domestic violence

How are employers affected by Alberta’s increased protections against sexual and domestic violence?

November 12, 2018 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

In protecting themselves against future liability, employers may find themselves stepping in line with the government, paving the way towards creating safe and respectful work environments within which employees’ conduct is held to a higher standard.

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Dealing with domestic violence in the workplace

May 1, 2017 Michele Glassford Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

A policy specifically providing domestic violence leave, even if there is no legislation requiring it, would not only provide employees with some protections and benefits during a crisis, but would have the indirect effect of providing the employer with key information to better assess risks of violence to employees in the workplace and to better protect their safety.

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Additional employer obligations? Domestic and sexual violence

January 31, 2017 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Training and Development, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

As of the writing of this blog, Bill 26 has passed second reading and is before the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly for consultation and, so it remains to be seen if the above changes will come into force. That said, with the recent legislative attention on protecting employees with respect to sexual harassment and violence, it is likely that employers may soon need to revisit their policies and programs to account for domestic and sexual violence.

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Why is domestic violence more often becoming a workplace responsibility?

January 30, 2017 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Privacy and Security, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

It is understood that domestic violence has been known to effect employees at work in a number of ways; a recent study shows that the problem is widespread.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

September 8, 2016 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Union Relations

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: employers’ expanded obligations with respect to workplace harassment under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act; a pregnant employee who was awarded damages in discrimination claim; and the Ontario Ministry of Labour’s new Code of Practice for workplace harassment.

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2016 – Looking forward, looking back

January 4, 2016 Michele Glassford Accessibility Standards, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Standard for Customer Service, Training and Development, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

As the first blog post of the year, I thought it apt to first wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and second, to take the opportunity to take a quick look back and a long look forward at what might be coming down the road this year in human resources policy.

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Conduct unbecoming becoming employer’s problem?

October 1, 2014 Michele Glassford Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Privacy and Security, Union Relations

The National Football League (NFL) has been widely criticized these past recent weeks regarding how it dealt with (or did not deal with) Baltimore Ravens’ ex-player, Ray Rice, when it initially discovered that he allegedly committed a serious act of violence against his then-fiancée.

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Assessing the risk of violence at work

April 29, 2013 Marcia Scheffler Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Training and Development

Companies have had almost 3 years to implement violence and harassment prevention in the workplace provisions under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act , OHSA (also known as Bill 168). Like other items in the OHSA, obligations on employers to prevent workplace violence and harassment with written policies and programs require ongoing commitment, training, and review. A few highlights of some of the requirements that employers with five or more employees must demonstrate include:

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Navigating the issue of domestic violence in the workplace

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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Domestic violence and the workplace – balancing privacy and safety

March 7, 2011 Adam Gorley Health and Safety, Human Resources, Privacy and Security

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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Assessing risk in the workplace

March 15, 2010 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources

Occupational health and safety legislation across Canada requires employers to identify any existing or foreseeable hazards that might arise in the workplace, and to conduct an assessment of these various workplace hazards that employees might be exposed to, or that may arise from the nature of the workplace, and the type and conditions of the work…

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Clarification on Ontario Bill 168

January 28, 2010 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources

On January 27, 2010, I attended the HRPA annual conference. I was most interested on the session titled, Violence in the Workplace: An Update on Bill 168 from the Ministry of Labour. I needed some clarification on possible exemptions to the new violence and harassment prevention law and the application of certain measures in the bill.

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Addressing domestic violence in the workplace – some insights

January 11, 2010 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources

The Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act violence and harassment prevention provisions (Bill 168) require an employer to take all reasonable precautions in the circumstances for the protection of all employees if a domestic violence situation is likely to expose a worker to physical injury in the workplace and the employer becomes aware or ought reasonably to be aware of the situation.

But what does that imply? The law states the requirement but provides little guidance on what employers need to do to prevent domestic violence from spilling into the workplace. In addition, many employers are not comfortable addressing a situation of such a personal nature. It is not an easy task to complete and might never be.

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Workplace violence and harassment prevention measures now law

December 17, 2009 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Health and Safety, Human Resources

Following my December 14 blog post , the Ontario government gave royal assent to Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009, on December 15, 2009. As we stated…

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What will Ontario’s Bill 168 mean for businesses? (Part 2)

September 11, 2009 Adam Gorley Health and Safety, Human Resources

Unfortunately, Bill 168 as it stands is vague with regard to what employers must actually do in cases where domestic violence enters the workplace. Legal authorities seem to have little direction to offer on the matter as well.

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