Human Resources Seminar: Developments in Labour and Employment Law

Jointly presented by the Construction Association of Nova Scotia and Wickwire Holm 

Date(s):  February 25, 2020

Duration: Half day

Time: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Member Price: $120.00 + HST

Non-Member Price: $160.00 + HST 

Who Should Attend: This course is intended for anyone who is interested in learning about emerging labour and employment law trends. Specifically, business owners, operation managers, general managers and human resource professionals. 

In this four hour seminar learner's will gain information on:

• Emerging Trends: Employment law is a constantly changing area. This section will address some of the recent legal developments from the past year. It will also touch on emerging issues we expect to see development on through 2020 and beyond.
  
  Managing Absences: Absenteeism can represent a huge cost for employers, undermining workplace productivity and morale. This section will focus on managing absences in the workplace and addressing concerns regarding employees with chronic absences.
  
  Investigations: Knowing when an investigation is necessary is key. In this section, we will address when you need to conduct an investigation, the central elements of conduction an fair investigation and considerations when hiring an outside investigator.
  
  Drugs & Alcohol in the Workplace: Safe work environments, particularly in the construction industry, require that employees and contractors are free of the influence of drugs and alcohol. In this section, we will address developments in this area of law and how to implement effective polices addressing drugs and alcohol in the workplace.
  
  Determining Reasonable Notice: When ending an employment relationship without just cause, employers need to provide reasonable notice to their departing employees. In this section, we will address the factors influencing the calculation of reasonable notice and what employers can do to provide a level of certainty around this issue.
  
  Effective Human Resources Practices: In this section, we will address a range of topics which can assist employers develop effective workplace policies and practices. 

Speaker Biographies:

Will Russell
Will completed degrees at Mount Allison University and Dalhousie University before graduating from the University of New Brunswick with his law degree in 2014. Will joined Wickwire Holm as a summer student in 2013 and has worked in their Labour and Employment group ever since. Will’s primary area of practice is labour and employment. He works closely with institutional clients on a range of administrative and human resource issues, including applications for certification and decertification, jurisdictional disputes and drafting effective workplace policies on topics such as absenteeism and cannabis use in the workplace.

Will has represented employers before the Nova Scotia Labour Board, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.

Michael Bourgeois
A native of Halifax, Michael completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of New Brunswick before graduating from Dalhousie University with his law degree in 2016. After completing his law degree, Michael worked in Industrial Relations with Canada Post as an Industrial Relations Specialist. During this time, he represented Canada Post at arbitrations, provided collective agreement training to managers and supervisors and assisted management in resolving workplace conflicts.

Michael joined Wickwire Holm in 2019 as an articling clerk and is a member of the firm’s Labour and Employment practice group. He will be called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 2020.

Cancellation Policy

-Cancellations must be received no later than 10 business days prior to the course date to be eligible for a 75% refund of registration fees.
-No refunds will be issued after this date.
-If you register for the course and do not attend, you are liable for the full registration fee unless you cancel according to the terms stated above.
-If you are unable to attend after registering you may send a substitute up to and including the day of the course. Please provide a name and email address for name tag and records.
-CANS reserves the right to cancel any course and will, in such an event, provide a full refund of registrations fees. Every effort will be made to give registrants a reasonable notice of cancellation.
-No liability is assumed by the organization for changes in course dates, content, speakers, or venue.