Employment Law Check-up: Does Your Small Business Need One?

Do you need an employment law check-up? Ontario workplace laws have changed a lot in 2018. My past blog posts have addressed a few of these changes: asking for a sick note, paid personal emergency or vacation time and maternity/parental leave increases. And these touch on just a few of the recent changes. If you’re a small employer or startup looking to hire your first employees, you may be overwhelmed.

While large corporations often have in-house counsel or lawyers on retainer, small businesses often wait until they have a specific problem to reach out to a lawyer. You don’t have to wait! After all, you probably don’t wait until you have a toothache to go to the dentist.

There are steps that you can take as your business grows or changes, including when you hire, change job duties or locations, or have to let people go – these same steps can help you stay on top of legislative changes.

Consider an Employment Law Check-Up!

I love the idea of an employment law check-up. A legal health check-up, like your annual physical or visit to your financial advisor, gives you and your lawyer a chance to spot potential issues and discuss your concerns before you’re in crisis mode.

Both the Canada Bar Association and LawPro  have resources to help lawyers and clients in general legal health check-ups. In one local example, Halton Community Legal Services started offering ‘legal health check-up’ to check for potential legal issues faced by people living in poverty. Their check-up canvasses issues related to bad health, unemployment, low income, poor housing and family breakdown.

As LawPro explains, it can be a good idea to check-in whenever you face a change in circumstances. For individuals, this could mean a marriage breakdown, a death in the family or change in employment status. For employers, this could mean changes to your business or the law.

Molyneaux Law is happy to offer employment law check-ups to small employers and start-ups in the Hamilton area. Depending on your needs and budget, possible topics include:

  • Do I have the right policies in place to comply with my legal requirements? Are my policies good enough?
  • Do my employment contracts or policies stand-up to current legal standards?
  • Have I been providing the right kind of training on issues like occupational health and safety, harassment and discrimination?

If this could put your mind at ease, call Sarah today to arrange an initial consultation.

DISCLAIMER: This post is for educational and informational purposes only. The results of cases described in these posts may not be typical and are not guaranteed. The accuracy of McMahon Molyneaux Henriquez Labour & Employment Lawyer posts are not guaranteed, and laws may change from time to time. If you would like legal advice or have questions about your particular workplace problems, please contact a lawyer. Click here to contact Hamilton labour, employment and human rights lawyers Sarah Molyneaux or Roberto Henriquez now. Contacting McMahon Molyneaux Henriquez or using this website does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Your use of this website is entirely at your own risk.