letter from the editor
TACKLING
BIG TOPICS
Welcome to the October issue of HR Professional.
As in years past, this issue is our HR law edition.
Selecting content for this issue is not an
easy feat; there are so many interesting, relevant
and important topics to cover, and a limited number of pages
to fill.
To find the focus of this year’s HR law cover feature, I once
again turned to Christine Thomlinson, partner at Toronto
employment law firm Rubin Thomlinson LLP, for help and
ideas. After some discussion, Christine recommended that it
might be time to cover sexual harassment in the workplace.
Headlines about workplace sexual harassment and its consequences
have been plentiful in the last 12 months. Writer
Melissa Campeau spoke to a number of Ontario lawyers to
find out how these headlines, higher awards for victims and
a growing intolerance for bad behaviour might impact your
workplace, and what HR can do to deter or deal with these
instances. I highly recommend you flip to page 16 to read our
extended cover feature on the topic, and please let me know
what you think. In my opinion, it’s a thought-provoking and
very informative piece, and I hope you agree.
Some other HR law-related topics we chose to cover
include the changing landscape of without cause dismissals
(page 13), what HR professionals should know about
employment practices liability insurance (page 41) and
when off-duty conduct can result in an employee’s dismissal
(page 51). For even more insight into the employment
law landscape, be sure to attend (in person or via webinar)
the 2015 HR Law Conference, taking place Oct. 22. Visit
www.hrpa.ca to learn more. I hope to see you there!
I look forward to hearing what you learned from this issue
of HR Professional. As always, you can reach out to me any
time or tweet to @HRProMag. You can find the digital edition
live on www.hrpatoday.ca.
Happy reading,
Jill Harris
866-953-2182
jharris@lesterpublications.com ■
VOLUME 32 / NUMBER 7 OCTOBER 2015
Editor: Jill Harris | Publisher: Sean Davis
Managing Editor: Duff McCutcheon, HRPA
Legal Editor: Malcolm MacKillop, Shields O’Donnell MacKillop LLP
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THE MAGAZINE OF
HUMAN RESOURCES
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Jason Beeho, Rubin Thomlinson LLP
Dean Bulloch, MBA, CHRE,
School of Business & Hospitality,
Conestoga College Institute
Cheryl Fullerton, Maple Leaf Foods
Julie Giraldi, Ontario Hospital Association
John Hamovitch, Intelex Technologies
Paul Klein, Impakt
Claudette Knight, Meridian
Charles Marful, Ernst & Young
Nan Oldroyd, Loblaw
Anthony Papa, Federal-Mogul Motorparts
Laura L. Randell, B.A., CHRE, SEEC
Schulich School of Business
Jose Tolovi Neto, Great Place
to Work® Canada
6 ❚ OCTOBER 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL