2012 SERIES ACCREDITATIONS

Each audio conference has been approved by the Law Society of British Columbia for 1.5 Continuing Professional Development hours.

Each audio conference has been approved by the Law Society of New Brunswick for 1.5 Continuing Professional Development hours.

Each audio conference has been approved by the Law Society of Saskatchewan for 1.5 Continuing Professional Development hours.

CPD for Members of the Law Society of Upper Canada:
1.5 Substantive Hours; 0 Professionalism Hours;
Not accredited for New Members

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WINTER/SPRING 2012 SERIES

Strikes, Lockouts, Picketing and Work-to-Rule:
What’s the latest law on industrial warfare?

Thursday, May 17, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, May 18, 2012 to
Thursday, May 24, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

With governments focused on eliminating deficits, labour conflict looms. While less trouble is expected in the private sector in the coming months, recent private sector labour disputes, such as the US Steel dispute in Hamilton and the Vale disputes in Ontario and Newfoundland, have been long and acrimonious. The resulting climate of labour strife raises the question, "What are the rules when unions and employers clash?" In this session, Lancaster’s experts will venture to answer this question, addressing the following: 

• Illegal Strikes: What are the legal repercussions for a union if it organizes, instigates, or condones an illegal strike by its members? Can a union be found liable for economic damage to the employer resulting from the illegal strike? Can the union be sued by third parties who allege they suffered economic harm as a result of an illegal strike? What types of damages might a union have to pay in such cases? Would punitive damages be available? What is the union’s liability if union members engage in an illegal "wildcat" strike without the involvement of union officials? What actions can a union take to avoid liability for an illegal strike by its members? What are the consequences for individual workers who engage in "wildcat" strikes?
• Work-to-Rule: Can employees "work to rule" if their union is not in a legal strike position? Can unions in "essential service industries" engage in work to rule campaigns?
• Work During a Strike: Can unions fine members who work during a strike or cross picket lines? Will courts enforce such fines? What is the difference between "strikebreakers" and "replacement workers"? What restrictions do different Canadian jurisdictions place on an employer’s ability to use strikebreakers and/or replacement workers during a strike? What are the policy arguments for and against banning replacement workers during strikes?

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SUMMER 2012 SERIES

Cyberslackers and Cybertrackers:
Status update on internet use and privacy in the workplace

Thursday, June 7, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, June 8, 2012 to
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

Technology now allows employers to monitor employees both on and off the job, creating debates about the boundaries of employees’ privacy rights. The recent media furor over employer demands for employees' Facebook passwords demonstrates how contentious this issue can be. Employees expect to have a sphere of privacy and autonomy into which an employer cannot intrude, while employers are concerned about the impact employees’ online activity can have on employer reputations. Questions also arise about the degree to which employers can use technology to monitor employee activity in the workplace. In this session, Lancaster’s experts will discuss the limits of personal privacy rights in respect of the use of technology, both inside and outside the workplace.

• Privacy Rights vs. Property Rights: What is the status of an employee’s right to privacy? Do employees have a free-standing right to privacy in Canadian law? Does an employee have a reasonable expectation of privacy in information contained on employer owned and issued devices? Will personal information stored on smart phones, laptops or other devices that employees are expected to take home attract greater protection than information stored on computers that do not leave the workplace?
• Computer Surveillance at Work: Are employers permitted to monitor employees’ computer/internet use at work to ensure that employees are being productive and not spending work time on personal activities, such as shopping, booking vacations, posting on Facebook, etc.? Can an employer install specialized software to track internet and computer use? Is there a difference between blocking access to certain websites and recording all an employee’s activities on a work computer? Under what circumstances will personal computer use at work constitute “time theft?” Do decision-makers treat cases of employees engaged in relatively common time wasting activities, such as posting on Facebook, web-surfing, etc., differently from cases of employees accessing inappropriate material, such as pornography at work?
• Social Media: Does an employee have a reasonable expectation of privacy in his or her Facebook page? Blog? Twitter account? Website postings? E-mail? Text messages? Does it matter if the employee restricts access to his or her social media pages through privacy settings or “invitation-only” safeguards? Can an employer run ‘social media checks’ of potential job applicants? Can an employer demand access to an employee or job applicant’s Facebook account? What policies can an employer legally create around the use of social media? What are permissible and impermissible elements of such a policy? Does an employer's tracking of employees’ social media use amount to the collection of personal information subject to privacy legislation?

