 |
Workplace Investigations Articles
Breaching company policy can prove costly
To the dismay of many employers, not all breaches of company policy will justify firing the responsible employee. However, as a Toronto area Longo’s grocery store recently learned, a little bit of yogurt and cream cheese can go a very long way. Entrusted with important responsibilities as a grocery store manager, Ray Agosta regrettably took company policy into his own hands. Captured on security cameras and spotted by a loss prevention specialist, Agosta was caught taking five items to his car that he had not checked out of the store. However, when Agosta’s story for taking the items didn’t check out either, the cost to Agosta was more than just his bill for the food; he paid by losing his job too. ...[read more]
Changes to Ontario's Human Rights Regime to impact litigants
Since the mid-90’s, dissatisfied litigants of Ontario’s human rights regime have bemoaned its apparent shortcomings. A blend of limitations, owing their origins to the faulty composition of Ontario’s current human rights legislation, have ultimately left discrimination complainants without adequate redress. Complainants before the Human Rights Commission wait years before a resolution is reached, or imposed. Conversely, since the Commission lacks adequate discretion to immediately dismiss unmeritorious complaints, innocent corporate respondents are burdened with defending marginal complaints....[read more]
Clearing up misconceptions - Mistakes can be avoided
Canadian employers don’t always get to call all the legal shots. Despite workplace laws favouring their legal position, errors made in managing their human resources can put their company’s name on the front page of my next statement of claim. Here are my five favourite employment law mistakes that a company can make, followed in my next column by the top five mistakes employees can make at work....[read more]
Company's failure to properly investigate cost it the case
Today, much of the workforce views itself as being bullied or harassed. Often it is for a good reason. However, as harassment is often in the eyes of the beholder, many companies have become complacent, satisfied to have employees police themselves. As a recent Ontario case illustrates, to do so flirts with a significant lawsuit....[read more]
Courts sympathetic to employee dishonesty
Employees should challenge being terminated for just cause, even if they have engaged in some misconduct. Given the courts' predilection for awarding severance, the ends often justify the means. And employers should not terminate employees for cause where another form of discipline is more appropriate. ...[read more]
Do's and Don'ts of Workplace Law
Employees are often the authors of their own misfortunes at work. Few take advantage of laws that are construed in their favour. Fewer will challenge their employer's decisions, however unjust. Most will just complain. But - if you have an inclination to fight back, here are some do's and don'ts.
...[read more]
Embezzling costs more than job
Stealing millions from the bank and giving it to his friends, executive Rodney Chen said he was doing his customers a favour. But when the money was discovered lining Chen’s own pockets, losing his job was the least of his worries....[read more]
Employees must read the fine print
It’s possibly the worst fraud in workplace law – Corporations, with expensive lawyers and deeper pockets, convincing employees to sign one-sided contracts that reduce their legal rights. And employees, without bargaining power or an understanding of the law, not realizing their interests have been undermined....[read more]
Employers must ensure a harassment-free workplace
Employers have a positive obligation to investigate workplace harassment complaints in a sophisticated and professional manner. Insist that an independent investigator be hired to investigate the complaint....[read more]
Get it right before pulling the trigger
Employee misconduct may be present but in Canadian workplace law it seldom matters if an employer does not act fairly towards its employee. UPS learned this the hard way in its recent termination of a long term employee. ...[read more]
Insufficient Investigation leads to Damages
What happens when an employee is assaulted by a supervisor? As an Ontario court just ruled, when push comes to shove, the employer may also be responsible. ...[read more]
Investigate fully before condemning employees' fate
Proof of workplace misconduct may be present, but it seldom matters if the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. ...[read more]
Investigating allegations of misconduct
A lot can be discovered just by asking the right questions. That is why I’m truly amazed when employers fail to confront employees with allegations of misconduct prior to condemning them, or worse, terminating them for alleged just cause. Employees often bemoan the fact they were not provided with “due process” or an opportunity to plead their case prior to discipline being administered. It seems that when serious allegations manifest, employers often respond with a coup de grâce: the employee is shown the door. And, she can forget about her severance. ...[read more]
Is your Boss a Bully?
