By Krista Siedlak The recently announced changes by the federal government will allow new parents planning to take parental leave on or after December 3, 2017 (outside of Quebec) to extend and spread their benefits over an 18-month period. This currently applies to federal employees, with expected changes coming at the provincial level (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/parental-leave-announcement-1.4394512). Options...Continue Reading

Krista Siedlak will be presenting a lunchtime webinar entitled “Managing and Accommodating Mental Health Issues in the Workplace,” for the Canadian HR Reporter on November 29, 2017. Click here for more information or to sign up.Continue Reading

By Lindsay Gluck Important amendments relating to chronic stress are made to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA) in Bill 127, which comes into force January 1, 2018 for workplace incidents occurring on or after that date. As of January 1, 2018, s. 13 of the WSIA is amended as follows: 4. Subject to...Continue Reading

Ozlem Yucel has been elected to be Secretary of the Executive of the Ontario Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.  Congratulations, Ozlem!Continue Reading

Ozlem Yucel has been elected to be a Member-at-Large on the Executive of the Ontario Bar Association’s Labour and Employment Section.  Congratulations Ozlem!Continue Reading

For the third year in a row, Catherine Milne co-chaired the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Annual Six-Minute Employment Lawyer.  This was the 20th anniversary of this very successful program and included 18 lawyers from across the province presenting to over 400 participants.  In addition to co-chairing the program, Catherine presented the paper on Just...Continue Reading

Ozlem Yucel published an article for the Ontario Bar Association. The article, entitled “Exploring Mediation Prior to Litigation in Wrongful Dismissal Cases,” discusses the benefits of exploring mediation prior to litigation, and was published online on March 27, 2017.Continue Reading

Deborah Hudson was recently published in the Queen’s University IRC Research Briefs writing about Ageism in the Law (April 2017).Continue Reading

Deborah Hudson published an article with the Labour and Employment Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. The article entitled: “Forging the Way to Just Cause” discusses two recent decisions where employers were found to be justified for just cause terminations, and was published online, on February 6, 2017.Continue Reading

On April 15, 2017, Krista Siedlak will run two separate sessions during this five-day program for the Certificate for HR Law Professionals at Osgoode Professional Development. The sessions will be dealing with Investigations: “Conducting the Interview” and “After a Finding”. The first session deals with the nuts and bolts of conducting effective interviews during investigations. The...Continue Reading

On February 22nd, Krista Siedlak will be speaking at the five-day program for the Certificate in Labour Law at Osgoode Professional Development. Krista will be presenting on “Making a Finding and Preparing an Investigation Report”.Continue Reading

Catherine Milne spoke on a panel with two colleagues at the 2016 Human Resources Professional Association (“HRPA”) HR Law Conference in Toronto.  She and her co-presenters discussed a variety of case law updates including those related to bonus payments at termination, written termination clauses in employment contracts, employees vs. contractors, restrictive covenants, social media in...Continue Reading

For the third year in a row, Krista Siedlak will be presenting at this conference in the Fall of 2016. This year, her topic is pulled from the headlines: “You did What? When Off-Duty Conduct Impacts your Job”.Continue Reading

In June 2016, Krista Siedlak conducted a webinar on conducting harassment investigations at Canadian HR Reporter. This was particularly well attended as employers are trying to get ready for the upcoming changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act in September of 2016 regarding sexual harassment and investigations.Continue Reading

Rachel Turnpenney was interviewed today on CBC’s Metro Morning by Matt Galloway on the subject of “Promotion and Pregnancy”. You can listen to an audio recording of that interview at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/promotion-and-pregnancy-1.3619968.Continue Reading

Rachel Turnpenney was a presenter at the Women’s Work? Institute event, Is the Law on my Side? A Lawyer’s Guide to Managing Pregnancy and Motherhood in the Workplace.  During her talk, Rachel addressed the questions and issues that many women face regarding managing pregnancy and motherhood at work.Continue Reading

For the second year, Catherine Milne Co-Chaired the Law Society of Upper Canada’s 2016 Six Minute Employment Lawyer.  The annual conference is a highlight in the CPD calendar of most of the province’s employment law bar.  This year it drew close to 400 participants.Continue Reading

Deborah Hudson spoke on a panel for the Ontario Bar Association about mental stress claims in the context of  Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board claims.  The panel focused on the issue of causation within a workers’ compensation framework.Continue Reading

Rachel Turnpenney presented at the Ontario Bar Association’s Employment Law Conference 2016. Rachel presented on the topic of “Summary Judgement post-Hryniak”, discussing the changes in employment law litigation following the decision in Hryniak v Mauldin.Continue Reading

Krista Siedlak has been participating in this Certificate program since 2011 on a semi-annual basis.  In March of 2016, she ran two separate sessions dealing with Investigations: “Conducting the Interview” and “After a Finding”. The first session deals with the nuts and bolts of conducting effective interviews during investigations. The second session tries to provide...Continue Reading

Rachel Turnpenney was a speaker at the Toronto Human Rights and Accommodation Conference 2016, organized by Lancaster House. Rachel presented on the “Major Case Law and Legislative Update” panel.Continue Reading

Deborah Hudson published an article with Queen’s University IRC on accommodating mental illness in the workplace.  The article entitled: “Invisible Barriers: Accommodating Mental Illness in the Workplace” was published in the Queen’s IRC Research Briefs, March 2016 issue.Continue Reading

In February 2016, Krista Siedlak spoke at this four day certificate program on “Making a Finding and Preparing an Investigation Report”.Continue Reading

Rachel Turnpenney will be speaking on October 22, 2015 at the HRPA HR Law Conference on a panel entitled “Performance Management and Accommodation”.  Rachel will be addressing the issue of Constructive Notice of Accommodation.Continue Reading

Deborah Hudson will be speaking on October 28, 2015 at the Lancaster House, Workplace Safety and Insurance Conference, Panel 3 entitled “Back to Health, Back to Work: A Fresh Look at the Work Reintegration Process”Continue Reading

Krista Siedlak will be speaking on February 21, 2016: Making a Finding and Preparing a Report, Module 4, Osgoode Certificate in Labour Law for HR ProfessionalsContinue Reading

Krista Siedlak will be speaking about Managing Mental Health in the Workplace. HRPA Niagara Chapter, January 28, 2016Continue Reading

On January, 21 Krista Siedlak will be speaking at the HRPA Annual Conference: You did What? When Off-Duty Conduct Impacts Your JobContinue Reading