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Kissing and Dissing:
Intervening when workplace romance goes wrong

Thursday, June 28, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, June 29, 2012 to
Thursday, July 5, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

Most people would agree that employers have no place in the bedrooms of the workforce. But employers may need to intervene when co-workers engage in romantic relationships, especially when these relationships sour and affect collegiality, productivity and, sometimes, safety in the workplace. However, the appropriate form and scope of intervention is difficult to determine. Can employers institute codes of conduct prohibiting romantic relationships between co-workers? How can an employer tell when a consensual romantic relationship has ended and an employee is experiencing sexual harassment by an ex? How should an employer respond to office or online gossip? What obligation does an employer have to make sure that employees are safe from domestic violence spilling over into the workplace? Lancaster’s panel of experts will address these and other questions, including:

• Office Policies: Are employers legally permitted to institute workplace rules/policies that prohibit romantic relationships between co-workers? Can they implement a code of conduct for employees in relationships? Should an employee have to disclose to the employer that he or she is romantically involved with a co-worker? Can workers be disciplined for dishonest conduct if they do not disclose their relationships? What about policies prohibiting relationships between managers and their subordinates? How can employers prevent conflicts of interest, favouritism and nepotism when such relationships exist?
• Sexual Harassment: What conduct constitutes sexual harassment? When will innocent friendliness or flirtation become sexual harassment? Can sexual harassment still be established if an employee welcomed or did not voice objection to past sexual comments? Do employers have a duty to proactively investigate certain behaviours to ensure that they do not constitute sexual harassment? If so, how can employers do so without unduly intruding upon employees' private relationships? What role should the union play when one union member accuses another of sexual harassment? What about complaints of online harassment through e-mail or social networking sites?  How should unions and employers respond to ‘sexting’ that comes to their attention? How can employers and unions respond to such complaints when two co-workers are involved but the conduct complained of occurs outside working hours and does not use workplace equipment? What policies are employers legally required to put in place to prevent and deal with sexual harassment?
• Other Forms of Harassment: Can workplace gossip about the relationship of two co-workers constitute harassment? Would it be sexual harassment or some other type of harassment? Can employers respond to co-worker gossip that takes the form of social media posts that occur when workers are off-duty? What policies are employers required to put in place under occupational health and safety and human rights legislation?

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Facing Down the Black Dog:
Responding to depression in the workplace

Thursday, July 12, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, July 13, 2012 to
Thursday, July 19, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

Winston Churchill, despite being one of the most successful leaders in British history, often struggled with a condition he called ‘the black dog,’ i.e. depression. Despite its prevalence, depression remains misunderstood and highly stigmatized. The stigma surrounding depression and its episodic nature pose serious difficulties for employers, unions and employees attempting to achieve appropriate workplace accommodation. Our panel of experts will discuss ways to recognize and accommodate employees with depression as well as methods of reducing stigma and discrimination.

• Recognizing Depression: What are the characteristics of depression, and how common is it in the workforce? Are there different types of depression? What other types of mental illnesses are associated with depression and how often do these conditions occur with depression? How can managers, co-workers and union representatives recognize depression in the workplace? What are the signs and symptoms of the illness that you are most likely to observe in someone's behaviour at work? What functional limitations will employees with depression most often experience?
• Stereotypes, Discrimination and Communication: What stereotypes are associated with depression? What legal responsibility do employers and unions have to address stereotypical views held by employees/members? What is the employer's duty to inquire into an employee's health if it suspects the employee may be experiencing depression? How should employers or union representatives approach such individuals? Why might an employee be reluctant to disclose that he or she has depression and how does reluctance to disclose such information affect the duty to accommodate? What medical information is the employer legally entitled to receive in order to provide appropriate accommodation? Why might an employer not be entitled to information regarding a specific diagnosis? Is it reasonable for employers to be skeptical about diagnoses from employees’ family physicians or is employer skepticism in such cases the result of stereotypical assumptions about depression?
• Accommodation: What obligation do employers have to accommodate employees experiencing depression? Must employers proactively eliminate workplace practices that may adversely affect employees with depression? What common accommodations might be helpful for an employer to offer? Why is it important not to make assumptions about the employee’s limitations and need for accommodation? When will accommodation create an undue hardship for an employer? How much absenteeism and/or reduced productivity must an employer accept? Must an employer accommodate an employee whose depression causes him or her to behave erratically or to become short-tempered and utter threats? When must an employee make use of assistance and accommodations offered by the employer? When is an employee justified in refusing assistance and accommodation offered by the employer? Does the burden of demonstrating fitness to work after an absence due to depression rest on the employee? What role does the union play in accommodating an employee with depression? Does the way depression affects an employee’s behaviour pose any particular challenges to unions representing employees with depression?

