flexible work arrangements

What is the right to disconnect, and does it apply in Canada?

May 1, 2019 Christina Catenacci Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR and Technology, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Training and Development, 0

The right to disconnect refers to employees’ ability to disconnect from work and not engage in work-related communications while they are off-duty.

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How weather extremes may affect the workplace

January 6, 2014 Michele Glassford Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation

It is a rare day when Canadians are not thinking about weather, especially in January. Canada is a country of extremes in the weather department and although employers in Victoria, British Columbia may have completely different weather considerations than employers in Newfoundland and Labrador or the Northwest Territories, all employers should consider how weather extremes may affect the workplace.

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Nova Scotia to increase access to pregnancy/parental leave in 2015

September 17, 2013 Amery Boyer Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

On September 2, 2013, Premier Darrell Dexter announced plans to amend the Labour Standards Code to allow someone employed for six months with an employer to qualify for pregnancy/parental leave.

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Does management limit engagement?

September 16, 2013 Adam Gorley Employee Relations, Human Resources, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Training and Development, Wages and Compensation

“Disengagement is not an employee problem. It is a hangover from the Industrial Age that invented a middle tier in companies so useless and intrusive that a cartoon strip called Dilbert is the best picture we have of how it functions.” Those are the words of author Chuck Blakeman. What do you think?

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Recent studies outline benefits and risks of telecommuting

June 14, 2013 Occasional Contributors Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Payroll, Privacy and Security, Wages and Compensation

The workplace landscape has drastically changed, and we’re not just talking stand-up desks and exercise balls for chairs. It might come as a shock that as of 2010, over 2.6 million Americans telecommute. That’s over 20 percent of the U.S. working adult population. On a global scale, 20 percent telecommute, and 10 percent of those telecommute everyday…

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The value of working from home questioned: Whether to implement flexible work arrangements or not?

April 1, 2013 Michele Glassford Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Recruiting and Hiring, Wages and Compensation

The recent decision by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer to ban working from home for “Yahoos” has been both widely criticised and applauded. The decision has been criticised for undermining the growing trend toward telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements which enable employees to better balance work/life challenges, especially important to women with children […]

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Workplace flexiblity outside of Silicon Valley

March 5, 2013 Marcia Scheffler Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, HR Policies and Procedures, HRMS, Human Resources, Human Rights, Union Relations

The recently publicized news regarding the ban of telecommuting at Yahoo has ensued in a debate about the benefits of flexible work from home versus the requirement to come into work. However the first thought to cross my mind was that this flexible work arrangement only applies to a very small and privileged sector of employees. For example, working in healthcare, I am very aware of the fact that this debate doesn’t apply to nurses or personal support workers.

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Could these counterintuitive policies work for your company?

July 11, 2012 Adam Gorley Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources

Flexible scheduling, telecommuting, broad benefit plans, and so on can hardly be considered unorthodox anymore. But what about increasingly creative efforts to make and keep employees happy? It’s old news that Google’s offices feature games, free food and massages in a casual and comfortable atmosphere. Many others have followed suit. Take a look at these counterintuitive employment policies.

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An interesting story of how the employer did the right thing

November 19, 2010 Christina Catenacci Human Resources, Human Rights

I recently read a case coming out of the Yukon where an employee accused his employer of discriminating against him based on the ground of mental disability, which was contrary to the Yukon Human Rights Act.

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Were the G8/G20 summits worth it? Tell us about your experience

June 28, 2010 Adam Gorley Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

Now that the big do is over, and the security fences are coming down in Toronto and Huntsville—hopefully—let’s take a moment to reflect on how all the hubbub of the G8/G20 summits affected local businesses.

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When employers are more progressive than employees

April 7, 2010 Adam Gorley Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

As if you didn’t have enough to worry about with the weak economy and trying to hold onto your job: more employers than ever in the United States are offering their employees the benefit of flex hours, but their employees are refusing to take advantage for fear they’ll get the axe! Recent research in the US by the Center for Work-Life Policy has found that fewer workers are accepting offers of flex-time—scheduling their own hours combined with working from home—because they feel the need to be present in the office to make sure their employers know they are working, even if the employees are in fact more productive working on their own schedules.

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Could human rights law increase some kinds of discrimination?

December 23, 2009 Adam Gorley Human Resources, Human Rights

Here’s a question that probably few lawmakers are interested in asking themselves: does human rights legislation make the people it is designed to protect less desirable to employers?

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The four-day workweek

October 26, 2009 Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

The reality of today’s workplaces is that employees are stressed because they not only face excess work duties, but they work long hours, which keeps them away from their homes, families and leisure for long periods of time. According to many HR and legal experts, the results of overworked employees are distraction and low productivity in the company, forcing employers to demand even more hours from their employees, among other things. Everybody I talk to seems to think that the solution of a four-day workweek should enhance employee effectiveness and productivity, reduce stress, improve employees’ enjoyment of work, and balance their work/life.

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