Employees faced with an abusive or harassing boss used to visit their doctors for a prescription or a note for a leave of absence. Now, armed with the knowledge that they can sue for significant damages, traumatized employees call their lawyers too. Recently, three separate court decisions reinforced the message that employees can sue for abusive, humiliating and harassing behaviour suffered at the hands of their bosses. ...[read more]
Keep emotions in check if fired
In February, my client Dave was fired. He never saw it coming. "When I got to work, my boss and HR (department) asked to meet with me. I was told that the decision had been made to terminate my employment. I was shocked," he told me. " I was sent home in a cab and told my personal belongings would be shipped to me. I wasn't allowed to say goodbye to anyone." Dave had been employed as a sales agent with a large manufacturing company for five years and had felt his career was finally turning the corner....[read more]
New Year's Resolutions - Don't leave agreements to handshakes or memory
Here is a sampling of some of the most frequently asked questions I received in 2007 – and the advice I provide for employees in 2008....[read more]
No Excuse for Sleeping on the Job
Richardson, a Production Foreman for Davis Wire Industries Ltd. was a stellar employee for 17 years. That is why his General Manager, Stephen Ward, was slow to accept the mounting reports being received from other employees that Richardson was sleeping on the job. But the complaints mounted and Ward, reluctant to confront Richardson with the allegations, decided to take a much more clandestine route to investigate the truth: Ward positioned a hidden video camera in the employee lunchroom and waited for Richardson to make his appearance. Over a period of four days, Ward concluded from the videotapes that Richardson had, in fact, been sleeping and that his ”so called” power naps went beyond the 50 minutes he was allotted as a break....[read more]
Office romance is a tricky business
Employees cannot escape liability because the actions giving rise to a complaint have occurred after working hours or away from the workplace. Even a tenuous connection to work is enough for an employer to intervene....[read more]
Recapping 2009's developments
As we look back on a busy year, we all received some good advice, but often never got around to following it. Since the holidays are a time to reflect, I'm giving you a second chance. Here is some advice for employees in 2010....[read more]
Taking Clients from a past employer
Thinking of jumping ship to the competition? You better think twice before taking your clients with you. Nothing infuriates a company more than news of an ex-employee soliciting away its most prized assets: the clients. But clients, much like those employees, are not sedentary. Seldom are they attracted to one company or another exclusively by virtue of the services they are offered. Rather, their affiliation lies with the relationships that are built and the key employees who have built them. ...[read more]
Termination for Incompetence is a Difficult task to Prove
All-star Sales Manager, Jack Bogden didn’t know what to think. He had been a paradigm of achievement for Purolator Courier Ltd. and was praised by those who worked with him. But for Bogden’s boss, Pat Capparelli, the proof was in the pudding. Confusing excellence with mediocrity, Caparelli’s opinion of Bogden was nothing more than inconsistent. But when the Judge heard all the evidence, Caparelli was the only one that was found erratic. ...[read more]
The Fine art of Investigating Pays Dividends to Employers
The workplace should be concerned with work and not the “art of war”; however, in many ways, employment law disputes inevitably become a chess match, in which each side looks for the next fatal blow. I’m often asked what I enjoy most about representing both employees and small businesses in workplace disputes, as this practice is commonly seen as an exception, not the rule. My response: by walking in my opponents’ shoes, I can anticipate their next move. ...[read more]
The Rocky Road to Dismissal - Employees must combat warning signs
With no legal entitlement to continued employment, Canadian employees decry that the law of dismissal favours their employer. Employers, however, don’t have a magic bullet for liberating themselves from unsatisfactory employees; most mistakes are made by the employees themselves....[read more]
Workplace investigations
While lying during the course of an investigation may be deemed cause for dismissal, Canadian employees should pause given the court’s willingness to also equate silence with dishonesty....[read more]