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Scents and Sensibility:
Accommodating employees with multiple chemical sensitivity

Thursday, September 13, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, September 14, 2012 to
Thursday, September 20, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a little-understood but serious condition. The presence of everyday items like perfumes, cleaners and gasoline can set off serious, allergy-like reactions in people with MCS. Accommodation of employees with this condition requires understanding and cooperation among all workplace parties, including the employee with the disability, the employee’s co-workers, management and the union. In this session Lancaster’s experts will provide an overview of multiple chemical sensitivity and discuss the roles of all parties in providing appropriate accommodation.

• Understanding Chemical Sensitivity: What is "multiple chemical sensitivity?" How common is it? What symptoms are typically experienced by people with this disorder? What types of personal or industrial products typically trigger a reaction? Why does it remain a controversial disorder? Is multiple chemical sensitivity a biological or psychological condition? How is it treated and how is the preferred treatment influenced by a professional’s view of the condition (i.e. whether it is biological or psychological)?
• The Duty to Accommodate: From a legal standpoint, does it matter whether multiple chemical sensitivity is a biological or psychological condition or whether a precise diagnosis is available? Given that multiple chemical sensitivity is not fully understood in the medical community, is it reasonable for an employer to request medical evidence from a specialist or from an independent medical examiner? How should conflicting diagnoses and recommendations for accommodation be resolved? What types of accommodations do employers often have to make for people with MCS – modifications to the workplace? Better ventilation? Is providing access to benefits such as short-term and long-term disability insurance sufficient accommodation? What sort of benefits are available to, and helpful to, employees with MCS? What responsibility does the employer have to educate co-workers (and clients/customers) about MCS? What role should the union play in educating workers about MCS?
• Limits on Accommodation/Undue Hardship: When will the accommodation of an employee with MCS create undue hardship? Will the employer or union ever be able to establish undue hardship based on the effect the accommodations have on other employees? What types of restrictions may reasonably be placed on the co-workers of an employee with MCS in order to accommodate that employee? (What about restrictions on customers/clients?) Are ‘no-scent’ policies reasonable? How far can no-scent policies go? Can they ban employee from wearing deodorant? Washing clothes in scented detergent?

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Sin and Redemption:
Aggravating and mitigating factors in assessing discipline

Thursday, September 27, 2012, 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback Sessions: Friday, September 28, 2012 to
Thursday, October 4, 2012, 9:00 a.m. – midnight EDT

Arbitral jurisprudence has enunciated several well-accepted aggravating and mitigating factors that should be considered in determining the appropriate response to employee misconduct. In this audio conference, Lancaster’s panel of experienced counsel will list and explain these factors and discuss the weight arbitrators will attach to each in considering what disciplinary response is appropriate in a given situation.

• Just Cause and the List of Factors Generally: How should employers respond to misconduct? Are zero-tolerance policies appropriate? Or, must employers always follow a corrective approach by using progressive discipline? How should employers deal with employees who engage in misconduct because of a disability? In what circumstances, if any, will an employee’s off-duty conduct justify a disciplinary response? Where do the lists of aggravating and mitigating factors come from? Does the list of factors considered in determining appropriate discipline change depending on the type of misconduct at issue. For example, are different factors considered in cases of theft or violence?
• Aggravating Factors: What factors are generally seen as aggravating factors? How significant are the following factors in assessing discipline: dishonesty, seriousness of the misconduct, repetition of misconduct, lack of remorse?
• Mitigating Factors: What factors are generally seen as mitigating factors? Which factors carry the most weight/go the farthest in mitigating discipline for misconduct? How significant are the following: remorse, candour, lack of a disciplinary record, less severe treatment of similar misconduct by others, lengthy seniority, lack of progressive discipline, adverse personal circumstances?

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$235, plus HST (Registrations must be paid in advance of the audio conference). Registration costs are per listening site/telephone, so you can have any number of people listening at your location for one low price.

When you register, you'll be given a toll-free number to dial at the time of the session and an access code to join the call.