Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
The question for Steve in this workplace scenario is: did you know your actions were unwelcome at the time of the occurrence?
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Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
I am a workplace human rights trainer and I learn of some important real-life scenarios from my workshop participants. I am often asked to provide expert feedback. The following are two very interesting workplace human rights scenarios—I have changed the names of those involved:
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Friday, March 18th, 2011
The Information and Communication, Employment and Transportation Standards have all been combined in the Proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation (PIAR). This proposed regulation is currently under public review till March 18, 2011. Proposed compliance timelines are included. I was told by a source close to the ministry that the final version of the Integrated Accessibility Regulation will…
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Friday, March 11th, 2011
On March 8, 2011, just in time for International Women’s Day, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a new policy regarding sexual and gender-based harassment. It has been noted that although great strides have been made for women in the past hundred years, there is still a long way to go to eliminate the barriers women face. The new policy deals mainly with sexual harassment in employment, housing and education.
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Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
As a workplace violence consultant and subject matter expert, I am well aware that irate customers pose a very real threat to front-line workers. It’s not very often that I am that irate customer.
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Friday, January 21st, 2011
The Ontario Court of Appeal just rendered an interesting decision regarding whether independent contractors are to be counted when determining the need to establish and maintain a joint health and safety committee pursuant to subsection 9(2)(a)of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
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Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Although some readers believe that any kind of workplace violence is inappropriate, there was a consensus that acting within reason to protect yourself is okay—nobody should be expected to “stand there and take a beating”.
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Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
On September 2, 2010, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services published the proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation (IAR) under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) for public consultation by interested stakeholders. The IAR combines the information and communications, employment and transportation standards into a single, integrated regulation. The proposed compliance timelines are also listed.
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Monday, August 23rd, 2010
The common meaning of multi-tasking is doing more than one thing at once, like walking and chewing gum. Do you hold several conversations at the same time—on the phone, on Facebook and in person? Do you listen to music or the radio or watch TV or eat lunch while you check your favourite blogs and watch your auctions on eBay? Do you have several work projects on the go, spread across your real and virtual desktops? Is it hard to keep track?
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
If a fire occurs in the workplace do you and your employees know what to do?
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Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
I recently read a very interesting article in the Edmonton Journal that indicated that working with “linksters”, also referred to as the tech-savvy generation, calls for understanding from employers.
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Monday, July 26th, 2010
An organization with dedicated departments and strictly delineated staff roles might be easy to manage when things are running smoothly, but what happens when someone gets sick, goes on vacation or leaves the company, and there’s no one else who can perform that person’s duties? Or what if both employees who can perform a certain duty are away from work at the same time? The last thing you want to be doing is scrambling to figure out how to do something at the last minute when you expected it to be done a week before, or training someone to do something entirely new while that deadline looms.
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Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
As a human rights advisor and educator I was encouraged to overhear this educational conversation about harassment at Tim Hortons. I was concerned however that part of the message this group was hearing was incorrect and misleading.
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Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
You have a legal obligation to understand how the race, religion and sexual orientation of your employees can impact their safety at work. Understanding these factors will empower you to take steps to protect your workers from harassment and violence as required by the recent amendments to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (Bill 168).
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Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
I got a call the other day from a relieved client. She and her management team have, after months of hard work, put the finishing touches on their new workplace harassment and violence policies in compliance with Ontario’s Bill 168…
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