First Reference Talks » workplace violence

Posts Tagged ‘workplace violence’

Safety and security for business travellers: a legal and moral imperative for Canadian employers, part 2

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

In some cases, business leaders fail to recognize that employee travel falls within the physical scope of workplace activities. In other cases, decision-makers believe that only those travelling to international high-risk destinations require any type of security protection. In most organizations, there is also a gap in knowledge when it comes to travel security, contributing to a lack of risk awareness and fragmented ownership of the function within the organization.

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Tags: all reasonable steps, Blue Mountain Resorts Limited v. Ontario, business travel, business travel destinations as workplaces, common law, Duty of care, employee group benefits, employee travel, failure to comply, high-risk locale, hot spots, international travel, non-compliance, occupational health and safety, OH&S, R v Port Colborne, risk assessment, risk management myth, safety risk, security risk, situational awareness, tort liability, tracking travellers, travel and extended health care insurance, travel risk management, travel-related risk, TRM, what is a workplace, workplace, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Landmark decision gives insight into workplace harassment and employer reprisal

Friday, October 21st, 2011

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has provided what some believe to be the most significant legal interpretation yet of workplace harassment and employer reprisal in the context of the recently enacted Bill 168 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The case, Conforti v. Investia Financial Services Inc., 2011, was decided on September 23, 2011.

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Tags: Bill 168, compliance, discipline, employment law, harassing email, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, ontario, reprisal, right to refuse work, risk assessment, termination, termination for cause, termination for harassment complaint, vexatious comment or conduct, whistleblowing, workplace harassment, workplace harassment investigation, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Finance and Accounting, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

Does over-sensitivity lead to harassment? The preventive value of respect

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

“Excessive claims of workplace harassment are a sign that our society has become far too sensitive and it really needs to stop.” This is the message I received from workshop participants this week during a group discussion on the topic of the prevention of workplace harassment and discrimination. But is it true?

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Tags: Bill 168, discrimination, employment law, harassment, harassment prevention, healthy workplaces, human rights code, illness, lost time, offensive speech, OHSA, Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, over-sensitive, respect, sexism, stress, workplace harassment, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 2 Comments »

Employers must now treat verbal threats as serious offences under the OHSA’s definition of workplace violence

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

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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Tags: Bill 168, employment law, inappropriate language, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, ontario, Ontario Labour Relations Act, proportionality, safe workplace, security, termination for cause, threat, threat of violence, uttering threats, verbal threats, violence, workplace harassment, workplace investigation, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Internal Controls | 2 Comments »

Introducing guest blogger David Hyde

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

We are pleased to announce that David Hyde, M.Sc, CPC, will be joining our team of regular bloggers. David is a security and business risk consultant, author and educator with 26 years of broad-based leadership experience in the field of security. He will be writing on issues relating to workplace violence and security. His posts will appear the third Friday of each month.

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Tags: David Hyde, security, security and business risk consultant, workplace violence
Posted in Announcements, Human Resources, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

The importance of conducting risk assessments for human resources

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

When an organization gives one of their human resources a task, how often is a risk assessment done? The answer is: it depends. When firefighters are asked to enter a burning building, the person in charge first assesses the risk to his people. When the engineers at the Japanese nuclear plant had to re-enter the facility to prevent a meltdown, a risk assessment was also completed before that. However, when most organizations fly their sales guy to South Africa, or get the young clerk at the gas station to close up the shop at night, rarely do they consider all the risks.

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Tags: audit, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, car accident, CCOHS, disease, employment law, environmental health concerns, Harmonized TRA Methodology, HR, ISO 31000, IT security, job safety, Job Safety Analysis Made Simple, management, natural disasters, political risks, risk assessments, risk tolerance, terrorism, travel risk management, violence in the workplace, workplace, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Workplace violence and privacy: what’s the connection?

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

So here’s a question to ask yourself—what are your legal obligations under Ontario law when you see an online photo of your worker committing violent acts?

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Tags: 12th Annual Ontario Employment Law Conference, Bill 168, employment law, facebook, harassment, health and safety, Kelly McDermott, occupational health and safety act, OH&S, OHSA, ontario, policies and procedures, Rioting, social media, Stanley Cup playoffs, Stringer Brisbin Humphrey, termination, twitter, workplace harassment, workplace violence, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Conferences, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Bill 168, workplace violence and harassment provisions in OHSA – A year in review – Learn the latest

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Nearly one year ago, the Ontario government enacted Bill 168, which added workplace violence and harassment provisions to the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Many employers were ready, but many are still scrambling to comply, which, among other things, includes developing written policies to address both violence and harassment at work and to review those policies at least once a year.

