Terminating an employment relationship is rarely enjoyable. This is especially true when the employee being dismissed hasn’t done anything wrong but is simply the unfortunate victim of a tough economy. Employers having to lay off good workers won’t be able to turn the bad news of dismissal into a happy event, but there are ways to make it less painful for their employees. This session is designed to remind managers of the general legal principles that apply to layoffs and to identify practical and legal weaknesses in the dismissal strategies used by some employers. The employer-favourable complications of the “new” law of constructive dismissal and the old “Dismissal Mistakes of the Cryogenically Frozen HR Manager” are also amongst the topics to be examined.

The past year has produced several ground breaking legal cases in various industry settings that all HR Professionals should be aware of. Jamie will review several of the cases that have arisen over the past year here in New Brunswick as well as in other Provinces. This promises to be a high intensity session that will provide legal perspectives on the most influential employment decisions of 2014.

A well-educated, skilled workforce is increasingly seen as key to success in today’s human resource landscape. Investment in employee training and education is becoming more necessary as a tool for employee preparation, workplace satisfaction, retention, and projected recruitment.

The Effective management of workplace health and safety is important for the health and safety of workers, the longevity of organizations, the success of business and the protection of the environment. Throughout the Western world, the effective management of workplace and environmental health and safety issues has become an increasingly important and an expected dimension of responsible business practice. The discipline of occupational health and safety is rapidly changing to address the increasingly complex workplace needs. Additionally, legislation governing workplace health and safety practices is becoming far more sophisticated and stringent, and has contributed to a growing employer need for health and safety processional expertise. This session is geared towards updating Human Resources Professionals on the health and safety concerns that could affect their workplaces.

Leadership is a necessary ingredient for success. Leaders, regardless of their title or role must exercise sound leadership in management, human resources, finance and strategy. Effective leaders understand their role, obtain the necessary skills and competencies and behave in ways that inspire others. In this session participants will better understand the core leadership competencies and assess themselves against those competencies. They will also identify the behaviours and values they must adopt to be effective leaders. This workshop is inspired by the Harvard Adaptive Leadership Model where participants make progress on their real life leadership challenges.

Join us for our annual legal update with Lucie LaBoissonnière and Dominique Fontaine from McInnes Cooper. This year, we will be doing a half-day session on off-duty conduct, privacy in the workplace and the enforcement of termination clauses and confidentiality agreements. Every employer in Canada has heard of Shawn Simoes, the Hydro One employee who was terminated for cause after publicly harassing an on-air reporter. Hydro One acted quickly and - most employers would agree - made an estimable decision. Since Mr. Simoes’s termination made headlines across Canada, terminations for “off-duty conduct” have been in the spotlight. Can employers manage employees outside of the workplace? What factors will courts consider to determine whether off-duty conduct justifies a termination for cause or other discipline? Is reputational damage a necessary factor? Can an employee who is seen on Facebook using recreational marijuana be terminated for cause? Privacy in the workplace remains an evolving area of employment law. Employees expect to have some privacy at work while employers must know what their employees are doing while at work. It can be challenging to know where to draw the line, for instance, with GPS devices on company-owned vehicles used by employees and other methods of conducting surveillance on employees in the workplace or on their work phones. Finally, recent case law on the enforcement of termination clauses and confidentiality agreements will be discussed. We will address the enforceability of termination clauses as well as an employer’s available remedies in the case of an employee’s breach of a confidentiality agreement. This session will provide insight to employers as to their rights and obligations in regards to these emerging topics.