Readers of our blog will know that employers have a legal obligation to take workplace harassment seriously. These obligations are set out in Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and require that employers with more than five employees have a policy and procedure dealing with workplace violence and harassment. Employers are required to take
Top 10 mistakes to avoid when hiring your first employee
For this week’s blog, we have gathered a list of the top 10 mistakes commonly made by freelancers and startups when hiring their first employee. Avoiding these pitfalls will help start you off on the right foot and avoid the hiring headaches!
We’ve also covered our Top 10 list in this month’s SpringForward Legal Updates
Fired by a robot!
Amazon has been in the news recently for its practice of tracking warehouse workers’ box packing speed and firing them if they do not “make rate.” According to internal Amazon documents, related to a termination at a Baltimore Maryland warehouse location, Amazon’s automated tracking system automatically generates a series of warnings. After 6
Sexual Harassment in the Fundraising Donor Space – Part Two
Firstly, Happy May Day and Happy International Workers’ Day!
This week we will be continuing our series on Sexual Harassment in the Fundraising Donor Space and exploring situations where needed donations or funding come with strings attached.
If you haven’t read our Part One from last week, you may want to check it out
Sexual Harassment in the Fundraising Donor Space – Part One
We have talked a lot about workplace sexual harassment on this blog. Practising exclusively in workplace law we, unfortunately, see the issue of workplace sexual harassment come up a lot. Helping employers and employees of all shapes and sizes deal with issues related to sexual harassment makes up a lot of what we do.
Employer
Let’s talk ergonomics!
You may be scratching your head at our title. What’s ergonomics got to do with law? Maybe even asking, what the heck is ergonomics? Well in this post we will answer both of those questions and tell you why workplace ergonomics should be on the radar of employees and employers alike.
Ergonomics is the science
Whose device is it anyway?
Technology continues to blur the lines between our personal and work lives. How often have you answered a client email on your work laptop, only to receive a follow-up question via text message on your personal phone?
Many workplaces have adapted to the fluid use of technology and encourage their employees to use their own
The price of workplace harassment
Valentine’s Day has us thinking about romance. In the mind of an employment lawyer, the leap from romance to harassment is a short one, and so that is what our post is about today. Harassment is not a new topic for us. You can read our past posts on sexual harassment, employer obligations regarding
ESA Holiday Musings
Happy Boxing Day everyone! Holidays and vacations are interesting topics for us employment lawyers. We have blogged about Public Holidays under the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) and in the past. Check out our posts on this topic here.
For workplaces in Ontario, governed by provincial law, there are nine Public Holidays. These
Update on the Police Record Check Reform Act
Pre-employment police record checks have become common in our information-obsessed society. This is where the employer requires a job candidate to pass a police record check as a condition of being hired. The Police Record Checks Reform Act (the “Act”) was designed to standardize why and when these record checks can be obtained, as opposed