Human Resources
Addiction is Not a Blanket Excuse for Misconduct
There can be little doubt that dealing with employees suffering the disease of addiction is a challenge for human resources professionals. That challenge becomes greater when the employee raises the addiction as an excuse for engaging in misconduct.
Accommodating Employees’ “Family Status”: A Legal Imperative?
In the era of the “sandwich generation”, many employees are balancing work with significant family obligations – caring for children, aging parents, or both. Many employers seeking to retain valued employees have been considering and implementing temporary or even permanent flexible work arrangements in an effort to assist employees in balancing their work and family responsibilities.
Discharging An Employee For Innocent Absenteeism
A 2012 decision by the British Columbia Court of Appeal held that an employer’s right to terminate an employee for undue absenteeism will be taken away if the decision to dismiss an employee is influenced, at least in part, by an intent to prevent an entitlement to severance pay. More generally, the Court held that a decision to dismiss an employee for undue absenteeism must not be based upon considerations other than past and projected absenteeism.
What is Workplace Harassment?
Workplace harassment is very high profile in the news right now, but do you know what it involves?
Defining Discrimination and the Proscribed Grounds
Discrimination occurs when individuals or groups of people are judged or treated differently on the basis of certain characteristics or stereotypes rather than on the basis of their individual merits or abilities.
Supreme Court of Canada Sets Limits on Employer’s Duty to Accommodate
There is a limit to an employer’s duty to accommodate its disabled employees, the Supreme Court effectively confirmed in Hydro Québec v. Syndicat des employé-e-s de techniques professionnelles et de bureau d’Hydro-Québec, section locale 2000 (SCFP-FTQ), 2008 SCC 43.
Paydays, Payroll Records and Deductions
The Employment Standards Act sets out your obligations with respect to paying your employees and maintaining payroll records. One common area of confusion and dispute concerns an employer’s ability to make deductions from wages. To employees, payday is an important event, and it’s something you should get right – every time.
RV and Campground Hosts: Volunteer or Employee?
Public and private RV park and campground operators often rely on the assistance provided by volunteers as an affordable means of providing better service to campers. Such volunteer positions are sometimes referred to as “Hosts”.
Is Cybersacking the Way of the Future?
Some time has passed since the story of the “Cybersacked” spa employee made the front page of Kelowna’s Okanagan newspaper. The employee featured was offended to have found out she was fired by reading a message sent by her employer to her Facebook inbox.
Temporary Foreign Workers Program Updates
The Federal government has recently updated and added to the available Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) streams.