How to create an occupational health and safety policy manual
With heightened scrutiny over workplaces and increased penalties for workplace incidents causing injuries—or worse, death—employers must ensure they understand their obligations under occupational health and safety legislation. One of the fundamental obligations is to prepare workplace safety and health policies and procedures and to train employees and supervisors on them. But where to start?
Adam Gorley
5 minutes read
October 23, 2015 
Consultation and feedback processes should not be underestimated
Consultation and feedback processes should not be underestimated. Doing away with the old systems of decision making provides for a more thorough engagement with those groups that would represent gaps in policy and operations.
Christopher Lytle MA CDS
Personal information and medical leaves – careful what you disclose
I recently read an interesting case made by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (decision 2014 – 014) stating that under subsection 5(3) of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that the employer’s purposes for disclosing the employee’s personal information regarding his medical leave were not appropriate in the circumstances and were not necessary for the organization to meet its employee schedule management needs in the context of its work environment.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Wednesday July 1, Canada Day, a public national holiday
Under the federal Holidays Act, Canada Day is observed on July 1. The only exception is if July 1 falls on a Sunday, it is observed the following business day, which is Monday. As it turns out, this year July 1 falls on Wednesday. Right in the middle of a work week. Creating a very weird work schedule. But no worries, after 2015, Canada Day will fall on days that will create a long weekend for the following four years.
Ted Kenney
Multiculturalism Day in Canada
Did you know that the 1st nation to adopt ‘multiculturalism’ as an official policy was Canada?
Ted Kenney
A canadian perspective on veteran status and employment
Looking at American policy for dealing with veterans and employment can raise questions about how we treat Canadian veterans with disabilities in the context of modern policy. There are still large gaps between what the intended goal of the New Veterans Charter is, and what is occurring to young veterans who are given lump sum payouts. Although this dynamic exists, the goal of this article is to take a different approach and, at the very least, start some discussion about the junction of veterans with disabilities.
Christopher Lytle MA CDS
Contract or gratuitous promise: the need for consideration
Employment lawyers spend a lot of time assessing whether contracts of employment are enforceable or not. The first thing that I check, when I review a contract of employment, is the date. What I’m attempting to determine is whether the contract was signed before or after there was already a verbal agreement in place.
Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation
How to have success with WSIB SIEF cost relief
Most employers know that WSIB-related costs can be very expensive. However, not everyone knows about cost relief programs offered by the Board. We asked Anna Aceto-Guerin for some insights into successfully acquiring SIEF cost relief.
Clear Path Employer Services
Superior Court applies the “Johnstone test” for family status discrimination in wrongful dismissal action
We have written before on the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in Johnstone v Canada (Border Services), which helpfully crafted a clear and balanced test for family status discrimination in the context of childcare (the “Johnstone test”). The Ontario Superior Court has released the first reported decision in Ontario to apply the “Johnstone test” in the context of a wrongful dismissal action.
Stringer LLP