This session is sold out (April 3).  Additional registrations are not possible.  

Accommodation of Family Status

Discrimination on the basis of family status is a difficult issue that every employer will have to address at some point.  In a January 31, 2013 decision, the Federal Court of Canada upheld a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision which found that a federal government agency discriminated against an employee on the basis of family status because the agency would not permit her to work the schedule she had requested so that she could meet her childcare obligations.  In the decision, the employer pointed out the issues associated with discrimination on the basis of family status, namely, its inherent ambiguity and the diversity of "family matters" that may have to be accommodated, eg. attendance at children's karate lessons and hockey tournaments, unspecified family commitments, continued residence in a particular city, attendance at a spouse's medical appointments and preference to be home with a pre-school child.  Despite these issues, the Court upheld the Tribunal's decision.

The session will briefly review the conflicting legal decisions on family status and provide a practical guide as to how employers can simultaneously meet the demands of the workplace and their legal obligation to accommodate their employees' family status.

Learning Objectives

In this session, participants will learn:

• The various ways in which the issue of discrimination of family status can arise.
• The conflicting legal decisions on family status and a possible reconciliation of these conflicting legal decisions.
• Proactive policies and procedures that employers can take that will assist in addressing family status issues.
• A step by step approach that employers can take when their employees do request accommodation based on family status.

About the Speaker:

Rick Dunlop, Partner, Stewart McKelvey

Rick Dunlop is a Partner with Stewart McKelvey's Halifax, Nova Scotia Labour and Employment Group.  Risk has a diverse management side labour and employment law practice in which he provides practical solutions and representation on all workplace legal issues.  In particular, Rick often represents employers in human rights complaints, union certification applications in the construction and non-construction industry sectors, and wrongful dismissal actions.

Rick regularly appears before all Nova Scotia courts and labour and related tribunals including the Nova Scotia Labour Board, Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.  Rick will be representing an employer in a wrongful dismissal action before the Supreme Court of Canada in March 2013.

Rick is a past member of Stewart McKelvey's Associate Compensation and Evaluation Committee.  He is the past chair of the Constitutional and Human Rights Section, Canadian Bar Association, current member of the Canadian Association of Counsel for Employers (CACE), and a past member of the Board of Directors, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia.  In  April 2011, Rick was the recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer Award for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia.

Register by April 3 to save with Early Bird Rates!  (Update April 3 - this session is now sold out)

Member $75 including HST

Non-Member $150 including HST

Price after April 3, 2013

Member $110 including HST

Non-Member $185 including HST

Agenda

8:30am Check-in and light refreshments

8:45am Session begins

10:45am Session concludes

How to Register

To register, click on the Register for this Event link above.  The registration deadline is 12 noon on Thursday, April 18, 2013.

IMPORTANT: Registering someone other than yourself?  If you are a member and are registering someone else to attend the event, DO NOT log into the site to register.   If the other person is a member, they must log in under their own member ID and password and register that way.  If the other person is not a member, do not log in, just register them from the public area of the website.  Registrations must be done individually.

Payment Terms

Payment is due by the registration deadline which is Thursday, April 18, 2013. Payments may be made conveniently online by credit card (Visa/MC) at the time of registration or by cheque received to the HRANS office by the registration deadline. Cheques must be received by the registration deadline (April 18) by HRANS at 84 Chain Lake Drive, Suite 103, Halifax, NS B3S 1A2.  Registrations April 15th or later should be done by Visa/MC online.

If paying by credit card (Visa/MC), you will be required to enter the billing address exactly as it appears on the credit card statement or the transaction will be declined.  This is a safety feature for your protection.  Please ensure that you have the address that appears on the credit card statement before attempting to pay online.

Cancellation Policy

A full refund, less a $25 administration fee (plus HST), will be issued for cancellations received in writing prior to Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 12:00 noon. Those who make reservations and do not attend will be required to pay the full seminar fee. Cancellations received in writing prior to noon on Thursday, April 4, 2013 will only be charged the administrative fee. Substitutions (in writing from the registered attendee) are permitted up to the day prior to the event. Member/non-member rates will be applied to the substitutions. This cancellation policy applies regardless of date of registration. Registrations after the cancellation deadline are non-refundable.