Author: Lindsey Taylor

Taking Environmental Sensitivities Seriously

By Lindsey Taylor The issue of employees with environmental sensitivities often arises for Canadian employers. Most commonly, employees complain about sensitivities to strong scents such as perfume. Human rights laws in many provinces accept that environmental sensitivities may be disabilities, to which the duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship may apply. This […]

EEOC Issues “Arrest and Conviction Records” Guidance

By Richard Lehr During the past several years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has increased its focus on employers’ use of background check information, particularly arrest and conviction records. On April 25, the EEOC issued its revised “Enforcement Guidance on Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the […]

Disability Charges and Enforcement on the Rise

Since the enactment of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) in 2009, commentators have been predicting a rise in disability claims. Statistics recently released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) show that those predictions have come true. In fiscal year 2011, the number of disability discrimination charges filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) […]

EEOC Declares that Title VII Protects Transgender Employees

By Heather Knox The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that interprets and enforces employment discrimination laws, recently considered whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects transgender employees from workplace discrimination. The case involved an employee who claimed she wasn’t hired by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and […]

Temporary workers and workplace safety

Temporary workers and OSHA

by John Hall Who is responsible for compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when temporary or leased employees are involved? Is it the agency supplying the employees or the client employer for whom they are working? Through interpretive letters and compliance directives to staff, OHSA asserts that it can be a shared […]

Working longer and retiring later

It’s not your father’s (or mother’s) retirement anymore

If employers could consult a crystal ball to see what the workplace will be like 10, 20, or more years down the road, they might see an older workforce in their future. As many aging baby boomers decide to continue working for a few — or several — years past the traditional retirement age, employers […]

The Secret to Success

What it takes to be successful

When people question what it takes to be successful in business, my response is often, “You should ask someone who is.” The best way to learn about anything is to ask someone who has been successful at it. If you want to learn how to throw a great curve ball, ask someone who throws a […]

Biting the Fiduciary Bullet: A Case for Post-Employment Restrictive Covenants

By Kyla Stott-Jess and Devin Crisanti Post-employment restrictions can be tricky to enforce. But if drafted properly, they can be valuable. As one Alberta employer recently discovered in ADM Measurements Ltd. v. Bullet Electric LTD, relying on implied fiduciary duties to do the job of contractual restrictions can be a pricey gamble. Background The employer, […]

If David Wallace is Back, Can Michael Scott Be Far Behind?

Well, of course not. Steve Carell is much too much of a star now to make the move back to TV. (Quick: Can you name the actor who portrays David Wallace? Neither could I. His name is Andy Buckley.) Nevertheless, and as much as I love Ed Helms as Andy Bernard, it’s fun to think […]