Employee Relations

Ensuring Fairness and Thoroughness in Harassment Investigations

individual, people, magnifying glass-5131429.jpg

In continuation from Part 1 of our blog series on how best to approach harassment complaints, we will now focus on stage 2 of the process as we examine how best to conduct a fair and thorough investigation, following a workplace complaint.    Procedural fairness In every investigation, there are usually 2 or more sides …

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You’ve Got a Harassment Complaint, so what now?

Co-workers harassing and bullying a person in the office

One, don’t panic. Two, don’t pre-judge or make assumptions. Three, take it seriously. These days, allegations of “harassment” or “bullying” can make people tense up very quickly.  Understandably so as reputations are at stake and missteps can be costly – like, in the landmark case of Boucher v. Walmart Canada Corp where the retailer was …

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Small Business HR Mistakes (Part 2) – What You Don’t Know Can Cost You

Costly mistake of business person looking at piggy bank flying away with some balloon

Unlike large corporations, small medium enterprises (SMEs) simply don’t have the luxury of deep pockets, resources and expertise at their disposal.   They are challenged to come up with creative solutions to stretch their dollar and get the most out of what resources they do have. This makes SME’s especially vulnerable to HR mistakes as one …

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Small Business HR Mistakes (Part 1) – What You Don’t Know Can Cost You

money with wings flying away from man crying

In the world of small medium enterprises (SMEs), it is not uncommon to find companies operating without HR expertise despite employing upto hundreds of staff in some cases. These organizations are often lacking resources and pressed for time while juggling multiple roles – from accounting, to marketing to human resources.  Consequently, HR mistakes are bound …

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Inside HR (Part 3) – Challenges with Internal Workplace Investigations

Workplace investigation file folder with pen - part 3

In this final part of the internal workplace investigation series, let’s now examine the last set of risks highlighted in red below.  If you are new to this series and would like to catch up on the previous blog posts, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.  Risk #1:  Internal politics skewing outcome …

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Inside HR (Part 2) – Challenges with Internal Workplace Investigations

Workplace investigation file folder with pen - part 2

In continuation from my last post, let’s examine the next set of challenges in conducting internal investigations through a HR lens.    Risk #1:  Internal politics skewing outcome of investigation Risk #2:  Bias Risk #3:  Lack of time to effectively plan and conduct a thorough investigation Risk #4:  Company policies that may be lacking or …

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Inside HR (Part 1) – Challenges with Internal Workplace Investigations

Workplace investigation file folder with pen

When employers are faced with allegations of employee misconduct, workplace investigations offer a balanced approach for companies to make informed people decisions.  This is especially critical in cases where there is a potential for termination for which litigation risk is high. Is your company diligent in conducting proper workplace investigations?Do you have relevant policies/processes in …

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Workplace Harassment: Lessons from CBC on What Not To Do

Office building of CBC where Jian Ghomeshi works

It’s out!  The investigation findings regarding Jian Ghomeshi’s case has been released.To no surprise, the report revealed a very toxic workplace inside CBC whereby flagrant disrespect and abuse of power by Mr. Ghomeshi toward other employees ran rampant.  It was noted that such behavior was condoned by management for years despite having policies in place …

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