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After the assessment: Best practices for implementation of change

July 28, 2017 | By Cory Boyd

Employers are increasingly relying on workplace assessments as a tool to gather information from their employees in order to identify organizational culture issues and develop recommendations and strategies to address those issues. Using a combination of information-gathering techniques, such as interviews, focus groups and questionnaires, employers can encourage participation while maintaining the confidentiality and trust

The outsiders: Recent decision addresses a municipality’s duty to protect employees from external harassment

July 27, 2017

By now, most employers are well aware of the duty to protect employees from workplace harassment. However, what happens when the harasser is outside the workplace? Is the duty to protect still triggered? Most employment lawyers in Ontario would advise that an employer can (and should) take to protect its employees from workplace-related harassment, regardless

Mining for details from the eyewitness: The latest research in cognitive interviewing & practical tips

July 25, 2017

One of the key challenges of a workplace investigator is to determine who did what and when – a challenge that becomes much more arduous when eyewitnesses fail to recall important details. In RT’s workplace investigation training course, Assessing Credibility, we teach participants about different interviewing strategies to enhance an interviewee’s memory. New Approaches to

Poisoned work environment: An employer’s responsibility

July 12, 2017

I am often asked what “poisoned work environment” means. My thought is that while many people have heard the term and may even use it occasionally, they are not really sure what it is. A recent HRTO decision provides some clear guidance as to what a poisoned work environment is, how it often arises, and

Unmasking the veil of privilege in workplace investigations

July 10, 2017

There is a growing prevalence of workplace investigations in today’s legal landscape. Conventionally, employers have conducted investigations for two primary reasons: to minimize legal liability to employees who have experienced some form of injury or improper treatment in the workplace (e.g. injury, discrimination, harassment, etc.); and to obtain information that may be relevant to a

Municipal integrity commissioners and workplace investigators: Who does what when council members are accused of harassment?

July 5, 2017

Bill 68, the Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017, received Royal Assent on May 30, 2017. One of the biggest changes introduced by the Bill is the requirement that all municipalities in Ontario have a Code of Conduct and either appoint an Integrity Commissioner, or make arrangements for the Commissioner of another municipality to fulfill

Rehiring the man who had sexually harassed her over a decade before, triggers employee’s constructive dismissal

June 30, 2017 | By Janice Rubin

Constructive dismissal cases are tricky. The onus is on the employee to prove her case, often in the face of strong opposition from the employer. Moreover, the test is an objective one. It is not the employee’s subjective assessment of the workplace conditions that rules the day. Rather, it is the legal decision maker’s assessment

How do I maintain privilege over investigation reports?

June 30, 2017 | By Christine Thomlinson

I was recently invited to speak on an Advocates’ Society panel on the subject of privilege of investigation reports. As an investigator who conducts harassment investigations, it was a fascinating discussion because the reasons for attempting to secure privilege over investigation reports of other types were compelling. For organizations dealing with issues such as major

Serious insight for serious situations.