Parental Obligations in the Workplace

For many of us who are parents, September feels like the real New Year.  Workplace issues can arise with respect to shifting childcare obligations, as kids transition from summer schedules to school schedules. Employers may be met with requests to accommodate worker childcare obligations or requests for time off and should be prepared with respect to how to handle these issues both practically and legally. I’ve blogged about family status accommodation in the past –…

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Labour Day

The first Monday of September is Labour Day (Labor Day to our friends in the States). In Canada, this is a provincial statutory holiday, celebrated in all of our Provinces and Territories. Most businesses will be closed, with the exception of business that fall under provincial retail business holiday acts, such as tourist destinations and many restaurants. Both in the US and Canada, Labour Day is a day inspired by union efforts to improve the…

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Transgender Rights and Employer Responsibilities

Trans rights have been in the news a lot lately. During his eventful tenure, President Trump has eroded existing protections for transgender individuals in the United States. This winter he removed protections for transgender students in public schools that allowed them to use the bathroom of their gender expression, and not their physical sex. At the end of July, he announced, via Twitter, that transgender individuals would not be permitted in the US military in…

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PHIPA Fines in the Workplace

This spring the largest penalty to date was issued under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (“PHIPA”). A social work student was convicted of accessing personal health information without authorization, and ordered pay a $20,000 fine and a $5,000 victim fine surcharge after pleading guilty to “willfully accessing the personal health information of five individuals.” The breach took place in Goderich, Ontario’s prettiest town, where the student was completing a placement with a family health…

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Pot in the Workplace

Marijuana has been legal for medical use since 1999. As you undoubtedly know, the Trudeau government has tabled legislation that would expand legal use to the recreational sphere. Employers need to be prepared for how the potential legalization of recreational marijuana will impact the workplace. Background on the Bill Here’s a little background on the Liberal Bill – Bill C-45, the Cannabis Act, was introduced by Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould (she’s from Vancouver) in…

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Bill 148 Fair Workplaces Changes: Unionized Workplaces

Over the last several weeks I’ve laid out some of the changes that will affect workplaces governed by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). In this post I’ll touch on how Bill 148 proposes to change the legislation that governs the business of unions, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA). Like the proposed changes to the ESA, the overall tone of these changes is pro employee/union. Certification Process Many of the changes involve the certification…

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