When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
Board Rules that “Safety Stand Down” Was at Least Partially Disciplinary

An employer initiated a one-day ‘safety stand down’ for its sheet metal workers after one such worker suffered a hand injury. Workers were told to go home to think about ways to work more safely. The goal was to regroup to prevent more injuries or near misses. The union filed a grievance, arguing that telling these workers to stay home for a day was disciplinary in nature and essentially a one-day suspension. The employer argued that the stand down was a legitimate exercise of its management right to ensure a safe workplace. The Labour Relations Board found that the stand down was at least partially disciplinary in nature. It’s laudable to want to prevent incidents. But the incident that precipitated the stand down was very minor. And telling workers to stay home to think about safety has an element of public shaming. Plus, there was little, if any, real follow up to determine whether the stand down had any effect. So the Board ordered the employer to give all impacted workers one day’s pay [Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association, Local 30 v. Black & McDonald Ltd., [2016] CanLII 90776 (ON LRB), Dec. 19, 2016].