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Archive for July, 2010

Civic Holiday/Simcoe Day/First Monday in August: public holiday or not?

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Every year we are asked if the first Monday in August (also referred to as Civic Holiday or Simcoe Day in some jurisdictions), is a public holiday under Employment Standards legislation. Well it depends. This year, Civic Holiday/Simcoe Day/First Monday in August falls on August 2, 2010.

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Tags: civic holiday, discretionary day off, employment law, employment standards, Employment Standards legislation, First Monday in August, floater days, Public Holiday, Public Holiday Pay, public holidays, Simcoe Day, Statutory Holiday, statutory holidays, working on a public holiday
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources, Union Relations | 1 Comment »

Provincial fund to help not-for-profit organizations with infrastructure costs

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

If you work in the not-for-profit sector, chances are that your organization performs some sort of community service, quite possibly helping disadvantaged persons or designated groups, such as visible minorities, Aboriginals, persons with disabilities or addictions, or women. For this reason alone, not-for-profit organizations are essential to the well-being of our communities and cities. But you already knew that.

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Tags: Aboriginals, Community Capital Fund, community service, designated groups, disabled persons, harmonized sales tax, HST, not-for-profit funding, not-for-profit organizations, not-for-profit policypro, NPPP, ontario, Partnership Project, Trillium Foundation, visible minorities, women
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Internal Controls, Not-for-Profit | Make a Comment »

Central intake office revises federal skilled worker document checklist

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Following the issuance of revised Ministerial Instructions in June 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada also revised its IMM 5612 Document Checklist, which is used for the initial filing of Federal Skilled Worker applications with the Central Intake Office. The language proficiency assessment was an expected addition to IMM 5612. However, what was not expected is the requirement that applicants also submit all documents listed on the specific visa office document checklist applicable to the consular post where the application will be processed.

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Tags: Canadian Bar Assocation National Citizenship and Immigration Law Section, Central Intake Office, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, federal skilled worker, Federal Skilled Worker Class, federal skilled worker document checklist, Foreign workers, Hiring foreign workers, IMM 5612 Document Checklist, mandatory language proficiency assessment, Ministerial Instructions, police clearance certificates, recruiting, recruiting and hiring, recruitment
Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

CIC ends processing of work permit extensions filed concurrently with pending LMO applications

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Until recently, a work permit extension application (for a NOC 0, A, or B occupation), which required an approved Labour Market Opinion (“LMO”), could be filed concurrently with a pending LMO application. However, in July 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) posted a notice on its website indicating that concurrent filing would no longer be permitted.

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Tags: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Foreign workers, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Labour Market Opinion, recruiting, recruiting and hiring, recruitment, work permit, work permit extension
Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Can I wear my flip-flops to the worksite?

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Self-employment runs in my family. My sister’s 17-year-old is spending her summer days working in the family cabinet-making business. She reluctantly changed into more suitable footwear before heading out the door this morning.

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Tags: employee orientation, flip-flops, health and safety, health and safety orientation, Ministry of Labour, new workers, occupational health and safety, PPE, protective personal equipment, suitable footwear, workplace accidents, Workplace inspection, workplace investigation, workplace safety, young and new workers, young workers
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

For small and medium-sized businesses, cross-training can be a lifesaver

Monday, July 26th, 2010

An organization with dedicated departments and strictly delineated staff roles might be easy to manage when things are running smoothly, but what happens when someone gets sick, goes on vacation or leaves the company, and there’s no one else who can perform that person’s duties? Or what if both employees who can perform a certain duty are away from work at the same time? The last thing you want to be doing is scrambling to figure out how to do something at the last minute when you expected it to be done a week before, or training someone to do something entirely new while that deadline looms.

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Tags: cross-training, employee relations, succession planning, training, training and development, workplace management
Posted in Human Resources, Training and Development | 3 Comments »

Woman suffered discrimination at work for disability

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Elsa Torrejon was diagnosed in early 2009 with breast cancer. After telling her employer about her illness and requesting an indefinite leave to receive treatment for breast cancer, she found herself dismissed and fighting for her human rights.

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Tags: Disability, disability management, discrimination, duty to accommodate, employment law, employment standards, human rights, human rights code, human rights tribunal, leave of absence, ontario, termination, undue hardship
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | 2 Comments »

The health and workplace benefits of team sports

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Team activities, whether organized or informal, offer numerous health benefits—both physical and mental—they can be a perfect fit for enhancing workplace wellness.

