Agenda

Day One: Tuesday, November 15, 2022

10:15 EST

45 min
Richelle Pollard

Provincial and Federal Legal Frameworks for Discrimination, Harassment and Violence Prevention & Response

Richelle Pollard, Partner, KPMG Law, LLP

  • Varying definitions, interpretations and understanding of the challenge across Canada
  • The growing importance of OHS legislation & regulations
  • New Federal Harassment & Violence Prevention Regulation
  • Investigation techniques and strategies
  • Resolution options, preserving evidence and litigation

11:00 EST

45 min
Connie Cheung

Workplace Violence and Mental Health Accommodation

Connie Cheung, Lawyer, Sherrard Kuzz LLP

  • The evolving definition of workplace violence
  • The relationship between mental health and workplace violence
  • Investigating potential threats
  • The importance of employee “Perceived Personal Control”
  • Determining when a comprehensive threat assessment is required
  • Accommodating employees who have threatened violence

12:30 EST

60 min

Break

13:30 EST

45 min
Heather Trojek

Bystander Intervention: The First Line of Defense Against Harassment

Heather Trojek, Consultant, HR Proactive Inc.

Empower employees to be the first line of defence against harassment, bullying and violence in the workplace. How we respond to these situations sets the tone for what we will tolerate and deem as acceptable behaviour.

  • The ‘Who’
    • Definition of a Bystander
    • Definition of Bystander Intervention
  • Stigma Hesitation
    • Reasons People Don’t Act
  • The ‘Bystander Effect’
    • Definition of the Bystander Effect
    • Three Factors Influencing the Bystander Effect
  • The Five ‘Ds’ of Bystander Intervention
  • Harassment in the Workplace and Bystander Intervention

14:15 EST

45 min
Stephen Hart

Managing Violence Risk in the Context of Investigations and the Challenge of Parallel Investigations

Stephen Hart, Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc.

  • Overview of professional responsibility to identify and respond to violence risk
  • Definition of violence, violence risk assessment and violence risk management
  • Examination of the challenge of parallel investigations triggered when violence occurs
  • Discussion of four key principles for navigating the challenge of parallel investigations
  • Suggested response and hierarchy for responding to violent incidents

15:00 EST

15 min

Break

15:15 EST

45 min
Courtney Betty

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Considerations in Discrimination and Harassment: Legal, Practical, Corporate Risk and Societal Perspectives

Courtney Betty, Lawyer, Speaker, and Diversity Strategist, Betty’s Law Office

Diversity and Equity are now a major focus for all organizations.  Employees are now using legal remedies to address racism, discrimination, and harassment.  Companies are now subject to human rights claims, class actions, or the use of social media to damage the reputation of a corporate brand, sometimes beyond repair.  This presentation includes:

  • Reviewing your  organizational policies, practices and procedures to see if they create situations in your organization that might be considered discriminatory, harassing or bullying before they create legal damage
  • Helping corporations identify diversity policies, practices  or initiatives  that might be considered as discriminatory, harassing or bullying
  • Can or should  microaggressions be considered harassment, bullying or discrimination?

16:00 EST

45 min
Nelson Onwuliri

Anti-Bullying and Harassment: Working Towards a Respectful Workplace

Nelson Onwuliri, Head of Human Resources Manager, Tsay Keh Dene Nation

  • Why we need policies and procedures (our legal obligations)
  • What is and what is not workplace bullying/harassment
  • What to do about workplace bullying/harassment
  • Training and educating managers, supervisors and employees about their obligations
  • Looking beyond workplace bullying/harassment

16:45 EST

End of Day One

Day Two: Wednesday, November 16, 2022

10:15 EST

75 min
Kelly A. Watt

Establishing and Operating Threat Assessment Teams

Kelly A. Watt, Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc.

  • Overview of requirements, standards, and guidelines
  • Examination of identified needs of threat assessment teams
  • Discussion of major tensions faced by threat assessment teams
  • Summary of goals, structures, process and outcomes of threat assessment teams
  • Discussion of relevant case examples

11:30 EST

15 min

Break

12:30 EST

60 min

Break

13:30 EST

45 min
Silke Brabander

Employer Obligations to Address Domestic Violence in the Workplace: Tools and Training

Silke Brabander, Senior Program and Policy Advisor, Women’s Equality Branch, Government of New Brunswick

  • Recognition that abuse does not always stay at home, it also comes to work
  • Employer obligations to prevent domestic violence and support workers affected by domestic violence
  • Assessing risks of domestic abuse entering the workplace and having policies that specify action to address them
  • Tools to help employers address domestic violence in the workplace
  • Best practices for all workplaces
  • The need to discuss domestic violence with confidence
  • Responding to disclosures

14:15 EST

45 min
Elizabeth Bingham

Confidentiality: Who Has the Right to See What?

Elizabeth Bingham, Team Lead, Workplace Investigations, Rubin Thomlinson LLP

The Report is written. Labour and executive want to see it.

  • What confidentiality rules apply?
  • How can you manage expectations around confidentiality throughout the process?
  • What do these parties need to know?
  • How do you craft effective report summaries?
  • Confidentiality issues when dealing with internal versus external investigators

15:00 EST

15 min

Break

16:00 EST

60 min
Jennifer Mak Dara Marcoccia Courtney Laidlaw Richard Sharpe

Expert Insights: Observations, Trends and the Future of Work

Moderator: Jennifer Mak, Human Rights and Equity Strategist

Dara Marcoccia, Director, Human Resources, Trillium Health Partners

Courtney Laidlaw, Human Rights Consultant in the Diversity & Culture Group, Toronto Transit Commission

Richard Sharpe, Director, Equity, Anti-racism, Diversity and Inclusion, Department of Justice Canada

Senior HR professionals will share their observations on key themes and trends in preventing discrimination, harassment, bullying and violence and creating a fair, just and diverse workforce. You will leave inspired and ready to implement new ideas and strategies to achieve your goals in the year ahead.

  • What are some key challenges and barriers that you’re experiencing in your work to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and violence and what have you been doing to tackle such challenges?
  • What roles do equity and human rights play in creating and maintaining workplaces that are fair, just, diverse, and free from discrimination, harassment, and violence?
  • What are some of your key goals and strategies in the upcoming year and how will the future of work influence the ways in which you prevent discrimination, harassment, and violence?

17:00 EST

End of Day Two