Employment & Labour Lawyers. “With
heightened sensitivity and awareness, the
landscape changes and so do the legal
obligations.”
Employers are facing evolving obliga-tions
to address harassment and violence
in the workplace.
“The potential liability that can flow
from a failure to meet those obligations
is significant,” said French. “Also, when
there’s a situation you may have an instinct
to dismiss as frivolous, it’s important to
recognize there might be significant con-sequences
if you don’t handle it with due
process.”
What this underscores for HR profes-sionals
is the need to stay on top of the
issue.
“Be very diligent about establishing, im-plementing
and reviewing your policies,”
said French. Take even the most frivolous
claim seriously and put it through the as-sessment
process This won’t necessarily
mean a full investigation, but it can’t be
ignored. And finally, says French, “Take
steps to prevent against any kind of vio-lence
in the workplace and encourage a
respectful workplace culture.”
PRIVACY
With the proliferation of technology in
the workplace, the issue of privacy has be-come
a hot topic.
“It raises a lot of questions,” said Rich
Appiah, partner at Israel Foulon LLP,
based in Toronto. “Does an employer have
the right to search employee equipment?
Does the employee have a right to privacy?
If the employee is suspected of wrongdo-ing,
does the employer have the right to
search through the employee’s computer
or locker?”
In Canada, there are not necessarily
concrete answers to these questions.
“Every case is different, and fact-
specific,” said Appiah. “Human resourc-es
professionals need to understand that
while we can articulate principles that
ought to guide their decision making, ev-ery
situation will be different and managed
on a case-by-case basis.”
What employers can do, however, is to
clearly state and communicate their priva-cy
policy.
“The trend is towards protecting em-ployee
rights, except where the employer
cover feature
“HR PROFESSIONALS ARE ON THE FRONT
LINE IN TERMS OF PROVIDING NECESSARY
AND EFFECTIVE LITIGATION SUPPORT TO
THEIR EMPLOYER AND LEGAL COUNSEL.”
– JANICE PAYNE, PARTNER, NELLIGAN O’BRIEN PAYNE LLP
A part-time graduate degree program for professionals
in Labour Relations, Human Resources Management and
Organizational Development
Queen’s PMIR Advantages:
• A multidisciplinary program that
provides relevant, practical and
leading-edge knowledge that can be
applied immediately to the
workplace
• Core courses in Human Resources
Management, Organizational Theory
and Design, Labour Law, and Labour
Relations
• An advanced and innovative
educational experience with faculty
who are leading scholars and
prominent policy advisors
• An accomplished and diverse group
of colleagues
• A flexible class schedule that allows
students to combine full-time work
with part-time graduate studies
For more information please visit
http://www.queensu.ca/sgs/industrial-relations
or call (613) 533-6000 x. 79029
Come Here. Go Anywhere.
Continued on page 23
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ OCTOBER 2014 ❚ 21
