PLEASE NOTE EVENT BEGINS AT 8:00AM. In follow up to our brainstorming workshop held on November 22, 2011 we have identified 5 areas that you feel are the issues facing HR professional today. We are holding a Best Practices Café which will allow Human Resources professional access to experts and peers to discuss current issues and solutions in the areas of Employee Engagement, Employee Relations, Attendance Management, Recruitment and Workplace Diversity. The experts will facilitate a round table discussion and everyone will have a chance to get involved with each topic.

For Human Resources Professionals, the beginning of the 2012 year is a great time to reflect on new developments in employment law. In this discussion led by Kelly VanBuskirk of Lawson Creamer, you will hear the latest in wrongful dismissal, human rights and employment standards cases from New Brunswick and beyond. A variety of case studies will be presented on relevant topics in employment law. This is an annual event that is heavily attended by our members so please register early.

Dallas Mercer will provide helpful tricks and trips on managing routine and complex disability claims. She will also provide some insight into interacting with various government agencies to ensure employers’ interests are protected. Ms. Mercer will also provide valuable insight into the WCB appeal process as well as matters relating to effective Health & Safety programs, return-to-work planning, challenges associated with working with WCB from multiple provinces, as well as other topics of interests. This event is especially important for HR Generalists, HR Leaders responsible for minimizing assessment costs, as well as Disability specialists and other HR professionals.

Shalene Losier, President of HRANB Saint John Chapter, will present news and updates from around the chapter. Chairpersons from the HRANB SJ Chapter sub-committees will share current projects and initiatives of their committees. Conference Chairs, Deb Cusack and Katherine Lockhart will discuss the upcoming Atlantic HR Conference being hosted in Saint John November 21 - 23, 2012.

Jamie Eddy and Matt Hiltz will provide advice on creating and implementing an effective (and enforceable) Attendance Management Policy. Mr. Eddy and Mr. Hiltz will provide guidance for creating an effective policy, the cornerstones of an attendance management policy, and other factors to be considered when developing such a policy. Furthermore, the session will include an interactive discussion centered around a mock attendance management policy and relevant arbitral decisions.

Telling an employee they no longer have a job is one of the most stressful tasks a leader will experience. How you terminate someone’s employment can have a significant impact on your employment brand and can have serious legal repercussions. During this seminar, you will learn how to implement job loss respectfully while minimizing stress for the person delivering the news. Following this session, each participant will: • Understand how to manage the termination process and the logistics involved • Understand the different reactions of someone experiencing job loss and learn methods to manage the reactions • See illustrations of meetings done wrong and done right • Take away a termination checklist to use before, during and after termination meetings • Be able to develop a termination plan that demonstrates respect for the person leaving your organization

You Could Save a Life One Day Don Merrell’s poem “I Could Have Saved a Life One Day” speaks of a worker who chose to look the other way, rather than speak out about safety – and the workplace death that resulted from that choice. Occupational health and safety is one of an employer’s most significant legal obligations, and a life or death matter for employees; yet many employers are not sufficiently aware of the scope of their obligations, the impact of failing to meet them, or how to comply with them. Using real life examples, McInnes Cooper Labour & Employment lawyers Crystal Gamble, Lucie LaBoissonniere and Dominique Fontaine will (1) walk you through the employer’s obligations under occupational health and safety law, (2) outline the consequences of violating that law – both legal and business – and (3) offer practical tips that you can apply in your workplace so that you could, one day, save a life.

Telling an employee they no longer have a job is one of the most stressful tasks a leader will experience. How you terminate someone’s employment can have a significant impact on your employment brand and can have serious legal repercussions. During this seminar, you will learn how to implement job loss respectfully while minimizing stress for the person delivering the news. Following this session, each participant will: • Understand how to manage the termination process and the logistics involved • Understand the different reactions of someone experiencing job loss and learn methods to manage the reactions • See illustrations of meetings done wrong and done right • Take away a termination checklist to use before, during and after termination meetings • Be able to develop a termination plan that demonstrates respect for the person leaving your organization Who should attend this session? Any individual whose role includes the termination of employment, including HR professionals, business leaders, business owners and general managers.