EMPLOYMENT LAW AND THE WORKPLACE…

Presented By:Tanya Ziat

Daniel Sterescu

Objectives

By the end of this presentation, you will have learned…

1. Your rights at work 2. How terminations work 3. Implications of using Social

Media during work and you spare time.

Quick Overview

Relevant Employment Statutes: The Employment Standards Act,

2000 The Human Rights Code The Labour Relations Act, 1995 The Occupational Health and Safety

Act The Workplace Safety and Insurance

Act, 1997 The Pay Equity Act

Your rights at work…

30-minute eating period 1½ times your regular rate of pay (“time and a half)”, after

44 hours a week 10 Emergency Days

Your employer must give you at least: 11 consecutive hours off work each day 8 hours off work between shifts 24 consecutive hours off work each work week, or 48

consecutive hours off every two work weeks.

Maximum Daily Hours of Work You do not have to work more than 8 hours a day

Maximum Weekly Hours of Work You do not have to work more than 48 hours a week.

Show Me the Money…

Minimum Wage Rate

March 31, 2009 March 31, 2010 Current wage rate

General Minimum Wage

$9.50per hour

$10.25per hour

Student Minimum Wage

$8.90per hour

$9.60per hour

Liquor Servers Minimum Wage

$8.25per hour

$8.90per hour

Hunting and Fishing Guides Minimum Wage

$47.50

$95.00

$51.25Rate for working less than five consecutive hours in a day$102.50 Rate for working five or more hours in a day whether or not the hours are consecutive

Homeworkers Wage (110 per cent of the general minimum wage)

$10.45per hour

$11.28per hour

Human Rights

1. Race 2. Ancestry 3. Place of

origin 4. Colour 5. Ethnic origin 6. Citizenship 7. Creed

8. Record of offences

9. Marital status 10. Family status 11. Disability 12. Sex 13. Sexual

Orientation 14.Age

Employment Equity

Canadian term to replace American notion of “affirmative action”

Employment Equity vs Affirmative Action

EE measures include: making recruitment, hiring, compensation and promotion more equitable; create accessible workplaces

Affirmative action – is an American term where it is meeting quotas rather than trying to meet equality. Is also set to remove barriers.

Employment Equity vs Affirmative Action

Employment equity - attempts to redress systemic issues and create a representative workforce.

Looks at jobs and the compensation system

Removal of barriers, special programs, data collection, has a different approach based on individual corporation.

EE is designed to reduce occupational segregation by facilitating the employment of 4 groups, deals with the problem by using a proactive solution.

Pay Equity

Equal pay for work of equal value

Bona Fide Occupational Qualifications

Honest belief that it is necessary to satisfy legitimate business purpose

Employer must show it was impossible to accommodate without creating undue hardship

Examples?

Terminations with Cause/Just Cause

An employer is justified in terminating an employee without providing reasonable Notice or payment instead of the notice, if:

Dishonesty (serious misconduct, i.e. Theft, Fraud) Insolence and Insubordination (Assault and or Harassment) Incompatibility (VERY vague, usually does not hold up in

court) Off-Duty Conduct (harmed employers business or

reputation) Disobedience (Progressive discipline first) Absenteeism and Lateness (Chronic) Sexual Harassment Intoxication Substance Abuse (BE VERY CAREFUL) Incompetence (This is difficult to prove)

Terminations

3 Things to remember…

1.Pay in Lieu of Notice2.Notice of Severanceo Working for 5+ years, 2.5 million payroll, or 50+ layoffso1 week pay for each year of service, max of 26 weeks

3. Severance4. Release

ESA (Ontario)

Length of Employment Minimum Notice Required

Less than 3 months None

3 months or more but less than 1 year

1 week

1 year or more but less than 3 years

2 weeks

3 years or more but less than 4 years

3 weeks

4 years or more but less than 5 years

4 weeks

5 years or more but less than 6 years

5 weeks

6 years or more but less than 7 years

6 weeks

7 years or more but less than 8 years

7 weeks

8 years or more 8 weeks

Determining Severance (without cause)

1. Age 2. Position 3. Length of Service Level of Compensation Availability of Similar

Employment (How re-employable are you?)

What Constitutes Constructive Dismissal?

1. Changes to compensation package 2. Changing in Duties of the position 3. Geographic Relocation 4. Changes in Hours and Scheduling 5. Layoffs 6. Untenable work environment (i.e.

failure to protect from harassment)

Quit

Emotional Quit “Cool Off” period 24-hrs

“Intrusion Upon Seclusion”… aka Invasion of Privacy

The Court ruled that it is time for the law to move forward and recognize the need to protect people from unreasonable intrusion into their private lives by recognizing a new free-standing tort called Intrusion Upon Seclusion.

Social Media

Will you Be fired?

http://fireme.l3s.uni-hannover.de/alert_start.php

Social Media Scenarios

A company provides Internet access at home to certain employees.

After a few months the company notices a sharp increase in the amount of time a particular employee is spending on the Internet.

Social Media Scenarios

An administrative assistant chose a new screen saver. Her choice – a half-naked firefighter.

An employee set up his own (non-competing) business. He decided to use the company’s internal and external e-mail system to promote his business.

Employees are spending more and more time on social networking sites like Facebook and Instagram. They claim it helps them do their jobs more effectively

Recent Examples of Social Media Terminations

Caitlin Davis was fired from her job cheerleading for the New England Patriots when a photo of her surfaced on Facebook. She appears next to a passed-out partygoer who's been covered in phallic symbols, swastikas, and the phrase "I'm a Jew."

She also has a Sharpie in her hand.

Recent Examples of Social Media Terminations

A Charlotte, NC, teacher was recommended for firing by the superintendent after making some remarks that the Superintendent perceived as racially insensitive. The teacher listed "teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte" in her "Interests" section and "I am teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte" in her "About Me" section.

Recent Examples of Social Media Terminations

Bronx high school teacher Chadwin Reynolds got fired for being creepy to his students on Facebook. He posted "This is sexy" under pictures they shared.

Recent Examples of Social Media Terminations

Nathalie Blanchard had been living off of disability insurance for depression since 2008. But when Manulife, the Canadian insurance company making the payments,  got into her Facebook page, they saw her "relaxing at the beach, hanging out at a Chippendale's-style club, and generally having a lot of fun."

She immediately lost her insurance benefits.

Recent Examples of Social Media Terminations

Sister Maria Jesus Galan was asked to leave the Santo Domigo el Real Convent Toledo, Spain, because she was spending too much time on Facebook. Fellow nuns said that her Facebook activity “made life impossible.”

This all after she used the computer to digitize the convent's archives and help handle banking over the Internet.

Occupational Health and Safety The right to Participateo Join Safety committees, help develop policies

The right to knowThe right to refuse