The BC Human Rights and Accommodation Skills Training Workshop is a highly focused professional development opportunity for HR professionals, union leaders, and employer representatives involved in labour law in BC and Western Canada. Designed with both legal rigour and practical application in mind, this session helps participants deepen their understanding of core workplace challenges and build hands-on skills to improve outcomes.

What You’ll Learn:

• Strategies for proactive problem solving
• Scenario-based exercises and expert feedback
• Legislative updates and case study analysis
• Tools to improve communication and resolution at the front lines

Who Should Attend

• Human Resources Professionals
• Labour Relations Officers
• Union Stewards & Counsel
• Legal Advisors and Advocates

Delivery Format

• In-Person session led by leading labour law experts
• Interactive case studies and guided discussion

Mental health related accommodation continues to be one of the most complex and high-risk areas of workplace decision-making for employers and unions alike. Legal obligations are evolving, medical information is often incomplete or difficult to interpret, and workplace parties are increasingly required to respond to non-visible disabilities.

This workshop is designed to provide practical guidance on accommodating employees with mental health disabilities in the workplace.

Using two detailed scenarios the panel will explore how accommodation principles apply across a spectrum of mental health conditions — from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder to complex diagnoses such as Bipolar I Disorder with psychosis and acquired brain injury.

Learn about the relevant legal tests and how to proactively address these issues in the workplace.

Scenarios:

Scenario #1: How to accommodate an employee with anxiety disorder and traits of post-traumatic stress disorder in the workplace?

Scenario #2: How to accommodate an employee with a complex mental illness in the workplace – Bipolar Type 1 Disorder with psychosis with recent acquired brain injury

Investigation

• Is an employer entitled to information regarding an employee’s condition or only about any restrictions on job duties?
• What can employers or unions do when medical information is based largely on employee self-reporting? Must employees provide “objective evidence” of their conditions, such as the results of a medical test or standardized clinical measure?
• How can the parties request more specific information where the information provided is vague, deficient, or contradictory?
• When is it permissible to request that an employee provide a specialist report or undergo an independent medical examination (“IME”)? What is the union’s role when this has been requested?
• Are employers or unions entitled to communicate directly with an employee’s physician or require that the employee provide a “blanket release” of employee medical information?

How to Accommodate an Employee

• What are signs that an employee may be experiencing a mental health crisis in the workplace? What are more subtle signs that an employee may be struggling and in need of assistance or accommodation?
• When an employee notifies the employer of a mental health condition, what responsibilities are triggered for employers and unions?
• How should employers and unions assess what constitutes a reasonable accommodation of an employee’s needs, and how can that be distinguished from employee preferences?
• What trends, if any, are emerging from recent decisions about the test for undue hardship?
• How should employers analyze the availability and suitability of alternative work within the workplace?
• What resources may be proactively offered to employees in the workplace? How can employers ‘inclusively design’ their workplaces for neurodivergent employees?
• What are successful elements of a Return-to-Work plan and Accommodation Plan?
• How should managers respond to employees who reveal their diagnosis but do not provide sufficient information regarding their functional ability and what is required to accommodate? What communication tools and tips may be offered understanding that employees with mental illness may struggle with perceived stigma of their condition?
• How should issues relating to stigma of mental health issues be approached in the workplace?
• What resources may be offered to employees who continue to struggle with work despite accommodations?
• When and how should termination of employment be considered?
• Can liability be placed on employers for a failure to accommodate an employee’s unknown or not yet diagnosed mental health issue?
• What are recent trends in damage awards for an employer’s failure to accommodate a mental health condition?
• What legal obligations do employers have to assess and control workplace risk factors that may contribute to poor mental health?
• What workplace practices promote physical and mental wellness? What role, if any, should the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace play in protecting and promoting workers’ mental health?

Breakfast and lunch to be provided, with a variety of snacks and refreshments available during breaks. Breakfast is provided prior to the workshop and will be available starting at 8:00 am. Please share any dietary requirements at the time of registration so we can best accommodate your needs.