If your employees perform outdoor work, you must take safety precautions to protect them from hazardous plants. Contact with hazardous plants, such as poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac, can cause allergic reactions. Exposure to some toxic plants, such as giant hogweed, can lead to severe burns and even blindness. It is critical that...
In a 2022 survey, one in four Canadian employees described their mental health as “bad” or “very bad”. The same report found a 22% decline in positive mental health in workers over the past two years. Many respondents also reported symptoms of burnout caused by their job, with 36% reporting sleeping problems, 29% reporting constantly...
Under the Occupational Health and Safety laws, it is the employer’s general duty to take all reasonable precautions for the health and safety of their employees. This includes protecting staff working in hot conditions from heat stress and heat stroke. Given the high temperatures southern regions of Canada experience during summer, it is important that...
To be able to manage staff well, it is important that employers know how to handle difficult conversations with tact. An employee’s bad personal hygiene can be a particularly sensitive issue to address. But workplace hygiene must be taken seriously. Not only is working around a co-worker with poor personal hygiene uncomfortable for your staff,...
The LGBTQ2+ community has historically faced significant discrimination, marginalization, and exclusion in many aspects of society, including in the workplace. Despite significant strides towards greater acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ2+ individuals in recent years, there is still a long way to go in terms of creating truly equitable and supportive workplaces for all employees, regardless...
In response to the opioid crisis, Ontario has introduced amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requiring employers to provide naloxone kits in workplaces where there is a risk of a worker suffering from an opioid overdose. Certain industries and workplaces have a higher risk of a worker experiencing an opioid overdose than others....
Nova Scotia’s Labour Standards Division is responsible for ensuring that employers in the province adhere to labour standards and regulations, which are in place to protect the rights and safety of workers. The department conducts regular inspections and investigates complaints to ensure that employers are following the rules and regulations set out in the Employment...
You may be familiar with onboarding which helps employers integrate new hires into their business through training, mentorship programs, etc. But what is offboarding? Offboarding allows employers to wrap up the employment relationship with a departing employee smoothly. The pace of the offboarding process will depend on if the employee has: Resigned Is retiring Has been terminated A...
This Saturday, May 20th, is International HR Day. It is the day every year where we all acknowledge and appreciate the achievements and importance of Human Resource departments globally. It is extremely important that we recognize how integral our HR departments are in shaping our businesses. This year’s International HR Day theme is “Shaping the...
As an employer, it is essential to follow proper disciplinary procedures when dealing with poor performance or misconduct by your employees. Final written warnings are an integral part of the disciplinary process and can help ensure that employees understand the seriousness of their actions and the consequences of their behaviour. In this article, we will...
