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Best Practices in Employee Accommodations

Recorded Date: July 10, 2025

Time: 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (PST)

Speakers: Kristen Shaw, Litigation Lawyer, McMillan LLP

About This Webinar

Join us for a 60-minute live webinar where Kristen Shaw, Associate in Employment & Labour Relations at McMillan LLP, shares practical guidance on navigating employee accommodation requests—from initial assessment through to implementation and, where necessary, establishing undue-hardship defences. You’ll walk away with a clear roadmap to design fair, compliant processes that balance individual needs with organizational requirements.

What we’ll cover

  • Key legal foundations under human rights and employment-standards legislation, including when employers must accommodate and how to document requests
  • Best practices for gathering and evaluating medical and functional-ability information without overstepping privacy boundaries
  • Strategies for developing individualized accommodation plans—covering modified duties, flexible schedules, assistive technologies, and return-to-work protocols
  • Recognizing and managing situations that may reasonably lead to undue hardship, with real-world examples drawn from recent tribunal decisions
  • Tips for training supervisors, HR teams, and managers to handle accommodation conversations with empathy and consistency

What’s Included

  1. Legal Expertise You Can Trust: Join Lorenzo Lisi of Aird & Berlis LLP as he breaks down the legal implications of modifying work arrangements in today’s evolving workplace.
  2. Changing Terms of Employment: Learn what the law permits—and prohibits—when altering work location, hours, duties, or schedules.
  3. Policy & Agreement Updates: Get guidance on how to revise employment agreements and workplace policies to reflect new arrangements while minimizing risk.
  4. Avoiding Constructive Dismissal: Discover how to implement changes without inadvertently triggering legal claims or obligations.
  5. Responding to Pushback: Understand your legal responsibilities around accommodation, employee refusal, and the limits of flexibility.
  6. Common Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them: Explore real-world examples of employer missteps—and how to proactively protect your organization.
  7. Live Q&A Opportunity: Bring your questions about hybrid, remote, or return-to-office plans—Lorenzo will answer them live.
  8. Practical Tools & Takeaways: Walk away with the legal knowledge and strategic insights you need to navigate work arrangement changes with confidence.

Who Needs To Be There?

  1. HR Managers & Directors

  2. In-House Legal Counsel

  3. Business Owners & Executives

  4. Operations & Facilities Leaders

  5. Employment Law & Compliance Professionals

  6. Policy & Risk Advisors

  7. Workplace Strategists & Consultants

  8. Anyone managing changes to work models, contracts, or employee expectations

Speaker

Kristen Shaw is an Associate in McMillan’s Employment & Labour Relations group based in Vancouver. Called to the British Columbia bar in 2022, she advises employers on policy development, human-rights claims, WorkSafeBC compliance, and wrongful-dismissal litigation. Kristen’s practice blends strategic risk management with practical, industry-focused solutions—helping clients build inclusive workplaces that withstand legal scrutiny
mcmillan.ca.