Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
As discussed in our previous blog post, the Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin scandal has dominated the sports and national headlines. Lost somewhat in the midst of an Incognito-Martin-centric sports news cycle were the recent health scares of Denver Broncos coach John Fox and Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak during week 9 of the NFL season. Fox, […]
By Maria Giagilitsis It’s becoming more and more clear that an employee’s use of social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace may lead to justifiable discipline by an employer. On October 22, 2010, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board released its decision in West Coast Mazda (d.b.a. West Coast Detail & Accessory Centre) […]
Sometimes, broad diversity training isn’t enough. In fact, we’d venture to say that most times it’s not enough. That’s particularly the case when it comes to getting supervisors to take diversity seriously. “We’ve found that simple ‘diversity training’ doesn’t seem to do much to help managers ‘get it,’” says Joanne Cleaver, president of Wilson-Taylor Associates, […]
By Kyla Stott-Jess and Kyle Cadieux An employer in Canada would be forgiven for thinking that a release of liability related to employment would protect it from all future claims by that employee. However, a recent Alberta Human Rights Tribunal decision, Hutton v. ARC Business Solutions Inc., 2015 AHRC 7, suggests that the matter is […]
by Hannah Roskey There has been some controversy in Canadian law on the issue of whether the financial circumstances of the employer should play a role in deciding what constitutes reasonable notice of termination or pay in lieu of notice. Since multiple factors go into deciding what’s reasonable in many circumstances, why not this one? […]
California noncompete agreements are basically void. California’s legislature routinely passes its own version of federal laws, often with crucial differences that can trip up multistate employers. Noncompete agreements are one such topic. While most states do not give employees protection (or only do so by limiting the scope of these agreements), they’re generally not allowed […]
I learned something last week. If you read a youngster’s text messages, you’ll notice a complicated system of abbreviations, symbols, and symaphores that, when translated with your 7-year-old’s assistance, become more-or-less coherent English sentences. Anyway, I learned “SMH” means “shaking my head,” which is exactly what I do these days when I hear the words […]
by Mark M. Schorr As of March 28, 2012, a new protected category has been created under the Omaha Municipal Ordinance enforced by Omaha’s Human Rights and Relations Department. Omaha residents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender are now protected from discrimination in the same way that sex, race, national origin, age, marital status, […]
A new study, “Hiring as Cultural Matchmaking: The Case of Elite Professional Service Firms,” suggests that employers are often looking to find a candidate whom they would like to hang out with rather than identifying the person who can best do the job. “It is important to note that this does not mean employers are […]
By Isabelle East-Richard A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision arising out of Québec will have broad ramifications across Canada. In Payette v. Guay Inc. (2013 SCC 45 (September 12, 2013)), the Supreme Court of Canada settled the debate over whether the employment contract provisions of the Civil Code of Québec also apply to noncompete […]