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Tags: Bill 168, Due diligence, employment law, measures and procedures, MOL inspections, non-compliance, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, Ontario Ministry of Labour, policies and programs, risk assessments, training, Training of employees, workplace harassment, workplace violence, workplace violence and harassment, written policies
Posted in Conferences, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Listen to your employees and reduce your workload!

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

The Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) requires that when conducting a workplace violence risk assessment you take into account both the nature of your workplace and type of work you perform…

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Tags: Bill 168, canadian employment law, employment law, harassment and violence policy, occupational health and safety act, OH&S, OHSA, ontario, policies and procedures, risk assessment, safety, training, training workshops, workplace violence, workplace violence risk assessment
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Don’t sweep harassment under the carpet

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

Occupational health and safety law and human rights law both prohibit reprisals, threats and intimidation against a person for exercising their rights. Employers can be liable for stiff financial penalties for permitting this unacceptable behaviour…

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Tags: allegations of abuse, Bill 168, canadian employment law, complaint process, employment law, harassment, human rights code, intimidation, occupational health and safety, occupational health and safety act, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, policies and procedures, prevention, reprisals, threats, unacceptable behaviour, workplace harassment, workplace harassment and violence, workplace violence
Posted in Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | 1 Comment »

Conflicting views on engagement?

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

There are a lot of factors to employee engagement. Some employees need recognition, in the form of pay, benefits, seniority or favour. Others need to feel that they are part of the company and have a stake in its success. Still others need to feel a connection to their work; it must be creative and challenging. Most workers probably need some balance of all these factors. I know I wouldn’t last long in a dull and repetitive environment. But I also would feel unappreciated if I weren’t remunerated appropriately.

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Tags: anger, challenging work, depression, employee benefits, employee engagement, employee recognition, employee retention, health and safety, insufficient pay, job meaning, overwork, productivity, promotions, remuneration, salary, stress, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Eight out of ten workers witnessed conflicts in the workplace, so what?

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

According to a recently released CROP survey carried out for the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés (Quebec’s human resources professional association), 79 percent of workers in Quebec often or occasionally witnessed a conflict in their workplace in the last year. The survey also indicates that 62 percent of employees believe their managers are inclined to resolve conflicts, compared to 38 percent who feel they tend to ignore them.

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Tags: communication, Conflict resolution, conflict resolution skills, CROP survey, disagreements and differences, education and training, employment law, impacts of workplace conflict, learning to manage conflict, Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agrees, policies and procedures, Quebec, sources of conflict in the workplace, when individuals disagree and conflicts arise in the workplace, workers witnessed conflicts in the workplace, workplace conflict, workplace harassment, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development | Make a Comment »

Domestic violence and the workplace – balancing privacy and safety

Monday, March 7th, 2011

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of the requirements of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009 are uncontroversial, and most organizations should have little trouble understanding them and complying. However, one aspect of the law has caused more discussion and confusion than any other: the domestic violence provisions, which require employers to intervene in instances where they suspect (based on reasonable evidence) that an employee has suffered or is suffering from domestic violence, particularly if that violence might reach into the workplace.

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Tags: balancing privacy and safety, Bill 168, dealing with workplace violence, disclosure of personal information, disclosure of persons with a history of violence, domestic violence, domestic violence and the workplace, employment law, management, ontario, Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, safety trumps privacy, signs of domestic violence, Violence and Harassment in the Workplace, workplace harassment, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security | 3 Comments »

The best lessons are not all learned in the classroom – the threat of the irate customer

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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Tags: consultant, employment law, irate customer, managing technology, security systems and devices, training, workplace conflicts, workplace resolutions, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security | Make a Comment »

Workplace violence and harassment training

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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Tags: canadian employment law, employment law, harassment prevention training, manitoba, occupational health and safety act, ontario, psychological harassment, Quebec, racism, Saskatchewan, workplace harassment, workplace harassment policy, workplace harassment prevention, workplace harassment prevention guide, Workplace Safety and Health Regulation, workplace violence
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »