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Andrew Vey speaks with the Employment Accessibility Resource Network
Earlier this month, Vey Willetts’ lawyer Andrew Vey presented to a the Employment Accessibility Resource Network (“EARN”). EARN is a community initiative that brings together in partnership employers, service providers and other stakeholders with the goal of increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Not Much to “Like”: Lessons from an Anti-Social Work Environment
Social media platforms moderate user-posted content to protect us from offensive, disturbing and sometimes criminal content. This process, however, is not always automatic. It often relies upon the efforts of individual workers to act as gatekeepers, keeping undesirable content at bay.
Hold the Applause: Clapping Banned to Reduce Individual Anxiety
Manchester may be best known for its premiership football teams and spawning the likes of Oasis and The Smiths, however, the City was in the headlines last month for something quite different: its Student Union (“MUSU”) voted to replace clapping at all of its events with “jazz hands” (i.e. the practice of waving open hands in the air).
HR Update Publishes Article by Andrew Vey on Workplace Accommodation
Vey Willetts lawyer Andrew Vey recently authored an article in the May 2017 edition of HR Update entitled, "Just Accommodate Me: Legal Obligations in the Accommodation Process." The article considers the roles that the employer, the employee and the union (where present) are required to play in ensuring that reasonable accommodation in the workplace is provided.
Q&A: Employee Sick Leave and Medical Information
Q&A is a recurring series on the Vey Willetts LLP blog. The aim is to provide quick answers to questions we commonly encounter in our day-to-day practice of employment law. In this edition we focus on employee sick leave and medical information.
Business and Booze: Dealing with alcohol in the workplace
Recently, Lloyd’s of London implemented a ban on employee drinking between the hours of 9am and 5pm on work days. Traditionally, the “boozy lunch” had been a big part of Lloyd’s culture. It was the preferred vehicle to seal deals and woo clients. As such, the change in policy came as a shock to the 800 employees impacted by the ban, and it was met with open hostility.
Accommodation at Work: The Role of Ontario Employers and Employees
Last week, VW Lawyers' Andrew Vey spoke at the Ottawa Human Resources Professionals Association Conference on the process of providing reasonable accommodation to Ontario employees at work.
HR Update Publishes Article by Paul Willetts on Workplace Accommodation
VW lawyer Paul Willetts authored an article in the May 2016 edition of HR Update entitled, "Human Rights Law Today: Guidance for Individuals and Employers." The article discusses steps that employers can take to limit liability in the workplace and provides some practical reminders to employees about their entitlements at work around accommodation and protection from harassment.
Pregnancy and Workplace Accommodation: The Botony Dental Case
In early 2015, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released its decision in Partridge v. Botony Dental Corporation. This decision is a useful reminder both for employees as to their rights and employers as to their workplace obligations.
Ms. Partridge began work with Botony as a Dental Hygienist in March 2004 and was promoted to Office Manager in 2007. She was employed with the company for just over seven years prior to dismissal on July 19, 2011. During the tenure of her employment, Ms. Partridge twice took maternity leave: from June 2007 – July 2008; and again from June 2010 – July 2011.