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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

The new “normal” workplace: More or fewer complaints? About what?

In Ontario, where I work, we have just entered stage 2 of re-opening the economy, which includes allowing people to return to workplaces that have thus far been closed. Even if a business was deemed essential, and employees continued to work remotely, now that things are “thawing” we anticipate that more employees will return to the physical workplace.

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What does anti-Black racism in the workplace look like: Consider these three cases

Last week, my colleague Dana Campbell discussed the difference between racism and racial discrimination, and the ways in which racial discrimination can manifest in the workplace. In the spirit of her article and her quote from Clarence B. Warren – “Everything can be improved” – we review here three human rights cases where anti-black racism occurred in the workplace, what the law told us then, and considerations for how the application of some of these legal principles may evolve going forward.

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Bill C-65 and the prevention of harassment & violence | Part 2

2020 was supposed to be the year that Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence) came into force. The Bill promises to change how employers in federally-regulated industries prevent and address incidents of workplace harassment and violence. Employers have been waiting for the Bill to take legal effect for some time, but with more pressing matters on the national agenda these days, the federal government has not confirmed when this will happen.

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It’s not minor: Before you interview a child in an investigation

Investigations of misconduct within schools, sports organizations, churches, and community or recreational organizations or programs can involve children as parties and/or witnesses. Any investigation that involves children presents a challenge for investigators for a variety of reasons. On a human level, the vulnerability of a possible child victim of misconduct is taxing to deal with emotionally and psychologically. And the investigator bears the added burden of trying to ensure that no additional harm is visited on the child through the investigation process. In considering the role of an investigator as someone who must collect evidence from a child, the challenge for the investigator is to find an approach that will enable the child to provide the best evidence they can. The additional challenge here is that there are limited resources available to guide investigations that involve child parties or witnesses.

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Manitoba Human Rights Board orders recognition of non-binary sex designation on Manitoba birth certificates

In a recent decision, T.A. v Manitoba (Justice), 2019 MBHR 12 (CanLII), the Manitoba Human Rights Board of Adjudication (the “Board”) took a major step by ordering the Government of Manitoba to revise the criteria for changing sex designation to include recognition of non-binary sex designations on Manitoba birth certificates. This was the first adjudication in Manitoba on gender identity since its inclusion in the Manitoba Human Rights Code (the “Code”) in 2012.

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