Category Archives: Performance Management

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

Own a Franchise? We Need to Talk……

Did you know that Franchise owners are personally responsible for all financial risk when it comes to their employees because the Franchisee is the Employer of Record, not the corporation?  While there is usually an HR Department for corporate staff to turn to, the Store staff generally have nowhere to go except the Ministry of Labour or lawyers. If the Franchisee owes money for unpaid wages or vacation pay for example, the Ministry can seize their home, car, cottage, and other assets to pay obligations to employees. Given the vast number of changes that have happened to all pieces of Continue Reading »

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 »