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Tags: Benefits, fitness, fringe benefits, health, health and safety, health benefits, leadership, physical health, sport, teamwork, workers compensation, workplace wellness program
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Interprovincial labour mobility in the unionized construction sector

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

I recently received in my mailbox the July/August 2010 issue of Inside HRA from First Reference. It deals with interprovincial labour mobility. It’s an interesting read for anyone who works in human resources across interprovincial boundaries. Although we often take for granted that citizens may live and work in any part of Canada they please, there are often unforeseen problems. Some of these problems can be quite challenging for an employer.

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Tags: apprentice, Apprenticeship, Apprenticeship and Trades Qualification Act, certified trades, Compulsory certified trades, construction industry, interprovincial labour mobility, journeymen, labour mobility, Labour Relations Board, Trade Union Act, unionized construction sector, unionized workplaces
Posted in Human Resources, Recruiting and Hiring | Make a Comment »

Employer’s duty to accommodate an employee’s illness

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

I am often asked by HR Managers and other supervisory personnel how long an employee can be off work due to illness before he is deemed to have abandoned his position. Many HR people question whether they have to retain the opening indefinitely where there is no reliable prediction as to when an employee will return to work. The issue is important in that…

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Tags: Disability, duty to accommodate, Employee illness, employee return to work, Employer duty to accommodate, employment standards, frustration of employment contract, human rights, Job abandonment, Return to work, termination, undue hardship, wrongful dismissal
Posted in Human Resources, Human Rights | Make a Comment »

Online indiscretions… well, you know the story

Monday, July 19th, 2010

We’ve heard a bunch of stories over the past year about companies firing or not hiring employees, or challenging their claims of illness, over inappropriate online behaviour, particularly comments and photos posted on Facebook and other social networking websites. While the media have made a big deal of these cases, none has had the profile of CNN’s recent firing of Middle East correspondent, Octavia Nasr. The US news giant felt Nasr had compromised her credibility by publicly tweeting her respect for a prominent Islamic cleric on his death. The Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah had ties to controversial political action group Hezbollah.

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Tags: CNN, employee relations, employment contract, employment relationship, employment standards, facebook, Octavia Nasr, online comments, social networking, termination, termination with cause, twitter
Posted in Employment Standards, Human Resources | 2 Comments »

Organizational behaviour Part I: what is it and why is it important for employers?

Friday, July 16th, 2010

Organizational behaviour has been defined as the field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structures have on behaviour within organizations, particularly workplaces, in order to improve the organization’s effectiveness. But is it important for employers to understand organizational behaviour?

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Tags: ability, Absenteeism, employee retention, Human Resources, job satisfaction, learning, management skills, organizational behaviour, personality, planning, productivity, retention, strategy, turnover, workplace behaviour, workplace psychology
Posted in Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Recent changes to Ontario’s provincial nominee program

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

During the past few months, the Province of Ontario has announced several changes to the International Student Category of Opportunities Ontario, its Provincial Nominee Program. Specifically, it has announced the creation of the International PhD Graduate Stream and the Pilot International Masters Graduate Stream.

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Tags: Citizenship and Immigration Canada, corporate immigration, Federal Skilled Worker Class, Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Immigration Law, International Student Category, ontario, provincial nominee program
Posted in Corporate Immigration, Human Resources | Make a Comment »

Business planning and the business of digging holes

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

I’m in the middle of a pretty large home renovation project right now, which means there’s a great big hole in my basement floor and the foundation is fully exposed. It’s been that way for weeks now. The reno project isn’t delayed due to lack of hard work, it’s the planning that’s causing the problems. I’m waiting on this and I’m waiting on that. I can fill the hole, but I can’t do it until the plumber comes and does his thing. If you’re running a business or managing work and workers, I’m sure you have some idea of what I’m talking about.

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Tags: business planning, FAPP, Finance and Accounting PolicyPro, forecasting, home renovation, HR strategies, marketing, planning, staffing, strategic planning, strategy, succession planning
Posted in Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Internal Controls | Make a Comment »

The ‘Ministry’ will investigate complaints of harassment… Really??!!

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

As a human rights advisor and educator I was encouraged to overhear this educational conversation about harassment at Tim Hortons. I was concerned however that part of the message this group was hearing was incorrect and misleading.

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Tags: harassment, harassment prevention, health and safety, health and safety training, investigate complaints of harassment, investigation, ministry inspectors, Ministry of Labour, occupational health and safety, OHSA, Ontario Ministry of Labour, Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, Tim Horton, training, violence, violence prevention, workplace harassment, workplace harassment prevention guide, workplace investigation
Posted in Health and Safety, Human Resources | 6 Comments »