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Accommodating mental disabilities in the workplace

January 29, 2020 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, 1

In our previous blog on mental health in the workplace, we looked at the distinction between mental illness and ordinary stress and anxiety. We’ll now turn our attention to ways employers should approach their duty to accommodate employees with mental disabilities.

accommodating mental illness, accommodation, accommodation process, accommodation to the point of undue hardship, employment law, expert opinion, medical documentation, mental disabilities, mental health, mental health in the workplace

Fired because of race? Consider a human rights claim

January 29, 2020 Devry Smith Frank LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In 2018, a group of eight Caucasian employees of the Spruce Hill Resort and Spa Ltd. (“the Resort”) in British Columbia made a complaint to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (“the Tribunal”), in which they alleged that they had been terminated from their employment because they were not Chinese. The Tribunal found that seven of the employees had been discriminated against on the basis of race and colour, and one employee had been discriminated against on the basis of sex.

discrimination based on race, discrimination based on sex, employment law, poisoned work environment, sexual harassment

Normal anxiety or mental illness? A guide for employers

January 28, 2020 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, 0

Employers have a duty to accommodate employees suffering from mental illnesses. But distinguishing mental illness from ordinary anxiety is no easy matter.

anxiety, duty to accommodate, employment law, human rights, mental disability, Mental illness, stress

Release of previous employer has no effect on termination by subsequent employer

January 27, 2020 Barry B. Fisher LL.B. Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

In Manthadi v ASCO Manu (2019 ONSC 5572) Fowler Byrne J. had a situation where a 64 year old welder had over 36 years with Company A. Company A sold its business to the Defendant. Company A paid the plaintiff her 8 weeks under the ESA and she signed a release. The defendant immediately hired her on the closing date. She was terminated a few months later.

common law notice, continuous employment, employment agreement, employment law, termination

Bullying in the workplace

January 24, 2020 Beyond Rewards Inc Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development, 0

Bullying is usually seen as acts or verbal comments that could “mentally” hurt or isolate a person in the workplace. Sometimes, bullying can involve negative physical contact as well. Bullying usually involves repeated incidents or a pattern of behaviour that is intended to intimidate a particular person or group of people.

bullying, bullying in the workplace, employment law, harassment, workplace violence

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 23, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting, 0

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with revised WSIB policies, updated CRA tables, forms and guides, and workplace safety inspections.

employment law, federal basic personal amount, rate-setting model, safety inspections

Is that porn discriminatory? Closed captioning and human rights

January 22, 2020 Devan Marr Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, 0

While the facts of the case in this article might be funny to some, it is an important reminder for employers in Ontario who provide services to the public. Provincially regulated businesses are subject to the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Americans with Disabilities Act, closed captioning, discrimination on the basis of disability, employment law, Ontario Human Rights Code, risk management

Are employees “off-ramping” from your organization?

January 21, 2020 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, 0

We live in an age of increased workplace stress (not to mention societal stress in the form of newspaper headlines), and burnout has now been recognized in the International Classification of Diseases as an occupational phenomenon.

employee burnout, employee productivity, employment law, flexible work arrangements, flexible work hours, flexible work schedules, mental health in the workplace, off-ramping, supportive workplace environment, work-life balance, workplace stress

When worlds collide – The evolution of employment law principles in the termination of independent contractor relationships

January 20, 2020 Sean Bawden Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, 0

To my mind, what Barresi demonstrates is that the line between employment law principles and “independent contractor” commercial law principles continues to blur. As the nature of what it means to be “employed” continues to evolve, so too must the law.

breach of contract, contract law principles, employment contract, employment law, employment law principles, independent contractor, just cause dismissal, repudiation of the employment contract, termination

Food for thought: do employers need to accommodate ethical veganism in the workplace?

January 17, 2020 Vey Willetts LLP Employee Relations, Human Resources, Human Rights, 0

While the Ontario Human Rights Code has been interpreted in a liberal manner, there are situations where employees will experience workplace discrimination that falls beyond its scope. One area where it remains unclear to what extent the Code will apply, however, is with respect to vegan employees.

accommodation and human rights issues, creed, employment law, ethical veganism, Human Rights code of Ontario, philosophical beliefs, protected human rights grounds, religious beliefs

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 16, 2020 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, 0

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with disability discrimination, data privacy and regulating vaping in Canada.

data privacy, Digital Charter, employment law, new online rights, physical disability discrimination, smoking and vaping legislation, Vaping, vaping products

Unfair Investigation? No Comment.

January 15, 2020 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Training and Development, 0

We are now in a world where workplace harassment is taken much more seriously than it was before. Although some jurisdictions in Canada do not have an explicit legal obligation to investigate incidents of this nature, there is now a pressing moral obligation to do so. But when such a moral obligation is unmoored from legal principles or government-issued guidelines, there is a greater risk of unfairness to all parties. An investigation in this context is more likely to be guided by an emotional drive to either undermine those who raise complaints or persecute those who are alleged to have behaved badly, rather than arriving at factual findings from a neutral perspective using a fair investigation process.

employment law, external investigator, workplace complaints, workplace harassment, workplace investigations

When #TimesUp goes on trial: Key Takeaways from a judge’s decision following a sexual harassment investigation

January 14, 2020 Piccolo Heath LLP Employee Relations, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, 0

Although stories of workplace sexual harassment were pervasive as we closed the last decade, it was uncommon to see any of these cases make it all the way to trial. Early (and confidential) settlements with the accused are the norm, and trials are rare.

#TimesUp, employment law, sexual harassment, sexual harassment investigation, workplace investigation, workplace sexual harassment, wrongful dismissal claim

Reinstatement and accommodation under Alberta’s Workers’ Compensation

January 13, 2020 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Human Rights, Penalties and Fines, 0

For workplace accidents occurring on or after September 1, 2018, non-exempt employers have an obligation under section 88.1 of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Act (the “WCBAct”) to accommodate and reinstate most workers injured in a work-related accident to their pre-accident position or a comparable position with the same earnings.

alternative employment, employment law, termination of employment, undue hardship, work-related injury, workers compensation, workplace accommodation

So what exactly is a “dependent contractor”?

January 10, 2020 Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, 0

I have often commented on the widespread misclassification of workers and, more specifically, the common practice of treating a worker as an Independent Contractor when they are really an employee in all but name.

dependent contractor, employment law, independent contractor, termination, worker classification

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