40 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m
"Employers are increasingly expected
to remain cognizant of the fact that their
employees are continuing to speak to
each other outside of the workplace, and
if they've learned of circumstances that
could or already have resulted in harass-
ment in the workplace, they are expected
to investigate," she adds.
Laranja says this is presenting signifi-
cant challenges to employers, and she
sees it most highlighted in the employer's
duty to investigate.
"Now that workplace harassment has
been recognized to sometimes include
comments made in social media, the
employer has to find creative ways to
get the information they need to make
a decision," she says, noting employ-
ers now try to gather as much detail
about alleged issues as possible from
the involved employees' social media
accounts, which is complicated by pri-
vacy settings or employees refusing to
share their information.
Mendl says he's getting a lot more
questions about employer obligations
on social media and "what rights and
responsibilities various workplace par-
ties have.
"We're seeing on both the employer
side and on the employee side of things
that both sides are becoming a lot more
tech savvy and they understand how
pervasive social media has become, how
it's being used by employers, and issues
are being raised as we've seen in a num-
ber of recent cases where employees or
their representatives feel that employers
just aren't doing enough to address these
issues that are coming up."
Ratchford sees the challenge coming
from the "blurring of the line between
what people do in their personal time
and the way in which it can impact the
organizations in which they work.
"Social media has allowed individuals
in the modern era to publish content
EMPLOYERS ARE INCREASINGLY EXPECTED
TO REMAIN COGNIZANT OF THE FACT THAT
THEIR EMPLOYEES ARE CONTINUING
TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER OUTSIDE
OF THE WORKPLACE, AND IF THEY'VE
LEARNED OF CIRCUMSTANCES THAT COULD
OR ALREADY HAVE RESULTED IN
HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE,
THEY ARE EXPECTED TO INVESTIGATE.
DIANE LARANJA, Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP
L E G A L R E P O RT \ L A B O U R & E M P L O Y M E N T
REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL
AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA!
AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT
With more than 300,500 page views
and 100,000 unique visitors monthly
canadianlawlist.com captures your market.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Colleen Austin: T: 416.649.9327
E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com
www.canadianlawlist.com
Untitled-6 1 2016-10-25 3:56 PM
