Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

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Attention all federally regulated workplaces: Bill C-65 First reading, first look

On Tuesday, November 7, 2017, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, tabled Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, for its First Reading. The bill, which applies to both

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Cleaning up clear and convincing: Changes to Ontario police legislation

Late last week, the provincial government tabled Bill 175, the Safer Ontario Act, which contained extensive provisions to overhaul policing in Ontario. The Bill makes changes to a number of pieces of legislation, including the Police Services Act, which had been in place for twenty-seven years.  The proposed legislation includes changes to the civilian oversight

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“Locker Room Talk”: Defining sexual harassment in the Alberta case of Watkins v. Willow Park Golf Course

To say sexual harassment is a hot topic at the moment is an understatement. From Donald Trump’s now infamous Access Hollywood tape to multiple reports at Fox News to the Harvey Weinstein scandal, there is heightened awareness of the seriousness of sexual harassment and its impacts, particularly in the workplace. Despite the high profile nature

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What employers can learn from #MeToo

I started seeing the #metoo hashtag being posted by friends and acquaintances on Twitter and Facebook one Sunday evening, and by the next morning it seemed that every woman I knew had chimed in. For those who don’t know, a picture started circulating on social media that read: If all the women who have been

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Employers shouldn’t stand-by if they don’t want their employees to, and other lessons from RT’s Workplace Bystander Survey

Although there is a lot of buzz around bystanders these days, most of this discussion relates to encouraging bystander interventions in order to curb sexual harassment and violence on university campuses. At Rubin Thomlinson, this has got us thinking: What about workplaces? Why isn’t anyone talking about bystanders in the context of workplaces? As the

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The official word on unofficial bonus policies

On September 25, 2017, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision Fulmer v. Nordstrong Equipment Limited, 2017 ONSC 5529 (“Nordstrong”), where the Court dealt with a wrongful termination case, and issued a noteworthy determination on an employee’s bonus entitlements. The Facts The Plaintiff, Glen Fulmer (“Fulmer”) worked as a controller for Nordstrong Equipment

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