Employers must now treat verbal threats as serious offences under the OHSA’s definition of workplace violence
A recent labour arbitrator’s decision—to uphold the City of Kingston’s right to terminate a 28-year employee for issuing a verbal threat against a co-worker—was based in large part on the arbitrator’s view that “the classification of threatening language as workplace violence” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act represents a “clear and significant change” to the law in Ontario.
David Hyde
7 minutes read
September 14, 2011
Manitoba employer obligations on election day
The next provincial election in Manitoba is scheduled for Tuesday, October 4, 2011. Employers have certain obligations to employees under the Manitoba Election Act. The writs have been issued for Manitoba’s 40th general election providing for a 28-day election campaign. The lawn signs are out and political parties in Manitoba have kicked their campaigns into high gear.
Ted Kenney
Another case of school employee working in sex trade – this time, teacher did not lose job
Remember the case where a Quebec school board terminated an office assistant because she was a porn video star on the side? She was terminated because her off-duty conduct was inconsistent with the school board’s mission and the values the board wished to convey to students. Well, here’s another case where a sex-ed teacher who also worked as a stripper and porn actor was allowed to keep teaching! What was the difference in this case?
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Employer had just cause to terminate an employee who worked a second job
In some unfortunate cases, Canadians need to work two jobs in order to make ends meet. Well, it seems that sometimes taking a second job may not be a good idea. The British Columbia Provincial Court recently found that an employer could terminate an employee for just cause because that employee had a second job and refused to quit when she was asked.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Should employers be entitled to require that their employees have a certain ‘look’?
Recently, I posted a discussion topic in The Canadian HR Law Group on LinkedIn, which I moderate. It turned out to be one of a few recent topics that generated substantial interest and comment. As a result, I thought I would revisit the issue here, and I hope to hear from all of the First Reference readers.
Rudner Law, Employment / HR Law & Mediation
The Air Canada pilots’ mandatory retirement saga – will it end with the tribunal’s third decision?
In July, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal made its third decision in the case of two Air Canada pilots who challenged the airline’s mandatory retirement policy. The tribunal decided in favour of Air Canada. Then, in August, the tribunal decided in a similar case involving 70 other Air Canada pilots. The tribunal again decided in favour of the airline, but for different reasons. For those hoping the July decision would settle the matter once and for all, the August decision is sure to confuse matters.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Web surfing during work – it is better for employers to take a reasonable approach
New research suggests that it may be wise for employers to take a reasonable approach when dealing with issues of employee web surfing during work; in fact, by banning it outright and excessively patrolling the workplace, employers may cause more harm than good.
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
After the Chilean mine disaster – How HR got it wrong
The first anniversary of the Chilean mine disaster is an opportune time to take a closer look at the key aspects of managing human resources, and how we can avoid some of the mistakes that were made during the Chile mine incident.
John Proctor
Think proactively about workplace policies and practices even if it’s not the law (yet)
In these articles that I write for First Reference Talks readers and in the training programs I design for my clients I usually focus on two important topics: Legal obligations of employers (especially new laws) Best practices in employee management (usually based on legal obligations) This article is about all that but also provides the […]
Andrew Lawson
