OHSA

Recent amendments to Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code bring big changes to Alberta workplaces

July 3, 2018 Employer Advisor, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Training and Development

This blog provides a summary of some of the key changes to the Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code relating to joint work site health and safety committees, health and safety representatives, harassment and violence.

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Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

February 1, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with wage compression, New Year’s resolutions for employers and how compliance with occupational health and safety regulations may not be good enough.

compensation, employment law, general duty of care, health safety, new year’s resolutions, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, wage compression, wages

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

January 25, 2018 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with income tax changes in the new budget Bill, OHSA and WSIA changes in the new budget Bill and cannabis smoke-free and road safety legislation.

cannabis, Cannabis Act, employment law, income tax, OHSA, Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, Ontario Taxation Act, Stronger Fairer Ontario Act, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, WSIA

What you don’t know can hurt you: A new wave of WSIB claims for chronic mental stress

August 21, 2017 Rubin Thomlinson LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

On May 17, 2017, Bill 127 (Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act) received Royal Assent. The Bill modified the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act to allow WSIB benefits for workers who suffer from chronic mental stress in the course of their employment.

Bill 127, bullying, chronic mental stress, harassment, Healthier Ontario Act, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, Stronger, workplace stressors, wsib, WSIB claims

Protecting employees from third-party harassment

August 11, 2017 Vey Willetts LLP Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

Even if an employer is not fully successful at the end of the day, the moral boost to workers of knowing that their employer is willing to go to bat to stop harassment in its tracks cannot be overstated.

abuse in the workplace, Condominium Act, employment law, harassment, OHSA, protecting employees, third-party harassment, workplace harassment

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

July 27, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Announcements and Administration, Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: a new type of damage that was awarded against an employer after workplace harassment was proven, a case in which expert evidence was not needed to claim damages for mental injury, and the public hearings on Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act.

Bill 148, card-check certification, damages for harassment, employment law, establishing mental injury, fair workplaces better jobs act, general damages, human rights, loss of income, mental injury, mental suffering, Minimum wage increase, non-pecuniary damages, OHSA, personal emergency leave, psychological injury, public hearing, RCMP, test for harassment, tort of harassment, workplace harassment, workplace injury

Young workers: Staying safe at work

July 4, 2017 Beyond Rewards Inc Health and Safety, Human Resources

With the summer months beginning this is the time when students are starting new jobs. These young workers and/or new workers are at a high risk for getting injured while at work. New workers are 3 times more likely to be injured during their first month than other, more experienced workers. In Ontario, according to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, between 2009 and 2013, 30 youth workers died in work related incidents and another 30,000 received injuries that led to lost time.

accident/injury prevention, accidents and injuries, employment law, health and safety, Hiring students for the summer, New and young workers, OHSA, workplace accidents, wsib, young workers

OHSA in wonderland: Through the looking glass

June 13, 2017 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Penalties and Fines, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

If an employee alleges a violation of section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) then the employer must prove there has been no violation. This is called a reverse onus clause which means an employer must prove it did not violate OHSA. After a brief summary of the remedies that are available to employees under section 50 of OHSA, this blog discusses three recent cases.

aggravated damages, damages, disciplining an employee, employment law, health and safety complaints, lost wages, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, reinstatement, termination, workplace harassment, wrongful dismissal, wrongful dismissal damages

What to do when the MOL comes calling

May 9, 2017 Doug MacLeod, MacLeod Law Firm Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Penalties and Fines

This blog discusses a group of orders that a MOL inspector recently imposed on a small employer after an employee complained that she had been harassed at work.

employment law, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Labour complaint, MOL, MOL blitz, MOL complaint, MOL inspections, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, Provincial Offences Act, workplace harassment

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

April 27, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia 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

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation; overview of Bill C-45 to legalize marijuana; and Budget 2017 Bill to implement employment insurance measures.

Bill C-44, Bill C-45, Cannabis Act, EI, Employment Insurance, employment law, marijuana, occupational health and safety act, Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation, OHSA

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

April 6, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: an employment agreement not signed before the first day of work; a volunteer in a coma who willingly assumed risks of the task that caused his injury; and the electronic distribution of T4 information slips.

Duty of care, employment agreement, employment contract, employment law, employment standards act, fresh consideration, occupational health and safety act, occupiers' liability, Occupiers’ Liability Act, OHSA, signing employment agreement before start date, T4, T4 information slips, Termination clause, volunteer, volunteer falls, volunteer injured, volunteer liability

Three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk

February 9, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

The three popular articles this week on HRinfodesk deal with: Whether an employee may deduct the cost of a basic cellular service plan; just cause to fire an employee for forging signatures on sick notes; and employer violation of health and safety legislation after failing to take precautions after employee complaint.

accommodation of employees, alcohol dependency, cell service plan, complaint of discrimination, Disability, Due diligence, employee termination, employment expense-deductibility, employment law, health and safety in the workplace, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, sick notes

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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Employee did not have right to delay work refusal investigation

January 5, 2017 Cristina Lavecchia Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Union Relations

The Ontario Labour Relations Board recently dismissed an application where an employee claimed that her employer threatened her with discipline for exercising her right to refuse unsafe work. Why? The employee did not have the right to delay the employer’s investigation of her work refusal, to wait until her preferred union representative completed a personal matter and attended at the workplace.

employment law, occupational health and safety act, OHSA, refuse unsafe work, reprisal, section 50 of the OHSA, work refusal, work refusal investigation

Termination deemed reprisal for refusing unsafe work

December 14, 2016 Simon Heath, BA, MIR, LLB, Heath Law Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Source Deductions and Reporting, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

In the recent decision Podobnik v. Society of St. Vincent de Paul Stores (Ottawa) Inc., the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) held that the Employer had reprised against the Employee when it terminated her employment after she had exercised her rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to refuse unsafe work. The OLRB did not agree that the termination was the result of an legitimate organizational restructuring. Rather, it held that the Employee’s termination was motivated “at least in part” as a reprisal against her for exercising her rights under the OHSA in the weeks preceding her termination.

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