Course Outline

Attendance Management is one of the most challenging issues an employer faces. From administering an attendance management program, dealing with different types of absenteeism, to the termination of employees, employers must balance the objectives of their attendance management programs with their legal duty to accommodate.

In this session we start by taking participants back to the basic principles of attendance management and what to look out for. We then move on to the legal framework which are the guiding statutes and case law that tell us how we can address attendance management in the workplace. Next, we outline the various types of absenteeism and how each are treated differently along with accommodation and termination. Finally, we move to the practice piece – how do we enforce attendance management policies?

Trainer Bio

Laura Karabulut, Partner (Filon Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP): As a member of the firm since 2005 and as a partner since 2012, Laura practices exclusively in the area of employment law and labour relations on behalf of management. She advises and represents employers in a variety of industrial and commercial sectors including automotive, retail and logistics. She is also involved in collective bargaining and labour relations in the broader public sector. She handles wrongful dismissals, human rights, employment standards, grievances, health and safety and various other labour and employment matters.

Laura enjoys partnering with human resource professionals and operators to achieve business objectives. She assists with the drafting, implementation, and application of employment agreements and employment policies and practices.

Laura authors and contributes to a number of labour and employment law publications,

including the Canadian Human Rights Act- Quick Reference (2009- present) and Public Health in the Workplace. She has also been a speaker at numerous conferences and seminars on public health emergencies in the workplace, workplace violence and workplace harassment, and human rights issues in the workplace.

Memberships and Affiliations

• Law Society of Ontario
• Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (CACE)
• Canadian Bar Association
• Armenian Bar Association

Rankings and Recognitions

• Recognized by The Best Lawyers in Canada 2023 as a leading Labour and Employment Law practitioner

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Speaker, Post-Pandemic Workforce Management webinar, Advocates for Employers of Canada (June 7, 2022)
• Co-Author, Canadian Human Rights Act: Quick Reference (2019 to present), Carswell
• Co-Author, CLV Special Report – Public Health in the Workplace (2nd and 3rd editions), Thomson Reuters
• Co-Author, Accommodation Issues in the Workplace (2014), Wolters Kluwer