Training

Anyone who supervises or manages employees in Ontario should have an understanding of the governing workplace laws and regulations.

Every manager, supervisor and employee in Ontario will probably collide with some provision of our comprehensive and often times confusing workplace legislation at one time or another during their careers.

For Companies: To assist business owners, human resource professionals, managers and supervisors maintain productivity and effectively manage the workplace, Keyser Mason Ball, LLP offers in house hands-on training workshops on the every-day application of employment law drawn from real life situations. The programs are interactive and allow your managers and supervisors opportunity for questions and open discussion. Program format is customized to each training situation and company requirement.

For Individuals: From time to time we offer open group training sessions for individuals - maximum 25 per session. For details of upcoming workshops and pricing, please see our Seminars page

To discuss your needs and the details of specific training programs, please contact Patrizia Piccolo at 905.276.9111 or by email ppiccolo@kmblaw.com.

Training Programs Include:

Harassment and Discrimination In The Workplace

Investigating Workplace Complaints - Getting it Right

Hiring Right The First Time

Termination Training For Supervisors (Non Union), Including Handling Difficult Terminations

How To Manage the Duty to Accommodate

Workplace Violence - Prevention Training

Discipline Training for Managers and Supervisors

Harassment and Discrimination In The Workplace

Implement the legal requirements for a respectful, more productive, quality workplace.

Legal developments and court decisions have significantly reshaped what are acceptable standards for workplace environment and management responsibilities and accountabilities in dealing with employees' rights.

This seminar is geared toward managerial and non-managerial employees to help them understand the provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code pertaining to harassment and discrimination. It also provides a basic overview of the investigation process so that employees understand how complaints should be investigated.

Participants will learn how to:

• Identify Harassment and Discrimination in the workplace
• Understand Employee rights and responsibilities when harassment or discrimination is experienced or witnessed
• The employee as manager/supervisor - understand rights and responsibilities of employees who are also managers/supervisors under the Ontario Human Rights Code
• Understand the extent of employer liability under the Ontario Human Rights Code
• Maintain appropriate work environments
• Understand the mechanics of a proper investigation.

Investigating Workplace Complaints - Getting it Right

(Participants will receive essential take home materials including guidelines, forms and checklists to immediately adapt to their particular work environment.)

Dealing with workplace complaints (including harassment) requires a methodical and reliable process in order to determine the nature of the problem, the prevalence of the problem, the scope of the problem and the perception of both management and employees of the issue. Once harassment or another workplace issue is identified, corrective action should be immediate, accessible to all and maintained vigilantly.

Such a comprehensive action reduces risk of human rights complaints to Human Rights Commission; Reduces risk of expanding liabilities including expensive lawsuits; Demonstrates an employer's commitment to guaranteeing a respectful and safe workplace.

This training program is geared toward managerial and human resources employees who are responsible for creating and implementing workplace policies.

Participants will learn how to:

• Establish a due diligence and remedial process
• Develop relevant and appropriate company policies
• Determine when to use internal investigators or external investigators
• Properly instruct external investigators
• Properly conduct an internal workplace investigation
• Properly draft confidential reports to management
• Pose recommended steps and actions
• Set up an annual environmental check to determine effectiveness of policy implementation
• Set up an on call process for immediate advice and counsel

Participants are provided with hands on opportunities to "investigate" a complaint and provide their investigative findings.

Hiring Right The First Time

The clearer the rights and expectations of both employer and employee are from the outset, the less likely problems will arise during and at the end of employment. The process of hiring usually is the origin of avoidable wasted time, trouble, money and law suits.

You will learn how to:

• Strategically use employment contracts - basics, restrictions and special issues - as a management tool to protect your assets and reduce termination costs and lawsuits with maximum certainty and flexibility
• Creating an independent contractor relationship
• Set up a hiring process that allows you acquire the best talent and comply with the subtle, and sometimes not so subtle requirements of Ontario laws.

Termination Training For Supervisors (Non Union), Including Handling Difficult Terminations

Terminating an employee brings together strong emotional and business forces that must be properly dealt with to avoid acrimonious and time-consuming litigation. There is a preferred process and timing to termination that mitigates unproductive and costly fallout.

