Workshop Archive: 2023

Half-Day Intensive Virtual Workshop

In Ontario and many other Canadian jurisdictions, an employer is required by law to conduct an investigation in response to an allegation of workplace harassment.

A well planned and executed investigation will help management make sound and defensible decisions and minimize any liability that may arise.

In this workshop, you will acquire the knowledge and tools needed to conduct an effective workplace harassment investigation.  Using interactive learning and real life-scenarios, topics include:

• What type of complaint or misconduct must be investigated?
• How to conduct an interview.
• Dealing with tricky investigation situations.
• How to reach defensible findings of fact.
• What is (and is not) harassment?
• How to write a complete, well-organized and effective harassment report.

Half-Day Intensive Virtual Workshop

In a unionized workplace it can be a challenge to fully understand the impact of a collective agreement on management’s ability to organize the workplace.  In addition, workplace leaders often find it difficult to effectively manage and discipline unionized employees.  Applying interactive learning and real life-scenarios, this half-day workshop examines these topics:

1. The Collective Agreement

• What falls within management rights?
• The impact of key provisions on management’s ability to organize work.
• Understanding the grievance and arbitration process.

2. Effective Management of Unionized Employees

• Dealing with union stewards and representatives.
• Effective performance management.
• Motivating and communicating with unionized employees.

3.  Discipline and Discharge

• What do arbitrators consider in upholding discipline?
• Best (and worst) practices for discipline and discharge in a unionized environment.

Half-Day Intensive Virtual Workshop

Increasingly, requests for accommodation in the workplace focus on mental, not physical, disability. Yet, understanding when a mental health issue may be a disability and how far the duty to accommodate a mental disability extends can be challenging for an employer.

This practical, half-day workshop provides participants with the knowledge and tools to confidently assess and respond to a request for mental health accommodation in the workplace.

Using interactive learning and real life-scenarios, topics include:

• Mental Disability vs. Workplace Woe: When does an ailment such as stress or anxiety require accommodation (and when does it not).
•  Medical Documentation: How to obtain useful medical documentation related to mental disability.
• The Accommodation Process: How accommodation of a mental disability differs from accommodation of a physical disability, and ways to accommodate mental disability.
• Leaves of Absence and Termination of Employment: When is an employer justified in placing an employee on a leave of absence, or terminating the employment relationship, for reasons related to a mental disability.

Half-Day Intensive Virtual Workshop

Effective and proactive management of return to work protocols can significantly improve cost outcomes related to most WSIB claims.

Applying interactive learning and real life-scenarios, this half-day workshop examines the following topics:

• WSIB Return to Work Obligations: What are they?
• WSIB Players: Who are they and what is their role in the process?
• Human Rights and Return to Work: How the duty to accommodate intersects with WSIB return to work obligations.
• Common WSIB Return to Work Issues: Key challenges when managing return to work issues and proactive ways to address them.
• Claim Costs: How ineffective management can impact claim costs and penalties.