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Building Stronger Workplaces.

Building Stronger Workplaces.

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Explore our collection of practical articles and curated resources designed to support professionals in building stronger workplaces.

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A delicious way to resign

Chris Holmes worked days for the Border Force at Stansted Airport and baked cakes in his spare time. After three years of moonlighting, Mr. Holmes decided it was time to pursue his cake business full-time. This left the matter of announcing his decision to his employer. How better for a baker to resign than on

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Terminating an employee facing misconduct allegations may defy duty of fairness

When an employer is made aware of allegations of employee misconduct, employment lawyers generally advise that they are expected to respond fairly and conduct some form of investigation before reaching any conclusion on fault for the misconduct and any resulting discipline. Given the potential duration and cost of an investigation process, an employer may be

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Work-life issues: Implications for employment law

I was very interested to read last week the summary of The 2012 National Study on Balancing Work and Caregiving in Canada (the “Study”), published by Carleton University professor, Linda Duxbury, and University of Western Ontario professor, Christopher Higgins. This is the 3rd such study, conducted once a decade since 1991, and there are some

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Are political beliefs a creed?

In speaking to employers, and particularly to human resources professionals, I often hear how challenging they find it to accommodate their employees’ needs as they relate to creed, both because of the sensitive nature of discussions around religion and the uniqueness of each employee’s genuinely held beliefs. A recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court

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Dumb Ways to Get Fired

Someone played the “Dumb Ways to Die” video for me recently. I know it sounds morbid, but it’s actually a very clever video produced as a public service announcement for Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia on train safety (check it out at http://dumbwaystodie.com/). It got me to thinking about the dumb ways that people manage

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The essential human rights primer for workplace investigators

Since joining Rubin Thomlinson, I have had the opportunity to deliver workplace investigation training to hundreds of human resources professionals who are challenged in their workplaces to respond to issues of discrimination and harassment. During that time, I’ve noticed an increasing recognition of the duty to investigate these matters, and in some cases, I’ve seen

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My new job title: Toronto employment and “playbour” lawyer

As I read the paper this morning, I came across an unfamiliar term: “playbour”.  Apparently, this is the brainchild of the media theorist, Julian Kücklich, who coined the term as a result of the confusion between work and play, as facilitated by technology.  As anyone who has responded to a work e-mail from a child’s

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Lessons from Lance

I’ve been following the news reports over the last few weeks covering the story of disgraced cyclist, Lance Armstrong.I’m struck by several things: (1) that Lance continues to admit no wrongdoing, despite mounting evidence of his participation in doping; and (2) the distinctions that are being drawn between sports personalities like Tiger Woods and Kobe

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