Category Archives: Business

Working Safely in the Cold

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Marijana Dabic

Employees that work outside in the winter months are at risk of serious health problems, including hypothermia, frostbite, dehydration and muscle injuries. What’s more, frigid temperatures can also cause additional pain for those who suffer from arthritis and rheumatism.

Common symptoms of cold-related illnesses and injuries include uncontrollable shivering, slurred speech, clumsy movements, fatigue, confusion, white or greyish skin, skin that feels waxy and numbness.

To reduce the risk of cold-induced injuries, consider doing the following:

Layer clothing to keep warm enough to be safe, but cool enough to avoid perspiring excessively. Layered clothing should contain the following:
- An inner layer of synthetic weave to keep perspiration away from the body
- A middle layer of wool or synthetic fabric to absorb sweat and retain body heat
- An outer layer designed to protect from wind chill and allow for ventilation
Wear a hat.
Place heat packets in gloves, vests, boots and hats to add heat to the body.

It’s important to note that many people do not notice they are suffering from cold-related illnesses because their tissue is numb. Therefore, it is wise for employees to check on each other periodically when working outdoors in the cold.

If employees experience any symptoms of cold-related illnesses and injuries, they should get indoors, alert their supervisor and call for medical attention if symptoms do not subside.

Why Your Organization Needs a Business Plan

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Marijana Dabic

Business plans are documents that map out a company’s future objectives and the strategies that will be employed to achieve them. Due to the general nature of these documents, many organizations wrongly assume that business plans are exclusively for young companies just starting out.

However, business plans can be an effective tool for organizations that have been operating for years or are simply looking to grow. In fact, companies that approach financial institutions for a loan to expand operations will often be denied if they don’t have a strong business plan in place.

To avoid losing financial support and similar setbacks, drafting a business plan that’s unique to your company is critical and can provide the following:

A means for starting a business on the right foot. For startups, a business plan can help turn ideas and capital into a viable business model. Specifically, a good business plan can help you secure financing from investors and identify your overall strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Strategies for managing an existing business. For organizations that have been in operation for years, business plans can provide helpful guidance on a number of issues. In general, business plans can help a business communicate its vision to employees and external parties, develop accurate financial forecasts and evaluate company growth.
Opportunities to grow. When a business is looking to venture into new markets or expand its services, business plans can be particularly helpful. Business plans provide organizations with opportunities to raise capital, create a strategy to manage growth and mitigate expansion risks.

Business plans are not a “one-size-fits-all” endeavour, and organizations will need to be thorough and specific when crafting an effective plan. To view samples and learn some helpful best practices, visit Canada Business Network’s website.

Ontario Overhauls Employment Standards Laws

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Marijana Dabic

Overview

On Nov. 22, 2017, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148). Bill 148 makes significant amendments to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

Among other changes, Bill 148 raises the minimum wage, mandates equal pay for part-time, temporary, casual and seasonal employees doing the same job as full-time employees, and expands job-protected leaves for employees throughout the province.

This Compliance Bulletin provides a summary of the major changes included in Bill 148.

Changes to the Employment Standards Act

The majority of Bill 148 focuses on changes to the ESA. Changes to the ESA will come into force throughout 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Employee Misclassification – Effective Immediately

Bill 148 prohibits employers from misclassifying employees as “independent contractors.” While this practice has been prohibited in the past, there is now an explicit ban on treating employees as independent contractors for the purposes of the ESA. This prohibition is intended to address cases where employers improperly treat their employees as if they are self-employed and not entitled to the protections of the ESA. In the event of a dispute over employee classification, the employer will be responsible for proving that the individual is not an employee.

Extended Parental Leave – Commencing Dec. 3, 2017

Formerly this leave was up to 35 weeks if the employee took pregnancy leave, and 37 weeks otherwise. Under the new legislation, this leave can be taken up to 61 weeks if the employee took pregnancy leave, and up to 63 weeks otherwise. This change comes as a result of new federal changes to employment insurance (EI). Employees are only entitled to this extended parental leave if the child is born or comes into their custody, care and control after Dec. 3, 2017.

New Critical Illness Leave – Commencing Dec. 3, 2017

Prior to Bill 148, employees could take up to 37 weeks to provide care or support to their critically ill child. Under the new changes, an employee is entitled to take up to 17 weeks of leave in a 52-week period to provide care or support to a critically ill adult family member and up to 37 weeks to provide care or support to a critically ill child who is a family member.

