Tag: Employment law

Unlimited vacation policies—good idea or license to slack?

by Michael Futterman and Jaime Touchstone Employers have long used paid vacation policies as a compensation benefit and a means of enhancing employee productivity. To keep pace in a competitive hiring market, many start-ups offer employees the right to take “unlimited” paid vacation. While “unlimited vacation” policies do offer certain benefits, the law on such […]

Heeere’s Johnny!!! Or, what horrors lurk in your building?

If you’ve seen The Shining you certainly remember the scene when Jack Nicholson’s character, now thoroughly possessed by the Overlook Hotel’s diabolical spirits, hefts an axe and chases his wife through the snowbound resort. Cornering her in a bathroom, he splinters the door and bellows, “Heeere’s Johnny!”  Scary stuff, for sure. For me, though, I […]

Unfixing a fixed-term contract

by Eowynne Noble In a recent good-news decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice shed new light on how damages should be awarded if a fixed-term contract is terminated early and the termination provision is unenforceable.

Going beyond the mantra: Don’t just document, document correctly

Human resources professionals know well the mantra: Document, document, document. But just writing things down isn’t enough. HR needs to recognize and avoid common documentation mistakes. Susan G. Fentin, a partner with the Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. law firm in Springfield, Massachusetts, recently outlined common mistakes as part of a Business & Legal Resources […]

To arbitrate or not to arbitrate? That is the question

by David Johnson Including a mandatory arbitration provision in an employment contract is a trendy thing to do. Is it the right thing to do for your business? Let’s look at some commonly accepted pros and cons of arbitration and dispel some myths. Pros Arbitration is cheaper and quicker. This is usually true because court […]

Settling up: the need for specificity in employee releases

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 […]

Ode to Letterman: EntertainHR’s own Top 10

David Letterman, a late-night staple for 33 years, aired his final episode on May 20, 2015. Whether you preferred Johnny, Leno, Conan, Kimmel, or Fallon, no one can deny Letterman’s impact on pop culture, and the fact remains that he retires as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history. While there were […]

Drugs, alcohol, and the workplace: What employers need to know

No employer wants impaired workers on the job, and most take steps intended to prevent drugs and alcohol from causing harm. But despite carefully considered policies, problems often occur. Statistics reported in the June 2 Wall Street Journal are giving employers more to worry about. Statistics from Quest Diagnostics Inc., a major administer of workplace […]

Would Senator Hatch’s H-1B solution help?

by Elaine Young In 2013, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was part of the group that drafted and passed a comprehensive immigration bill in the Senate. The bill later fizzled out in the House of Representatives. This year, Senator Hatch introduced the Immigration Innovation Act of 2015, which addresses one aspect of comprehensive immigration reform—increasing the […]

Gall, Blatter

Joseph “Sepp” Blatter is a man whose name seems an adjective as much as a proper noun. Blatter, as you likely know by now, was just elected to a fifth term as President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international umbrella organization for international soccer. The 79-year-old Blatter was his typically arrogant […]