Michael Maslanka has a thoughtful article on Law.com setting out 10 steps GC’s can take to reduce risk, disputes and hopefully costs in labour and employment – summary:

1. Nothing valuable is lost by taking time.
2. Pre-emptive firings are the best firings.
3. Renew the vows.
4. Think proportionately.
5. Train to communicate.
6. A few good policies.
7. E-mail makes cowards of us all.
8. If you say it’s important, treat it as important.
9. It’s not personal.
10. It’s about the individual.

This is based on US law, but many of the observations are quite applicable to Ontario.  (Hopefully fellow blogger Michael Fitzgibbon at Thoughts From a Management Lawyer will weigh in with some observations on that point).