Termination of Benefits at Age 65 Violates the Charter

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (HRTO) has issued an important decision on age discrimination and benefits. In Talos v. Grand Erie District School Board, 2018 HRTO 680 the HRTO found that terminating an employee’s health, dental and life insurance benefits at the age of 65 constitutes age discrimination and is a violation of the Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code). This is a big deal in the human rights world because s.25(2.1) of the Code…

Read More

Sexual Harassment and Valentine’s Day

heart and stick figure drawingBy now everyone should know that sexual harassment is not permissible in the workplace, but even amidst the flurry of allegations we have seen in the #metoo era, exactly what constitutes sexual harassment might still be a little fuzzy. With love in the air today, workers across the land might be wondering, can I ask my co-worker to be my Valentine? In today’s post we will take a closer look at the law around sexual harassment and try to answer that burning question.

Section 10 of the Human Rights Code

The Ontario Human Rights Code defines harassment in section 10 as “engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.”

Read More

Religious Accommodation in the Workplace

Merry Christmas! Wait. What? Can we still say that in public?  Why yes, we can, but not at the cost of excluding all other religions in the workplace. For those that do not celebrate Christian holidays (and/or secular commercial holidays derived from Christian traditions), focusing only on Christian traditions can feel like exclusion. It’s hard to feel like you belong if you don’t share similar traditions. Taken too far, and the exclusion can evolve into…

Read More

Can Employers Require High Heels in the Workplace?

Not for much longer…  Last month, Ontario Liberal MPP Cristina Martins’ bill to ban mandatory high heels in the workplace sped through the legislature.  The bill, titled the Putting Your Best Foot Forward Act, 2017 passed first reading on October 17, 2017, second reading on October 19, 2017, and has been referred to the standing committee. I was recently interviewed for CBC Radio regarding the proposed bill of banning high heels in the workplace. Proposed…

Read More

The Time We Waste on Sexual Harassment

Last night I attended a @GirlGeeksTO discussion about sexual harassment at work. The room held 100 diverse women in tech, largely at the earlier stages of their career and keen to continue to develop their professional relationships and skills to advance in their fields.  The #metoo movement has dramatically highlighted on all of our social feeds how prevalent the issue of sexual harassment remains. Last night was no different. I participated on a panel that…

Read More

Tips for Recruiting Online

Gone are the days of posting job ads in the newspaper. Like most things these days job recruitment takes place primarily online. It is important for employers to know how to comply with the law in the online environment – human rights, accessibility and in some cases privacy laws will apply. In general, the laws of the jurisdiction where the business is located will govern, though this may be something to consider where recruiting widely…

Read More
Back To Top