Courts have previously found that employers may be partially responsible for negative consequences and damages from their work-related social gatherings. For example, should an intoxicated employee drive home following a workplace party, the employer may face liability for any related injury to the employee or to an innocent third party. Liability may also arise when employees or their guests at a workplace function engage in unacceptable behaviours such as sexual harassment.

Employers should take the following into account to ensure no issues arise at their holiday events:

Before the Event

• Set consistent expectations for employee and guest behaviour and remind all team members that all workplace rules and policies are still in place during the event.
• Ensure employees are familiar with the employer’s harassment reporting procedure.
• Inform employees and guests that impaired driving is prohibited.
• Offer alternative transportation options for employees and guests before the event and communicate these options to employees.
• Designate a managerial or another high-level employee to monitor alcohol consumption to ensure no partygoers are ‘overserved.’

During the Event

• Consider a ticket system to limit the number of alcoholic drinks partygoers can consume.
• Arrange for a third party with SmartServe (or other training) to tend the bar and serve alcohol to guests.
• Serve food and alternative non-alcoholic beverages (like mocktails).
• Do not have games or activities that could encourage inappropriate behaviours or workplace injury, such as games that encourage excessive alcohol consumption.
• Close the bar an hour or more before the end of the event.

Conclusion

Successful holiday celebrations require employers to plan carefully. By following these guidelines and implementing the above practices, employers can ensure that all attendees enjoy themselves and remain safe.

If you have any questions about safe holiday party practices, feel free to contact a member of FREEDIN & ROWELL LLP’s Labour and Employment team.

We wish you and your families a joyous holiday season!

The post Safe Holiday Parties: A Primer appeared first on FREEDIN & ROWELL LLP.

Supporting Families

This legislation will propose a new 16-week job-protected leave under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) for adoptive parents and parents through surrogacy. These amendments would also align with upcoming federal changes to create employment insurance (EI) benefits for adoption. The government also intends to propose a new 27-week long-term illness leave for employees unable to work due to a severe medical condition as defined by a medical practitioner, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease. If passed, this would be one of the longest provincial leaves in Canada.  

Women in the Skilled Trades

In legislation from earlier this year, the government now requires menstrual products on construction sites with 20 or more workers and where the project is expected to last three months. In continuing the trend of supporting women in the skilled trades, this newly proposed legislation will expand the explicit requirement for properly fitting PPE for women in the construction sector that the government included in the Working for Workers Act, 2023 to include all sectors. Recent research published by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) found that 50% of women said their PPE does not fit properly, 43% said it is uncomfortable to wear and 35% said the selection of women-specific PPE is inadequate.

Ontario is also proposing specific requirements on employers that will increase accountability and transparency with washroom cleaning records to ensure workers have access to clean washrooms. These amendments would build on the new duties for employers and constructors related to clean washrooms passed under the Working for Workers Five Act. Half of the Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen 2022 survey respondents cited better washroom facilities as needed to make construction more appealing to women.

Should you or your organization have any questions about these potential amendments and how they may impact your workplace, please get in touch with a member of FREEDIN & ROWELL’s employment law department.

The post New Potential Legislation Supporting Families and Women in the Trades appeared first on FREEDIN & ROWELL LLP.

Employment Standards Act, 2000

The following amendments are now in effect:

• Employers cannot require an employee to provide a certificate from a qualified health practitioner as evidence of their entitlement to ESA sick leave.
• The maximum fine for an individual convicted of violating the ESA is increased from $50,000 to $100,000.

The following amendments come into force on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• Every publicly advertised job posting must include a statement on whether the posting is for an existing vacancy. This requirement may be subject to prescribed exemptions.
• An employer who interviews an applicant for a publicly advertised job posting must provide the applicant with prescribed information within a prescribed time period -the content of which still needs to be set out by the government.

Occupational Health and Safety Act 

The following amendments are now in effect:

• The OHSA applies to telework performed in or around a private residence. Additional amendments exclude any office in a private residence from the definition of an “industrial establishment.”
• The definition of workplace harassment and workplace sexual harassment is expanded to include harassment that occurs in a workplace “virtually through the use of information and communications technology.”

• An employer can post the names and work locations of joint health and safety committee members in a readily accessible electronic format rather than in the physical workplace.
• Joint health and safety committee meetings can now occur remotely
• An employer may post its workplace health and safety policy in a readily accessible electronic format, rather than in the physical workplace.
• An employer may post a copy of the OHSA and any explanatory material in a readily accessible electronic format, rather than in the physical workplace. Employers must post these materials in both English and the majority language of the workplace.

The following amendment will come into effect on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• An employer is required to ensure that any washroom facilities provided for worker use are maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. The employer is also required to maintain cleaning records.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997

The following amendment is now in effect:

• Presumptive coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder is extended to wildland firefighters and wildland fire investigators.

The following amendment comes into effect on a date to be proclaimed in the future:

• Presumptive coverage for primary-site skin cancer is extended to prescribed firefighters and fire investigators, provided the worker had at least 10 years of service before being diagnosed.

Should you have any questions about the amendments introduced by Bill 190 and how they may impact your workplace, please contact a member of FREEDIN & ROWELL’s employment law department.

The post Working for Workers Five Act Receives Royal Assent appeared first on FREEDIN & ROWELL LLP.