Workplace Investigations: 5 Basic but Important Tips

There has been no shortage of high-profile workplace investigations and discussions surrounding the outcome of those investigations in the news over the past year. But what happens when you’re no longer reading about the investigation in the news and you’re suddenly at the center of one in your workplace? 

Workplace Investigations: 5 Basic but Important Tips

Whether you’re an employer who is considering whether investigating is really necessary or an employee who has asked for or been named in an investigation, read on for five basic but important tips:

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Approaching, Understanding and Implementing Legal Settlements

At a time when our civil justice system is plagued by extreme delay, I am grateful to practice law in an area that is well known for its focus on creative and practical problem-solving and settling, as opposed to litigating disputes. There are certainly some labour and employment disputes which simply must be litigated, but the majority of disputes will ultimately be settled. 

Legal Settlements: Mastering Disputes

 

There are many reasons why settlement is often an attractive option (the delay and cost of litigation, the peace of mind a settlement can bring, and avoiding the disruption and harm that litigation can cause to a business or its reputation …just to name a few) but in this blog we will provide some tips for considering, understanding and implementing legal settlements.

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Respect in the Workplace Policies: An Employer’s Starting Point for DEIB Initiatives

Employers often state that promoting DEIB initiatives is a top priority, and they ask us how best to improve on the start they’ve made (or how to get on board in a meaningful way for the first time). For those less versed in this space, DEIB stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. The ‘belonging’ component is a more recent addition to the acronym. According to Gallup, in a ‘culture of belonging’ employees are appreciated for what they bring to the group, there is a genuine desire for meaningful relationships, and there is an appreciation for the differences between people. In addition to leading to a happier workplace, it’s no surprise that fostering a culture of belonging makes good business sense. Gallup found that if more employees believed that their opinions counted, “organizations could reduce turnover by as much as 27%, safety incidents by 40%, and increase productivity by 12%.”

DEIB Workplace Policy

A growing community of recruitment and HR professionals and consultants are promoting and advancing  DEIB initiatives by sharing innovative tools and resources – e.g. AI communication coaching providing private, judgment-free feedback on our unconscious biases (we have them!); quizzes or surveys to assess whether we understand and how we perceive the concept of belonging at work; DEIB courses on having a more productive dialogue about diversity; roadmaps for highly engaged employee resource groups (ERGs), and so on. While there is a loooong way to go, the growth in this space is impressive. 

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Potential Employment Law Issues When Managing a Remote or Hybrid Workforce

According to Statistics Canada, in 2023 20% of Canadian workers reported that they “usually” work from home. This is a significant jump from the pre-pandemic numbers, with only 7% of workers reporting that they usually worked from home in 2016.

Many employers now are trying to figure out how to move forward with working arrangements for their employees in the post-pandemic world- fully remote? Fully in-person? A hybrid of both? 

If your business has employees working remotely, whether all the time or some of the time, there are certain employment law issues you should consider as remote work becomes a more permanent and prevalent part of the employment landscape. 

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Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

Accommodating employees with disabilities and medical issues is an integral part of creating an inclusive and equitable workplace. But what should an employer do if they receive a request for accommodation that does not provide enough information? How can we balance an employee’s right to privacy with an employer’s need for sufficient information to assess an accommodation request?

Navigating Disability Accommodation Requests: Balancing Privacy and Information

What is the duty to accommodate? 

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, employers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. This duty has both a procedural and a substantive component. This means that both the procedure used to assess the accommodation and the actual substance of the accommodation provided are important for employers to fulfill their duty. 

However, the duty to accommodate is not absolute. Employers must accommodate to the point of undue hardship. Employers do not need to provide an accommodation if it would cause undue or excessive hardship, such as onerous costs or health and safety risks. 

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Practical Tips and Tricks for Navigating the Arbitration Process 

This is the third entry in our blog that focuses on the topic of labour law. In case you missed it, you can find the first entry here and the second entry here. In this blog, our focus is to share Practical Tips for Arbitration Navigation.

I’ve Just received a Notice of Arbitration: Is it time to Panic?

The short answer to whether you should panic is: no. It’s important to understand, especially if you’re just beginning your labour journey, that arbitration shouldn’t be feared. However, it is important to carefully consider and understand the process and potential outcomes of proceeding to arbitration.

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