HR professionals are navigating increasingly complex workplace challenges—from supporting employees through illness and disability-related absences to ensuring organizations have the skills needed for future success. This engaging two-part session will explore practical strategies for managing employee sick leave while balancing legal obligations, operational needs, and the human side of workplace support. Participants will also examine how HR can take a strategic role in closing the skills gap through competency-based training, workforce planning, and building sustainable learning capabilities. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to strengthen attendance management, support employee development, and enhance organizational resilience.
Managing employee sick leave – do’s and don’ts for employers – Part 1
Overview: Managing employee sick leave has never been more challenging—or more important. Between evolving human rights obligations, increasing mental health-related absences, physician shortages, and the ongoing pressure to maintain operational effectiveness, employers are often left trying to balance compassion with compliance. This presentation will explore the legal and strategic aspects of managing employee sick leave from an employer's perspective. Participants will gain practical tools for navigating medical documentation, attendance management, the duty to accommodate, return-to-work planning, and difficult conversations with employees, all while minimizing legal risk. Through real-world examples, case law, and practical tips, we'll examine common pitfalls that can turn an ordinary sick leave into a legal headache. We'll also discuss what employers can—and cannot—ask for, how to recognize when attendance concerns require a different approach, and why good documentation remains HR's best friend.
The session doesn't shy away from the realities of managing absenteeism, but it also recognizes that a little humour can go a long way. Expect a candid discussion that acknowledges the everyday challenges HR professionals face—from deciphering cryptic medical notes to navigating the seemingly endless "off until reassessment" forms—without ever losing sight of the human side of disability management. Whether you're new to managing employee absences or a seasoned HR professional looking for practical insights and legal updates, you'll leave with actionable strategies, renewed confidence, and perhaps a few stories that will make your next attendance meeting seem just a little less daunting.
The Skills Gap – Part 2
The skills gap isn't just an operations problem - it's an HR problem. As organizations struggle to find workers with the right capabilities, HR professionals are increasingly being asked to answer for workforce readiness, productivity, and retention without always having the tools or framework to do so. Generic training, inconsistent delivery, and programs built around completion rather than competency mean training happens, but capability doesn't necessarily follow.
This session gives HR professionals a practical framework for approaching training as a strategic talent investment. Participants will explore how competency mapping and structured training needs analysis can replace guesswork with a clear picture of where skills gaps exist and what it actually takes to close them. The session will examine how modern learning approaches, including blended learning models and technology-enabled tools, are changing what's possible in workforce skills development, and what HR needs to know to champion these tools internally. The session will also look at how organizations can build lasting internal training capacity through train-the-trainer models and supervisor development as a core learning function, moving from dependency on external delivery to a workforce that builds capability from within.
Key takeaways for attendees:
• Why most training programs fail to close skills gaps, and what a structured, competency-based approach looks like instead
• How to use competency mapping and training needs analysis as an HR tool to identify gaps and prioritize investment
• What blended learning and immersive training technology mean in practice, and how HR can make the case for them internally
• How to build sustainable internal training capacity through train-the-trainer models and supervisor development
Agenda
- 7:30 AM Registration, networking, and breakfast
- 9:00 AM Part 1 Employment Law Insights - Jordan Lester
- 10:15 AM Break
- 10:30 AM Part 2 The Skills Gap - Trina Pharand
- 11:45 AM Q & A
- 12:00 PM Event concludes
Ad-hoc Volunteer Opportunities - Interested in helping as a greeter, registration desk helper, speaker support and/or runner at an upcoming in-person Chapter event.
For the above opportunities, you should check of the box during registration but you will also need to login to Volunteer with HRPA and sign up there. Thank you for volunteering to help!
Registration Closes: October 22, 2026, at 8:00AM
Registration Difficulties or Questions: Please reach out to Rebecca Lauzon our Specialist, Member Engagement at rlauzon@hrpa.ca