This additional leave corresponds with the new EI entitlement to Family Caregiver benefit for adults. To be eligible for critical illness leave, employees must be employed for at least six months. For the purposes of this leave, the definition of “family member” is quite broad and even includes people who consider the employee “to be like a family member.”

$14 and $15 Minimum Wage – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018, and Jan. 1, 2019

On Jan. 1, 2018, the general minimum wage in Ontario will rise to $14 per hour and then to $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2019. After Jan. 1, 2019, the minimum wage will be subject to an annual inflation adjustment on Oct. 1 of each year. The table below demonstrates the expected increases to the minimum wage.

Affected Workers	Current Wage	Jan. 1, 2018 Wage	Jan. 1, 2019 Wage
General Minimum Wage	$11.60	$14.00	$15.00
Students	$10.90	$13.15	$14.10
Liquor Servers	$10.10	$12.20	$13.05
Homeworkers	$12.80	$15.40	$16.50

Paid Personal Emergency Leave – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Starting Jan. 1, 2018, personal emergency leave (PEL) will become available to all employees, not just employees of employers who regularly employ 50 or more employees. Moreover, going forward, two days of PEL will be paid, provided that an employee has been employed by their employer for more than a week. The paid days will have to be taken before any unpaid days of PEL in a calendar year. Under Bill 148, employers retain the right to require evidence of entitlement to days of PEL, but they will not be allowed to require a certificate from a qualified health practitioner.

Domestic or Sexual Violence Leave – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

A new domestic and sexual violence leave has been established under Bill 148. For employees that have been employed for at least 13 consecutive weeks, the new legislation provides up to 10 individual days of leave and up to 15 weeks of protected leave when an employee or their child has experienced or is threatened with domestic or sexual violence. The first five days of leave each calendar year would be paid, the rest would be unpaid.

This leave of absence may be taken for one of the following purposes:

To seek medical attention in respect of a physical or psychological injury or disability caused by the domestic or sexual violence
To obtain services from a victim services organization
To obtain psychological or other professional counselling
To relocate temporarily or permanently
To seek legal or law enforcement assistance, including preparing for or participating in any civil or criminal legal proceeding related to or resulting from the domestic or sexual violence

The new legislation also requires employers to put mechanisms in place to protect the confidentiality of records they receive or produce in relation to an employee taking domestic or sexual violence leave.

Extended Pregnancy Leave – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Starting Jan. 1, 2018, pregnancy leave for employees who suffer a pregnancy loss will be extended from six weeks to 12 weeks after the pregnancy loss occurs. Employees will be able to satisfy their entitlement to this leave by providing a medical certificate from a physician, nurse practitioner or midwife.

Family Medical Leave – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

The entitlement to family medical leave, which allows employees to provide care or support to a family member with a serious medical condition, will be increased from an eight-week leave in a 26-week period to a 28-week leave in a 52-week period.

Leave for the Death of a Child and for Crime-related Disappearance – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Bill 148 creates a new, separate leave for child death from any cause for a period of up to 104 weeks. The legislation amendments also establish a separate leave for crime-related child disappearance for a period of up to 104 weeks.

Vacation Entitlement – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Currently, the ESA vacation entitlement is set at two weeks per year for all employees. Now, employees with five or more years of service as of Jan. 1, 2018, will be entitled to three weeks of vacation time and 6 per cent vacation pay. What’s more, employers will be required to retain records related to vacation for a period of five years.

Public Holiday Pay – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, a new formula for calculating public holiday pay will be introduced. The new calculation will divide the wages earned in the pay period immediately preceding the public holiday by the number of days actually worked. The new legislation also requires employers to provide an employee with a written statement that sets out certain information when a day is substituted for a public holiday.

Overtime Pay – Commencing Jan. 1, 2018

Starting Jan. 1, 2018, employees who hold more than one position with an employer and who are working overtime must be paid at the rate for the position they are working at during the overtime period.

Equal Pay for Equal Work – Commencing April 1, 2018

Starting April 1, 2018, employers will be required to pay casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees at the same rate as full-time employees if those employees perform substantially the same kind of work, in the same establishment. This requirement will extend to temporary help agencies, such that workers of temporary help agencies must be paid at the same rate of pay as employees of the client company they are assigned to, provided they perform substantially the same kind of work.

Differences in pay between employees of different status will only be permitted where the difference in pay is made on the basis of seniority, merit, earnings by quantity or quality of production, or other factors, other than sex or employment status.

