News and Resources - Rachlis Neville LLP

Hybrid investigations? Some lessons from the world of Med-Arb

Posted on September 20, 2021September 23, 2021 by Elissa Neville

Increasingly, respectful workplace and anti-harassment policies contemplate a range of processes for resolving workplace conflict.

Options available to external “neutrals” can be made to mirror those available to employers and institutions when managing a conflict “in house.” The external neutral can create a process that progresses through the various levels of conflict resolution offered under a policy, while providing the sometimes-necessary separation inherent in an external process.

Bystanders and workplace harassment: How inaction can lead to workplace complaints

Posted on January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by Vivian Rachlis

A frequent scenario repeats in our work: Offensive conduct, multiple witnesses (or “bystanders”), never reported. Investigators know that bystanders play a key role in workplace complaints; their evidence is often integral to discovering what happened. Bystanders can also play an important role in preventing – or minimizing – workplace misconduct from ripening into a situation where our services as workplace investigators are critical.

The Second Wave of COVID and the post-COVID world: What will this mean for workplace complaints?

Posted on December 7, 2020December 7, 2020 by Rebecca Thomson

This past fall looked – and felt – different from other autumn to winter transitions. Now that we’re moving into winter with increased COVID-19 case numbers, the questions have changed from “Will there be a second wave?’ to “How long will this second wave last and how much longer before the vaccine rollouts?”.

Eight Tips for Fostering Trust in Workplace Investigations

Posted on September 21, 2020September 21, 2020 by Vivian Rachlis

A workplace investigation can be an intricate puzzle of contradictory stories, different perceptions and a volume of documents. We rely heavily on witness participation – and therefore witness trust – to fully understand what happened and sometimes, who to believe. In non-statutory assignments, we seldom have the power of subpoena and we depend heavily on voluntary participation. Without subpoena powers, we need to find other ways to gain witness trust and open the door to full and honest participation.

Once witness trust is gained, the evidence gathered without subpoena can often be more fulsome and generally more helpful than that gained by subpoena. Better quality evidence leads to a more dependable outcome.

Bill C-65: Balancing Privacy with the Procedural Right to Particulars

Posted on July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 by Rebecca Thomson

Forthcoming amendments to the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) reflected in Bill C-65 include provisions that, on their face, seem designed to protect the privacy of a party advancing workplace harassment complaints. The policy objectives behind these amendments align with recent developments in trauma-informed complaints processes. It is well established that victims of workplace harassment and violence frequently undergo further trauma during the complaint process. At the same time, the new provisions raise challenging questions for investigators about how to conduct appropriate trauma informed processes that maintain procedural fairness and are therefore legally sustainable. This article discusses this balance.

Bill C-65: What Federally Regulated Employers need to know about the new requirements for workplace harassment & violence

Posted on June 25, 2020June 26, 2020 by Rebecca Thomson

Forthcoming amendments to the Canada Labour Code (the “CLC”) and its corresponding regulation the Canada Occupation Health and Safety Regulation (the “COHSR”) impact how federally regulated employers prevent and respond to workplace harassment (Bill C-65). Although not yet in force, federally regulated employers would be well advised to tailor their practices now in anticipation of the new rules.

The Disruptor: What COVID-19 has meant to Workplace Investigations

Posted on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020 by Vivian Rachlis Elissa Neville

Human Resources professionals are trained to plan for any crisis; when a crisis hits, HR staff are key members of a business’ command centre. COVID-19 has been the crisis that no amount of planning could anticipate. With virtually no warning, COVID-19 dramatically impacted workplaces, and HR professionals have had to hit the ground running to support their businesses and institutions.

Don’t Turn a Blind Eye! Employer Best Practices for Preventing and Responding to Allegations of Harassment in the Workplace

Posted on May 25, 2020June 21, 2020 by Rebecca Thomson

Are we losing count of the stories about powerful people who abuse their authority over the careers of others? Why are we still hearing about more cases? Hasn’t it been nearly 3 years since these horrible stories first started hitting the news?