Tag: Employment law

New Year’s Resolutions for HR

Around the New Year, many of us start to consider what we could do better in the coming year. We consider things like joining a gym and eating more vegetables. It’s also a good time to think about how we could improve our work performance. Audio Conference: New Year, New Laws, New Employee Handbook? What […]

It’s College Bowl — and Office Pool — Season

by John Husband Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~ Vince Lombardi I understand what it means to be an avid college football fan. In my earlier days, I was fortunate to be on three Big Ten Conference […]

Merry Christmas

No post today. Call it a sympathy strike (yes, I know that sympathy strikes are illegal – take it up with the NLRB). Well, better yet, call it a holiday hiatus as the truth is that I’m blowing off my responsibilities this morning and heading for the mall to finish up my Christmas shopping. In […]

Follow Up On The Picket Line

It is not that I don’t support the writers of The Office.  I do.  But I also think their situation is different than most other industries in the private sector.  When I look at the issue of unionization from a more global perspective, I firmly believe that most employees and companies are better off without […]

Lordy, Lordy, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Turns 40

by Boyd A. Byers Forty is a mystical number in many cultures. In ancient Babylonia, the number was known as kissatuin, meaning “the excellent quantity.” The great flood described in the Bible resulted from 40 days and 40 nights of rain. Forty is the only number, when spelled out in English, whose letters are in […]

What To Do When Bosses Are Bullies

What should employers do when workplace bullying and bad behavior are coming down the corporate ladder from bosses? Here are some ways to see if your frontline managers and supervisors are creating a bad work environment. Audio Conference: Busting Workplace Bullies: Reduce the Legal Risks of Abusive Behavior Flight from bad bosses The direct effect […]

The Picket Line

The strike continues and it doesn’t look like it is going to end any time soon. Indeed, one blog reported yesterday that negotiations are actually going backwards! To make matters worse, it looks like several actors are honoring the picket line. I think we might be going without our beloved “Office” for several more weeks. […]

Biometric Hand Scanners vs. Religious Beliefs: What Does the Law Say?

by Daniel Pugen McCarthy Tetrault Biometric hand scanners vs. religious beliefs: What does the law say? In Canada, employers must accommodate their employees’ religious beliefs to the point of “undue hardship” for the employer. But what if you don’t consider an employee’s religious beliefs “mainstream”? That doesn’t matter, according to a recent decision by an […]

Ontario Adds Holiday to Celebrate Families; Other Provinces May Follow

by Daniel Pugen McCarthy Tetrault Following its recent re-election in October, the Ontario provincial government led by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty established a new public holiday called “Family Day.” The holiday falls on the third Monday in February each year. Ontario joins the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in creating a public holiday in February. […]

Managing Absences Related to Injury and Illness

by Daniel Pugen McCarthy Tetrault An increasingly difficult task for HR professionals is managing absences related to injury and illness. How far can you go to make an employee prove he or she is legitimately ill or legitimately able to return to work without restriction? The following are some tips to help your Canadian business […]