workplace investigation
May 16, 2013 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation,
The three most viewed articles on HRinfodesk this week deal with differential treatment in the workplace, how an employee’s dishonesty and breach of confidentiality during a workplace investigation led to termination for cause and how a settlement was easily characterized as a retiring allowance.
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March 7, 2013 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations,
The three most viewed articles on HRinfodesk this week deal with whether an employer had the right to terminate an employee’s employment without notice , how a government employee alleged discrimination on the basis of disability and the Ontario Labour Relations Board’s decision permitting the use of telematic devices to monitor company vehicles.
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February 11, 2013 Alison J. Bird Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights,
Across Canada, there is a trend in human rights law to increase protections for transgendered individuals. Last year, Ontario and Manitoba joined the Northwest Territories in expressly including “gender identity” as a prohibited ground of discrimination under their human rights legislation. Ontario also included “gender expression” as a prohibited ground. In addition, Nova Scotia in 2012 added “gender identity” and “gender expression” to its Human Rights Act to protect transgendered persons from discrimination.
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January 25, 2013 Stuart Rudner Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Union Relations,
A recent decision rendered by an Ontario Arbitrator raises questions about the hard line that seemed to have been taken by adjudicators as a result of An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace and other matters (formerly Bill 168), which amended the Occupational Health & Safety Act in order to address workplace violence and harassment.
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November 8, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation,
The three most popular HRinfodesk articles this week deal with CPP rates for 2013, psychological health and safety, and investigating workplace violence.
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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.
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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.
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June 25, 2012 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations,
The New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench recently challenged the Human Rights Commission’s decision to dismiss an employee’s discrimination complaint based on age as without merit. The employer denies discriminating against the employee on the basis of his age, and maintains that the employee was terminated for poor performance.
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June 8, 2012 Yosie Saint-Cyr Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting,
Our federal government’s recent introduction of proposed reforms to the employment insurance system has prompted the expected furor from both sides of the debate…
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June 8, 2012 Clear Path Employer Services Health and Safety, Human Resources, Training and Development,
Imagine a situation where your employee is seriously injured by an outside party…
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May 18, 2012 David Hyde Health and Safety, Human Resources, Training and Development
Despite the fact that a significant majority of Canadian organizations are legally obligated to conduct workplace violence risk assessments, it appears that uncertainty and inconsistency are commonplace when it comes to the actual conduct of the assessment. This month, we will take a closer look at workplace violence risk assessments: what they are, what they aren’t, common pitfalls in conducting them and some best practice considerations from the available literature.
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March 29, 2012 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources
Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench recently confirmed that a termination for cause was inappropriate, given that it was not proportional to the employee’s conduct. As a result, the employer had to pay 12 months’ severance as set out in the employment agreement regarding a termination without cause.
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November 18, 2011 David Hyde Health and Safety, Human Resources, Union Relations
A hospital employee faced complaints of workplace harassment from co-workers, and the hospital imposed discipline on him, including a demotion. The employee’s union subsequently filed a grievance with the labour relations board. The hospital retained the services of an independent outside investigator who was also a practicing lawyer. When the union requested access to the investigation report, the hospital claimed solicitor-client privilege, and refused to hand it over…
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September 14, 2011 David Hyde Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights
A recent labour arbitrator’s decision—to uphold the City of Kingston’s right to terminate a 28-year employee for issuing a verbal threat against a co-worker—was based in large part on the arbitrator’s view that “the classification of threatening language as workplace violence” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act represents a “clear and significant change” to the law in Ontario.
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Hi John, Thanks for your comment. Check out paragraph 67 of the decision: "Accordingly, none of what I have written above is to suggest or... – May 22, 4:38 PM
This is really spin doctoring the decision. My firm appeared at the Court of Appeal for an intervenor the University of Saskatchewan. Whatever the Supreme... – May 22, 1:00 AM
Could you be liable for workplace violence? Ontario’s OHSA says so
June 8, 2012 Clear Path Employer Services Health and Safety, Human Resources, Training and Development, 1
Imagine a situation where your employee is seriously injured by an outside party…
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