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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Sunrise propane explosion results in $5.3 million in fines

It has been more than 7 years since a series of colossal explosions at Sunrise Propane lit up Toronto’s night sky, killing one worker and forcing the evacuation of thousands of neighbouring residents. Investigators traced the origin of the tragedy to vapours being ignited during a dangerous (and illegal) truck-to-truck transfer of propane; and prosecutors

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Criminal charges, criminal convictions, and their implications for the employment relationship

Last week, former Subway pitch-man Jared Fogle was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison, after pleading guilty to charges of trading in child pornography and paying for sex with minors. Subway had cut ties with Mr. Fogle months earlier, after police raided his home in July of this year.  In the circumstances, few

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On the job and under the influence?

Earlier this month, an AirBaltic flight bound for Crete was grounded shortly before take-off after several of its crew members – including both the captain and first officer – failed alcohol tests. News reports indicate that a passenger alerted local authorities to a concern that the crew had been drinking; and that following a pre-flight

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The intersection of workplace violence and occupational health & safety: A tragic reminder marks the fifth anniversary of Bill 168

On June 7, 2015, a Calgary gas station attendant attempting to prevent a “gas-and-dash” was run down by the vehicle; and she later died of her injuries. This tragedy made headlines across the country; and reports indicate that the employee, Maryam Rashidi, was only on her third day on the job when the incident occurred.

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“FHRITP” = Career-limiting move

For those unfamiliar with this vulgar form of harassment, “FHRITP” refers to the offensive trend of female reporters being heckled on-air by some miscreant shouting “f**k her right in the p***y!” When CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt was targeted with that nonsense while interviewing fans outside a Toronto FC game this past Sunday, she challenged a

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“What if President Obama drops by the office today?” (and other considerations for company dress codes)

I recently read news coverage of an employee who was sent to a meeting that he thought “was going to be an informal event — that it was going to be business casual,” only to find himself seated at a boardroom table with none other than U.S. President Barack Obama.  After the meeting, the employee

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Snow day! Inclement weather and challenges for HR

For much of Canada, this winter has been severe and seemingly never-ending.  Toronto has just come through a February that didn’t see the temperature climb above the freezing mark even once; and as I type this, the 24-hour forecast calls for 5-10 centimetres of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain – and, obviously, very treacherous

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Don’t like your “f**k a** job”? Tweeting about it is probably a bad idea

In the latest incident of an employee’s social media activity landing him/herself in hot water with an employer, media outlets reported earlier this week that a young woman in Texas was fired before her first day on the job, after allegedly tweeting the following: “Ew, I start this f**k a**job tomorrow.” The employee’s apparent disdain

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