April 26, 2007
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT
Playback: Monday, April 30, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. EDT

Tim Gleason

Union Counsel
Sack Goldblatt Mitchell

Noella Martin

Employer Counsel
Wickwire Holm

Leanne MacMillan

Union Counsel
Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union

Sari Wiens

Employer Counsel
Harris & Company

ISSUES:

Responding to demands reflected in our audio conference surveys, Lancaster House is pleased to present the first in a new series of special audio sessions exploring areas of concern for employers and employees in specific industries. Join our panel of health care industry experts as they examine the unique labour, employment, human rights, and privacy law issues facing health care professionals today. Topics will include:

• "On the job" effects of health care sector restructuring: When can employers change shift schedules, create new classifications, reassign or lay off employees, hire part-time employees in place of full-time employees or redistribute duties among employees (within the bargaining unit, outside the bargaining unit, among different bargaining units)? When are changes in workload grievable? What constitutes an excessive workload? What are the rules governing rest periods, standby shifts, and call-in pay? Can employers refuse requests for vacations, personal leaves of absence when short-staffed? Under what circumstances can health care workers refuse overtime? What is the effect of contracting out on wages? When do temps supplied by agencies become employees of the client, when don't they?

• Occupational health and safety  for health care workers: Can health care professionals be forced to receive vaccinations? Can health care workers refuse to work during outbreaks of infectious diseases? Can health care professionals sue their employers if they contract infectious diseases? What precautions must employers take to prevent "needlestick" injuries? Are stress and burnout compensable injuries under workers' compensation laws? What is the employer's duty to accommodate in stress/burnout cases? Can the employer demand a medical examination by its physician, and insist on disclosure of a disabled employee's medical information? Do harassment and excessive workload constitute conditions justifying a refusal to work based on concern for one's health? What measures are available to protect health care workers from violence at the hands of patients or residents? What are the responsibilities of the employer?

• Discipline for patient/client abuse, neglect, breach of patient confidentiality, conflict of interest, and incompetence: Are health care professionals subject to higher conduct expectations than other workers? What is the difference between mere carelessness, neglect, and patient abuse? What standard of proof must the employer meet to justify discipline for patient abuse/neglect? Can the union access the accuser's medical files in defending a health care professional against allegations of abuse? What are the appropriate penalties for patient abuse/neglect? Negligence? Treatment mistakes? Medical errors? What is the connection between discipline by the employer and disciplinary proceedings before a professional college?

$195, plus GST (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. Click here for registration information.