References present a double-edged sword for employers. On one hand, employers typically want former employees to find new jobs as doing so will get them off the company’s severance payroll. On the other hand, providing references may expose employers to dual-pronged liability in negligence and/or defamation. Given the recent news that Canada lost nearly 46,000…
While the Rolodex may be a thing of the past, its functional successor lives on in social networking sites such as LinkedIn. It’s no surprise then that companies encourage their employees to create profiles, share content, and “connect” with current and potential customers. But what happens when an employee leaves the organization to hang up…
Written by Rhonda Shirreff and Ryan Edmonds In Part 1 of our “Mind the Gap” trilogy, we explained how employers can use contractual termination provisions to avoid falling into the common law notice “gap” when employees exit the company. In Part 2, we discussed consideration and timing for introducing existing employees to written employment contracts. But…
Written by Rhonda Shirreff and Ryan Edmonds In Part 1 of Mind the Gap we explained how termination provisions in employment contracts can limit liability vis-à-vis dismissed employees by creating manageable and predictable termination costs for your organization. In this second installment of our terminations trilogy, we will discuss best practices for transitioning an incumbent…
A recent case out of Quebec discusses the level of procedural fairness that may be owed during a workplace investigation for a public institution. In Ditomene c. Boulanger, two employees at a CEGEP (a public school) filed a complaint of psychological harassment under Quebec law against their superior, Mr. Ditomene. The CEGEP retained Ms. Boulanger…