Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
Unlimited vacation is a growing trend that may be a good way for organizations to provide an incentive or bonus to employees to reward them for good work without increasing salaries or providing bonuses or other kinds of incentives. The concept of unlimited vacation is very simple: Employees can take vacation, personal, and sick time […]
By Ralph Nero and Keri Bennett Employers in Canada have typically understood employees and independent contractors to fall into distinct legal categories. However, recent court and labor board decisions indicate that the traditional definition of “employee” continues to expand. Ontario court interprets health and safety obligations In Ontario (Labour) v. United Independent Operators Limited, Ontario’s […]
Next on our list of possible candidates for Michael Scott’s recently vacated position is Darryl Philbin, also known as “Mittah Rogers” (but only by Michael). Darryl has come a long way since we first met him in Season 1 as he watched Dwight suddenly emerge from a box in the warehouse. Here’s my list of pros and cons for […]
by Vaughn Burkholder and Tara Eberline What do the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Congress have in common? Sound like a setup for a bad joke? The punch line is that each of those federal entities has announced its intention to focus on employers’ misclassification of employees as independent […]
By Lyne Duhaime and Ross Gascho If your company is both the sponsor and administrator of a pension plan in a Canadian province other than Quebec, you should take note of the recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Re Indalex. Although the case deals with competing claims in insolvency and deficits in wound up […]
In the words of the incomparable Monty Python troupe – now for something completely different. With the season over and Michael departed, I decided that, rather than review a rerun, I’d share some thoughts about one of the putative candidates to replace Michael. I’ve decided to focus on the character we all love to hate, […]
by Steve Jones Q: My company recently conducted an I-9 audit and found that we are missing approximately a dozen I-9 forms. I don’t know if they were accidentally purged, filed incorrectly, or never completed. Can we ask the affected employees to fill out another I-9? If so, do we ask them to backdate it […]
A dreaded accounting-of-disclosure rule for electronic protected health information (ePHI) will require action by many employers, in their roles of health plan sponsors. (Employers are not technically “covered entities” under HIPAA privacy but, in effect, must comply if they’re involved in plan administration.) The rule came out in proposed form on May 31. It would […]
By Ian Campbell and Justine Connelly The evolution of privacy rights in the Canadian workplace continues. In recent months we have updated you on court and labor arbitration decisions that have commented on employee privacy rights. An individual employee tried to take her rights one step further when she sued another employee for invasion of […]
Tonight’s episode, a rerun of Part 1 of Michael Scott’s goodbye, had, unfortunately, limited employment law relevance. But one thing did stand out — Gabe’s relentless pursuit (or re-pursuit) of Erin. Gabe demonstrates well the dangers of office romances. Gabe’s inability to cope with Erin’s decision to dump him has Gabe hounding Andy to stay […]