HReview Breakfast Seminar Archive: 2009

Is Your Organization Ready for the Winter Flu Season?
Do You Have a Workplace Pandemic Plan?

1. What are an employer’s legal obligations in responding to a pandemic?
2. What business impact can an employer expect from a pandemic?
   • absenteeism
   • operational constraints
   • market fluctuations
3. What steps can an employer take to maximize safety and minimize business disruption?
4. What practical considerations should an employer take into account when developing a pandemic plan?
5. Lessons learned from SARS and Avian Flu.
6. Answers to the top 10 legal questions by employers about pandemic issues.

Don’t be caught unprepared!

1. The Legislation – What are the rules?
   • Health and Safety Legislation.
   • Human Rights.
   • “Psychological Harassment”.
2. Defining the Issue
   • What constitutes harassment?
   • What factors do courts, arbitrators and administrative tribunals consider?
3. Investigation And Response to Complaints of Harassment and Violence
   • The framework for an appropriate response.
   • Complaints under a Collective Agreement.
4. Discipline and Discharge
   • Just Cause and proving the case.
   • Underlying mental disability.
   • Accommodation as a necessary response.
5. Prevention and Practical Tips to Avoid Liability
   • Review and update current policies.
   • Modify the workplace to create a safer environment.

1. Defining “Performance Management”
2. When and How to Use Performance Management
3. Designing An Effective Performance Management Plan
4. Reasonableness of Goals
   • Legal Issues
   • Human Rights Issues
   • Practical Considerations
   • The Uncooperative Employee
   • 7 Mistakes To Avoid
5. Post Plan Follow Up
   • Communication
   • Assessment
   • Documentation
6. The Termination Decision
   • File and Performance Review
   • Employer Response to Non Compliance
   • Termination – Cause or Without Cause?

1. Layoffs and Terminations

   Employment Standards Act Issues

   • Notice of layoff or termination
   • Continuation of benefits
   • Mass termination

   Common Law Issues

   • Constructive termination
   • Reasonable notice
   • Class-action lawsuits
2. Managing the Fallout
   • Job sharing options
   • Strategies to build loyalty and long-term productivity with employees who remain after a downsizing

1. Framing the Issue
   • The Facts about Mental Illness
   • The “Invisible Disability”- Why employees don’t self-identify. Why employers fail to see the signs.
2. Accommodation
   • When does mental illness constitute a disability?
   • The employer’s responsibilities.
   • When is an employer deemed to have constructive knowledge of the disability?
   • Workplace prejudice and obstacles to accommodation.
   • Is accommodation possible for subjective fears in the workplace?
3. Managing Medical Information
   • Obtaining the “right” medical information.
   • How to deal with subjective medicals.
   • Can an employer insist on medical treatment and/or medication?
   • Independent Medical Assessments.
4. Case Law and Comment
   • The employee’s duty to participate in their own accommodation.
   • What do arbitrators have to say?
   • Where do we go from here?