You will learn how to:

• Determine whether or not there is "just cause" for termination
• Document discipline properly
• Identify alternatives to termination
• Properly document performance leading up to termination
• Understand the difference between common law notice and Employment Standards Act minimum termination and severance entitlements so you can determine the applicable notice period where just cause does not exist
• Avoid situations of constructive dismissal
• Communicate the decision to terminate both verbally and in a termination letter: what to say when terminating with or without cause to avoid problems
• Structure settlement packages
• Manage the effects of specific term employment, constructive dismissal, non performance of contract and lay offs
• Handle post termination obligations
• Deal with termination disputes

How To Manage the Duty to Accommodate:

In Ontario, all workplaces are facing accommodation challenges on an increasingly regular basis. Because of the sometimes lesser known requirements of the Duty to Accommodate requirements, Human rights complaints are rapidly increasing. Essentially, the requirements of the current accommodation legal model requires you to rethink of how you structure your workplaces and carry on work to ensure compliance. This session will help you manage challenges without triggering avoidable liabilities.

We will cover:

• The Fundamentals: Understanding the scope of the ever expanding employer obligations relating to accommodation and how to meet your obligations; The impact of the duty to accommodate on the workplace and the employment relationship
• How to develop and implement strategies, policies and protocols to position your workplace to successfully deal with accommodation issues
• Multi-party obligations: The rights and responsibilities of necessary parties and how to manage them
• Securing support and commitment for accommodation within your organization
• Successfully managing the real accommodation issues dealing with the frequently encountered accommodation issues: pregnancy; aging; WSIB issues; religious observance; disability impacting performance; disability-related absenteeism; non-evident disability issues; substance abuse; psychiatric disabilities; stress
• Accommodation in a unionized setting
• Managing the issue of medical information
• Understanding employee needs
• How to avoid increasing liabilities for getting accommodation wrong

Workplace Violence - Prevention Training

Know, identify, plan ahead, promote, implement, investigate, and resolve. The onus is on you to advance and sustain a safe working environment. Violence in the workplace is an unfortunate common occurrence in Ontario.

Recently, there have been significant amendments to Ontario workplace legislation, namely the Occupational Health and Safety Act, that require an employer to develop and maintain a policy to prevent workplace violence. These amendments also set out the severe penalties of a faulty application or complete lack of company policies. Many workplaces are currently perilously exposed as their management has not yet put the necessary measures into place to prevent workplace violence and comply with Ontario regulations.

Who Should Attend?

This training seminar is structured specifically for managers and supervisors to help them understand, both in practical and achievable ways, how to prevent workplace violence.

Participants will acquire the skill set necessary to effectively respond to anxious, irrational, angry, hostile, or potentially dangerous behavior, and minimize the negative impact of challenging encounters and costly outcomes.

As a priority, employers want to maintain a productive, happy and safe working environment. It can be done, and this seminar can teach you how through clearly defined terms, strategies, an understanding of the advancements in law as well as useful examples, tips and do’s and don’ts.

You will learn:

• What violence in the workplace is
• Key elements of violence and weapons policies
• Proper reporting and investigation responsibilities
• Which actions to avoid
• Fundamental behaviours that may signal trouble
• How to react to violence
• What to expect in the aftermath of violence
• What the costs of violence are
• What the true potential for lawsuits is
• Effective prevention strategies
• What managers’ and supervisors’ roles are when it comes to preventing workplace violence

Discipline Training for Managers and Supervisors

Almost always, employers will have the pain staking task of having to discipline an employee. Such a task is typically never easy to do as it requires a healthy degree of knowledge, fair and consistent treatment, and in most cases, time and patience. It is no wonder why many employers are often left in the dark when it comes to properly disciplining an employee or simply fail in their attempt at it.

Barring few exceptions that warrant immediate termination, a proper form of incremental discipline (otherwise known as “progressive discipline”) is required before a termination is done – particularly those terminations that will based on “just cause”. Where such form of discipline was not implemented but warranted, employers could face costly litigation by way of mounting wrongful dismissal and/or human rights damages.

This training seminar is geared towards mangers and supervisors, and will act as a guide to the effective use of discipline as well as lend support to the do’s and don’ts of proper disciplining.

Participants will learn:

• What should be addressed in a discipline policy
• The obvious reasons to discipline an employee
• What is progressive discipline
• The steps for progressive discipline
• Punitive versus corrective forms of discipline
• Who is responsible for disciplining
• Types of discipline
• The essentials for proper disciplining
• How discipline relates to the law
• What to avoid when disciplining
• How to integrate company policies during the disciplinary process
• All about "Just Cause"
• Documentation and due process