accommodation, Costco, Disability, Disability benefits, disability insurance, disability management, downsizing, duty to accommodate, eligibility for disability benefits, employment law, frustration of contract, Leaves of absence, maternity leave, medical evidence, medical leave, ongoing absence, parental leave, pregnancy leave, Return to work, right-sizing, terminating employee on leave, termination, undue hardship, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Benefits, Employment Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll | 3 Comments »
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011
Employers are often at a loss as to how to ensure employees who take sick days are really sick and not simply abusing the system. They are often scared to ask for doctor’s notes, but also scared that if they don’t, the abuse will become rampant. I often encourage employers to consider abandoning the notion of sick days altogether, and simply provide a fixed number of “personal days”, which eliminates the implicit or explicit requirement that an individual be sick in order to have time off.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: Absenteeism, abusing sick days, act of bad faith, Disability, discrimination, doctor's note, duty to accommodate, employment law, Honda v. Keays, managing absenteeism, personal days, policies and procedures, sick days, sick leave policy, time off to take care of personal responsibilities, vacation
Posted in Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
Although it was clearly discriminatory on the prohibited ground of disability, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal recently found it could not allow an applicant to smoke his medical marijuana in liquor-licensed establishments. This discrimination could be justified because…
Read the rest of this post »Tags: accommodation, ATP, Authorization to Possess Marijuana, chronic pain, Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, Liqor License Act, liquor license establishments, marijuana, medical marijuana, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, prohibited ground of disability, Regulatoin 719, sidestream marijuana smoke, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has invited citizens to submit short papers (six to eight pages) toward a dialogue on human rights, specifically relating to religious belief and practice as shaped by the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: dialogue on human rights, duty to accommodate, employment law, equal treatment, Faculty of Law, Ontario human rights commission, religious accommodation, religious belief and practice, secular society
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »
Friday, September 16th, 2011
The tribunal that decided the case of alleged discrimination against a part-time paramedic with multiple sclerosis who was shifted to a part-time ambulance driver position (at the paramedic’s pay rate) left some loose ends, according to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Court sent the case back to the tribunal to decide if the employer reasonably accommodated the employee, even though he was not able to perform important paramedic duties.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: accessibility, accommodation process, assistive devices, assistive technologies, BFOR, Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, employment law, human rights tribunal, multiple schlerosis, paramedic, Physical disability, resonably accommodated employee, Supreme Court of British Columbia, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »
Thursday, September 8th, 2011
We have just reported our Q2 2011 results. We have gone through the time consuming and detailed process of auditing and are now in the process of letting folks know what happened in Q2 2011 on a range of metrics. One measure that we have been keeping a close eye on is absenteeism. Absenteeism keeps going up and the Q2 results are continuing that trend.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: Absenteeism, absenteeism rate, aging workforce, Analytics, Attendance management programs, Attendance policy, costs of absenteeism, Disability management programs, duty to accommodate, employment opportunities, HR metrics, labour market opportunity, people costs, productivity, Time and attendance, unemployment, voluntary turnover
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Analytics, HRMS, Human Resources | Make a Comment »
Friday, August 26th, 2011
In July, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal made its third decision in the case of two Air Canada pilots who challenged the airline’s mandatory retirement policy. The tribunal decided in favour of Air Canada. Then, in August, the tribunal decided in a similar case involving 70 other Air Canada pilots. The tribunal again decided in favour of the airline, but for different reasons. For those hoping the July decision would settle the matter once and for all, the August decision is sure to confuse matters.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: accommodation, Air Canada, Air Canada pilots, bona fide occupational requirement, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, discrimination based on age, duty to accommodate, employment law, Federal Court, mandatory retirement, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations | Comments Off
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
As most of us are aware, the Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in the context of employment, and applies both during the employment relationship and in the hiring process. Most of us would take it as a given that you cannot make hiring decisions based upon grounds such as race, religion, gender, or disability. However, it is not quite as widely understood that the duty to accommodate an individual applies even to those who are not yet employees.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: alcohol and drug testing, Disability, discrimination, discrimination based upon protected grounds in the hiring process, DM v. Toronto District School Board, duty to accommodate, duty to accommodate applicants, employment law, employment relationship, failed to accommodate, gender, hiring decisions, hiring process, human rights code, human rights legislation, learning disability, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, pre-employment testing, race, religion
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
This is the longest day of the year and marks the changing of seasons. It is also a very important day for Aboriginal people…
Read the rest of this post »Tags: Canadian First Nations, changing of seasons, democracy, duty to accommodate, employment law, equality, First Nations Day, longest day of the year, Multiculturalism Day, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Public Holiday, Statutory Holiday
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | Make a Comment »
Monday, June 6th, 2011
Every employer has experience accommodating employees due to their religion, family needs, health or disability. Accommodation is a necessary practice to manage a workplace today, and it’s the law in Canada, enshrined in the Canadian Human Rights Act and various provincial statutes. But every case of accommodation is different, and interpretations of the law vary.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: accommodation, Allison Taylor, bona fide occupational requirement, Canadian Human Right Act, Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, employment law, family status, frustration of contract, Meiorin, Meiorin test, obligation to accommodate, Ontario Employment Law Conference, reasonable accommodation, religious beliefs, undue hardship
Posted in Conferences, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
Quebec launches a work-life balance initiative that is said to be unique in all the world. Let’s hope it catches on in other provinces and territories.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: child care, competitive labour market, daycare, duty to accommodate, employee retention, employment law, family-friendly workplaces, la norme Conciliation travail-famille, public and private sector employers, Quebec, work-family balance certification, work-life balance, Work-life balance incentives, work-life balance initiatives, work-life balance standard
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
The AODA customer service standard outlines what businesses and other organizations in Ontario must do to make their goods and services more accessible to people with disabilities by January 1, 2012. Every person or organization that provides goods and services to members of the public or other third parties, and has at least one employee in Ontario, must comply.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, accessibility standard, accessibility standard for customer service, AODA, Disability, duty to accommodate, employment law, human rights code, non-profit sectors, people with disabilities, Private sector
Posted in Accessibility Standards, Standard for Customer Service | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
What is your workplace policy on protecting (accommodating) employees and others who have food allergies, environmental sensitivities and other “hidden” of “non-evident” potential disabilities?
Read the rest of this post »Tags: Disability, discrimination, duty to accommodate, environmental sensitivities, food allergies in the workplace, occupational health and safety, safe working environment, Workplace policy
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development | Make a Comment »
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Interim changes to work reintegration policies under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act came into force recently. The new work reintegration policies formally integrate existing policies on early and safe return to work, re-employment and labour market re-entry.
Read the rest of this post »Tags: duty to accommodate, early and safe return to work, employment law, Labour Market Re-entry, policies and procedures, re-employment, Return to work, Return to work policy, RTW, suitable occupation, undue hardship, Work transition, work-related disease, work-related injury, workers compensation, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, wsib, WSIB work reintegration policies
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 2 Comments »
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