Agenda
March 29, 2016
8:15
Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:40
Welcome from Insight Information
8:50
Co-Chair’s Opening Remarks
Richard J. Charney
Global Head of Employment and Labour Senior Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright
9:00
Preventing and Eradicating Human Rights Violation in Today’s Workplace: Tips, Tools and Procedures
Anne E. Grant
Mediator
AEG Dispute Resolution Services Inc.
Laura K. Williams
Principal
Williams HR Law Professional Corporation
- Identify practical measures that employers can implement to prevent, mitigate and eradicate human rights violation cases within the workplace
- Importance of taking action early
- Structural discrimination: detect the signs and symptoms
- Review the challenges, risks and exposures that structural discrimination creates for organizations
10:00
Determining Duty to Accommodate or Undue Hardship
Ardis McDonald
Manager – In Flight Services Absenteeism & Productivity
Air Canada
Andrew N. Zabrovsky
Associate
Hicks Morley
- When do I have to accommodate an employee?
- WSIB/WCB, third party insurers and human rights – how do these correlate from a DTA perspective and how do their parameters differ?
- What does undue hardship really mean?
- What are the roles of all those involved (employer, employee, union, third party) in DTA?
11:00
Networking Break
11:15
Disclosure of Personal and Medical Information to Determine Accommodation
Barbara Green
Partner
Robins Appleby LLP
- Legal requirements and parameters of obligations
- Recent case law analysis
12:05
Networking Luncheon
1:05
Accommodation: The Best, or Something Less?
Richard J. Charney
Global Head of Employment and Labour Senior Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright
- How can the employer fulfill duty to accommodate?
- The obligations of the employee in the accommodation process
- Whether the employee can demand his or her ideal accommodation
- The role of a union in the accommodation process
- The employer’s recourse if a reasonable accommodation is refused
- When the duty to accommodate is satisfied
1:50
Privacy in the Tech-Era: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Michael Sherrard
Partner
Sherrard Kuzz LLP
- Hiring based on social media content screening
- Employees privacy vs employer rights
- Employers responsibilities on workplace privacy
- Breeches and termination
2:35
Networking Break
2:50
Blowing a Whistle at Work: Legal Rights and Obligations
Inna Koldorf
Partner
Koldorf Stam LLP
David Yazbeck
Partner
Ravenlaw, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP
- What is “whistleblowing”?
- Under what circumstances can an employee blow the whistle?
- What are some key elements of a whistleblower policy?
- When can an employee “go public”?
- What legislation exists to either facilitate whistleblowing or to provide protection in the case of reprisal for whistleblowing?
3:50
LGBT Rights at the Workplace: Changing Workplace Cultures
Marc A. Rodrigue
Associate
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
- Recent human rights developments and case law
- Rising LGBT trends in the Canadian workforce
- Thoughts on best practices for LGBT diversity and inclusion
- Resources for employers
4:35
Co-Chair’s Closing Remarks and Conference Adjourns for the Day
March 30, 2016
8:30
Continental Breakfast
8:50
Co-Chair’s Opening Remarks
Ardis McDonald
Manager – In Flight Services Absenteeism & Productivity
Air Canada
9:00
Accommodating an Aging Workforce
Pnina Alon-Shenker
Associate Professor, Law and Business Department of Ted Rogers School of Business Management
Ryerson University
Philip J. Wolfenden
Partner
Shields O’Donnell MacKillop LLP
- Why it is important to accommodate the aging workforce – practical and theoretical foundations
- What is the nature and scope of this legal duty?
- What are the difficulties and limits in applying this duty?
- How can (and should) the duty of accommodation be developed and evolved?
- Recent case law review
10:00
Family Status: What Triggers a Human Rights Violation and How to Accommodate?
Michael F. Horvat
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright
Paul Macchione
Lawyer
Whitten and Lublin Employment Lawyers
- The duty to accommodate family status – when is it triggered?
- How has the law developed and where might it go? Are there options?
- What are the obligations of the employers, employees and unions?
- The legal test to determine a human rights violation on the ground of family status
- The Human Rights Commission “Policy and Guidelines on Discrimination because of Family Status”
- Eye-opening decisions re: family status
- Dealing with a family status complaint and what is required to “accommodate”
11:00
Networking Break
11:15
Managing Sexual Harassment and Violence Cases in the Workplace
Celese Fletcher
Principal
The Fletcher Consultancy
Laurie Jessome
Partner
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
- Formal and informal complaints, including investigations requiring union representation
- Reports made by third party observer (employee or management member)
- An overview of recent case law and legislative developments regarding workplace sexual harassment and violence in Ontario
- A discussion of employer’s risks and responsibilities
- A practical and focused discussion of strategies for conducting effective investigation and managing legal risk
12:15
Networking Luncheon
1:15
Accommodating Mental Disabilities: Your Roles and Responsibilities
Ian M. Campbell
Partner
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Laurie Kent
Partner
Koskie Minsky LLP
- Examine the particular challenges faced by employers when accommodating employees with mental health and other ‘invisible’ disabilities
- Review the factors driving the increased prevalence of mental health accommodation related claims/complaints
- Provide strategies to manage and/or reduce their occurrence
- For situations where such claims cannot be avoided, provide strategies to effectively mitigate their direct and indirect costs to both employees and employers
2:15
Accommodating Religious Beliefs in the Workplace
Asha Rampersad
Lawyer
Bernardi Human Resource Law LLP
Sandeep Tatla
Chief Diversity Officer
Ontario College of Trades
- When is the duty to accommodate religious beliefs and practices triggered under the Human Rights Code?
- Determining whether employee sincerely holds religious beliefs and what documentation can you request?
- How to accommodate requests for variations in scheduling, religious leave, and time off for religious holidays
- Is an employer obligated to pay an employee for time off to attend religious holidays?
3:15
Co-Chair’s Closing Remarks and Conference Concludes
