Policies Archives - Page 3 of 5

Ontario to regulate campus employee-student sexual misconduct with Bill 26

December 14, 2022

On October 27, 2022, the Ontario government announced Bill 26, Strengthening Post-secondary Institutions and Students Act, 2022 (“Bill 26”). Beyond finalizing the legal name change of the former Ryerson University to the now Toronto Metropolitan University, Bill 26 proposes new rules on how Ontario post-secondary institutions (“PSI” or “PSIs”)…

Is it sexual harassment? Maybe… completely… not at all!

September 20, 2022

When HR departments become aware of a complaint, they should ask themselves the threshold question: If what is alleged is true, does it breach our policies or statutes? A recent decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (“the Tribunal”),…

Tokenism is not the Ticket

August 30, 2022 | By Chantel Levy

A few years ago, my mother was submitting an online job application and mentioned to me that one of the questions asked whether the applicant was a visible minority. She told me that she left the answer blank so that she wouldn’t be used as a “token” to “check a box” – literally and figuratively

Drop the mic: The admissibility of surreptitious recordings in investigations?

March 8, 2022

Surprise, you have been recorded! It is the first thing that popped into my mind after reading my colleague and Vice-chair Bruce Best’s recent decision of Ardila-Zuluaga v. IO Industries Inc., 2021 HRTO 1042 .

Raising allegations of discrimination in the workplace: Is it what you say, or how you say it?

January 25, 2022

In October 2021, my colleague Dana Campbell-Stevens wrote a blog in which she addressed how the law views an individual’s gut feeling about being a victim of discrimination. A recent case from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, Thomas v. Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority Inc., raises issues respecting the potential implications of an individual voicing such a gut feeling.

Whistleblower Series: Crafting an effective whistleblower policy

June 16, 2021 | By Liliane Gingras

Admittedly, writing about policy writing may not be the most exciting topic. It is, however, a really important one. A good policy is what sets up a whistleblower program for success. If done well, it can also give important information about what the whistleblower program entails to those who are thinking of reporting wrongdoing.

Whistleblower Series: The workplace whistleblower program – friend or foe?

June 9, 2021 | By Liliane Gingras

What seems like a really long time ago, I wrote in one of my blogs that I would be doing a series on whistleblowing. It seemed like a great idea at the time: there isn’t that much practical information about whistleblowing out there and I have a lot to share on the topic given that I have done work in this field for many years. But then, a pandemic happened, and my “series” didn’t quite get off the ground. I’ve come back to the topic, though, as I’ve been fielding some questions about it lately.

Policy pet-peeves continued: Crafting a complaint and investigation process in your policy that will make workplace investigations easier

November 3, 2020

I have seen some policies that set out a specific hierarchy for reporting a complaint. The order sometimes starts off with addressing the matter directly with the person engaging in the unwelcome behaviour, followed by reporting it to a supervisor, that supervisor’s manager, Human Resources, and in cases where Human Resources is engaged in the alleged wrongdoing, a member of the executive team and/or an independent organization.

Serious insight for serious situations.