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Reprisal Complaints Must Relate to Health and Safety Matters

By Rosalind H. Cooper Occupational health and safety legislation in most Canadian provinces prohibits reprisal by an employer against an employee who makes allegations of unsafe work. Workers routinely try to rely on such reprisal provisions to attack any actions of their employers. A recent Ontario Labour Relations Board decision, Petro v. The Beer Store, […]

transgender

How to Combat Transphobia in the Workplace

According to one report by the National Center for Transgender Equality, 90% of the 6,450 transgender and gender-nonconforming people who were surveyed reported “experiencing harassment or mistreatment on the job or took actions to avoid it.” And a whopping 47% of the individuals surveyed reported being fired, not hired, or denied a promotion because of […]

OSHA Fines MillerCoors for Employee Electrocution

by Jim Goh Behind efforts to assist organized labor and improve the balance between work and family, increasing workplace safety is a top priority for President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress. Both the President and congressional leaders have vowed more funding for the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) […]

10 Mistakes that Spell Doom for Your Wellness Program

Wellness programs seem like no-brainers, but easy-to-make mistakes can doom your program before it can gain traction. Here are experts’ Debra Wein and Courtney Hernandez’ 10 key wellness mistakes to avoid. Wein is founder and president of Wellness Workdays where Hernandez is senior wellness account manager. In their WellNews they refer to their top 10 […]

Finally: Practical, Workable, Automated Leave Tracking

And, of course, each type of leave has its own set of eligibility, entitlement, notice, documentation, and tracking requirements, and oftentimes the requirements overlap. To help our readers cope with this thicket of leave laws, BLR—after evaluating a number of leave management systems—is proud to announce that we have established a partnership with Presagia to […]

Minnesota’s “ban the box” law takes effect January 1

by Richard R. Voelbel Minnesota’s new “ban the box” law takes effect January 1, meaning private employers will be prohibited from inquiring about a job candidate’s criminal background until after the candidate has been selected for an interview or has received a conditional offer of employment. Public employers already have been prohibited from including a […]

How to Use Technology to Drive Organizational Culture

Corporate culture, or organizational culture, is notoriously difficult to change. The term refers to the ingrained values, practices, and essence of a company. The concept can take many dimensions: focus on timeliness, rigidity of corporate hierarchy, office politics, etc. At the same time, the relatively independent influence of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of employees can […]

Don’t Do These Things to Employees on Vacation

School is almost over and that means pretty soon your employees will start taking their vacations. However, American’s are taking less vacation than ever. Various reports—released by Project Time Off—indicate that 40% of workers allow paid vacation days to go unused, often the result of employers subtly (or not so subtly) condemning time off and […]