Category Archives: Performance Management

Blogs and information on Employee reviews, performance plans, and related topics.

Employees Have the Right to Appeal Discipline

Employees have the right to appeal disciplinary actions taken against them by the employer. So how does that work? The appeal process is covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Your Workplace Harassment policy requires employers to “include measures and procedures for workers to report incidents of workplace harassment to a person other than the employer or supervisor, if the employer or supervisor is the alleged harasser”. This “other person” could be a registered HR professional (must have at least a CHRP designation under the HRPA), or the Ministry of Labour (the MOL requires you to put them in Continue Reading »

Is Attendance Management Confusing You?

Thank you to my reader who asked questions regarding the confusing world of Attendance Management programs.  These programs are tricky to navigate because of Human Rights concerns so employers need to use caution when using discipline for absences. 1. Mandated Leaves of Absence – If your workers use the Leave provisions from the Employment Standards Act, these absences cannot be subject to disciplinary action.  There is a limited exception with regard to Personal Emergency Leave in that the absent employee must be able to provide “proof that is reasonable in the circumstances” to show entitlement to the leave.  Failure to Continue Reading »

What Does “Protected Leave” Mean?

Under the Employment Standards Act (ESA) and/or the Human Rights Code, employees are entitled to “protected” leaves of absences. Some examples are Personal Emergency Leave days, Maternity/Parental leave and Compassionate Leaves. “Protected” leave simply means that if an employee exercises their right to take one of these leaves, their right to return to their current job and wage are protected under law. This simply means that if an employee is off, the employer can’t make significant detrimental changes to the job or wage that the employee had when they went off work. Are there “unprotected leaves”? Yes! For example, in Continue Reading »

Hidden Types of “Impairment” at Work

Being “impaired” can be caused by a number of different reasons, not just alcohol or cannabis.  It is important to recognize these issues so that everyone has a safe and healthy workplace.   No matter what the cause, if the employee will be “impaired” at work, they are legally required to disclose this information to their employer. Some examples of “hidden” impairment include: Sleep deprivation: The worker stays up till 3am watching the tied World Series game, and their shift starts at 7am.  The person would be impaired by lack of sleep and not able to focus on operating machinery or cognitive Continue Reading »

Clearing the Air – The Truth About E-Cigarettes at Work

There has been a lot of confusion recently regarding “vaping” or “E-cigarette” use in the workplace.  The Ontario Government will combine all of the “smoking issues” in one Act, known as “Bill 174”, which was granted “Royal Assent” in December 2017 (meaning it is officially a law) and is anticipated to come into effect along side the Cannabis legislation in October.  For further information on that you can read the Explanatory Note provided by the Ontario Legislative Assembly. But all of the back-and-forth with the legislation means that there is still confusion about where and when “vaping” can occur.  It Continue Reading »