First Reference Talks

Discussions on Human Resources, Employment Law, Payroll and Internal Controls

By | 3 Minutes Read

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recruiting

Stories about artificial intelligence (AI) stealing our jobs and robots going rogue have been in our collective consciousness for years. Elon Musk has also sounded the alarm bells’, calling AI the "biggest risk we face as a civilization". While he may know a few things I don’t, I can’t say that I agree. Always one to embrace technology, I think AI has great potential to be used by businesses in the HR space, such as to make hiring practices more efficient and more fair.

By | 3 Minutes Read

Company ordered to pay $8,000.00 for discriminatory text messages during job application process

A company in Ottawa has just landed itself with a damage award from the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and a lot of embarrassing media coverage in how one of its employees discriminated against a potential candidate for employment on the basis of “race, colour and ethnic origin” during a telephone job interview and subsequent texts. The case of Bouraoui v. Ottawa Valley Cleaning and Restoration, is a shocking example of discriminatory conduct on the part of an employer.

By | 4 Minutes Read

Hiring without hassles: recruiting and retaining the best employees while avoiding legal pitfalls and human rights issues

“I’m the manager, I can hire anyone I want,” is a phrase that Human Resources professionals have heard many times. Employers do have every right to choose the employees that they want, but Human Resources professionals and legal counsel can help guide you through some of the legal and human rights issues regarding your obligations to applicants and throughout the recruitment process.

About us

Established in 1995, First Reference Inc. (known as La Référence in Quebec) provides Canadian organizations of any size with practical and authoritative resources to help ensure compliance.

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