For Employers
Act early. Act fairly. Reduce risk.
Workplace problems rarely improve with time. A complaint sits uninvestigated, a difficult termination gets improvised, a contract template quietly goes out of date, and a manageable issue becomes an expensive one. The employers who fare best are the ones who get sound advice before the decision, not after the claim.
Ella Forbes-Chilibeck has spent 20 years advising employers in Ontario and in federally regulated workplaces, and she has sat on your side of the table, as chief negotiator and senior faculty-relations executive for some of Canada's largest universities. She knows what it is to own the decision, manage the budget, answer to a board, and live with the aftermath. That operational perspective shapes every employer file.
How we help
Workplace investigations. External, neutral, certified for harassment, discrimination, violence, reprisal, and code of conduct complaints, anywhere in Canada.
Terminations done properly. Structuring departures that are lawful, humane, and final before the letter goes out, not after the claim comes in.
Employment contracts and workplace policies. Agreements and policies that hold up, including the harassment and violence prevention obligations under Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Canada Labour Code, Part II.
Human rights and accommodation. Practical advice on discrimination complaints, the duty to accommodate, and disability and return-to-work issues.
Mediation. As a Qualified Mediator, Ella helps resolve disputes in efficient half-day and full-day sessions before they become litigation.
Workplace restoration and leadership coaching. Rebuilding teams after conflict, and supporting the leaders who must carry them forward, available across Canada.
A note on roles
Some of our services are advocacy: when we advise an employer, we are in your corner. Others are neutral by design: as an investigator or mediator, Ella is retained to be impartial, and both sides can rely on that. We are always clear about which chair we occupy. It is part of why our findings and our settlements hold.
After the investigation
An investigation answers what happened. It rarely answers what happens next. Teams that have been through a complaint process often need help rebuilding trust and re-establishing working relationships, which is why Ella also offers workplace restoration services as a certified Workplace Fairness Analyst, designed to follow an investigation or stand alone.