It should be noted that employees will also be able to request a review of their rate of pay if they believe that they are not receiving equal pay to full-time or permanent employees. The employer will then have to respond to the request with either an adjustment in pay or a written explanation. What’s more, employers will be expressly prohibited from committing reprisals against employees (or temporary help agency workers) who make such a request and must permit or discuss or disclose their rate of pay to other employees.

Scheduling – Commencing Jan. 1, 2019

Starting Jan. 1, 2019, new rules for scheduling will come into force. Under these rules:

Employees with three months’ service will be permitted to submit a written request to their employer for a change in work schedule or work location. If an employer denies the request, it must provide reasons for the denial.
The “three-hour rule” will change so that employees who regularly work more than three hours per day, but upon reporting to work are given less than three hours, must be paid for three hours of work.
Employees will have the right to refuse an employer’s request or demand to work on a day that the employee was not scheduled to work if the request or demand is made less than 96 hours before the time the employee would commence work. Employers are exempt from this provision if the employer’s request is to deal with an emergency, to remedy or reduce a threat to public safety, ensure delivery of essential public services or for other reasons prescribed by regulation.
Employers that cancel an employee’s scheduled day of work or on-call period with less than 48 hours’ notice will be required to pay the employee wages equal to the employee’s regular rate for three hours of work.
An employee who is “on call” and not called to work (or who is called into work and works for less than three hours) must be paid his or her wages for three hours of work.

Changes to Labour Relations Act

Bill 148 also brings about significant amendments to Ontario’s labour relations regime under the LRA. Bill 148’s amendments to the LRA will come into force on Jan. 1, 2018. Most notably, the following changes will come into force:

Card-based certification will be permitted in the building services, home care and community services, and temporary help agency industries.
Prior to seeking certification, unions with the support of at least 20 per cent of an organization’s employees will be entitled to access a complete list of the employees in the proposed bargaining unit, along with those employees’ phone numbers and personal emails.
Remedial certification will be mandatory where an employer interferes with the conduct of a certification vote.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) will be allowed to conduct votes outside the workplace, as well as electronically and by telephone.
The OLRB will have the power to consolidate a certified bargaining unit with an existing bargaining unit of employees of the employer represented by the same union.
Maximum fines for contravention of the LRA will increase to $5,000 for individuals and $100,000 for organizations.

Changes to Occupational Health and Safety Act

Bill 148 contains just one minor change to the OHSA, which was added to the bill at the last minute.

High-heeled Shoes – Effective Immediately

Bill 148 prevents employers from requiring workers to wear footwear with an elevated heel (i.e., high heels) at work, unless such footwear is required for the worker’s safety. Exceptions are allowed for workers in the “entertainment and advertising industry,” which includes the production of a live or broadcast performance or visual, audio or audio-visual recordings of performances.

Next Steps for Employers

To prepare for these changes, employers should immediately review and revise all handbooks, policies and practices that are affected by the new legislation. The full text of Bill 148 can be reviewed here. In addition, the Government of Ontario has published an overview of Bill 148 that employers can review here.

Safety Programs and the Impact to Your Bottom Line

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Marijana Dabic

If you could save your company money, improve productivity and increase employee morale, would you? Workplaces that establish safety and health management systems can reduce their injury and illness costs by 20 to 40 per cent. Safe environments also improve employee morale, which positively impacts productivity and service.

In today’s business environment, these safety-related costs can be the difference between reporting a profit or a loss. Use these tips to understand how safety programs will directly affect your company’s bottom line.

Measuring the Cost of Safety

Demonstrating the value of safety to management is often a challenge because the return on investment (ROI) can be cumbersome to measure. Your goal in measuring safety is to balance your investment against the return expected. Where do you begin?

There are many different approaches to measuring the cost of safety, and the way you do so depends on your goal. Defining your goal helps you to determine what costs to track and how complex your tracking will be.

For example, you may want to capture certain data simply to determine what costs to build into the price of a product or service, or you may want to track your company’s total cost of safety to show increased profitability, which would include more specific data collection like safety wages and benefits, operational costs, and insurance costs.

Since measuring can be time consuming, general cost formulas are available. A Stanford study conducted by Levitt and Samuelson places safety costs at 2.5 per cent of overall costs, and a study published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimates general safety costs at about 8 per cent of payroll.

If it is important for your organization to measure safety as it relates to profitability, more accurate tracking should be done. For measuring data, safety costs can be divided into two categories:

Direct (hard) costs, which include:

Safety wages
Operational costs
Insurance premiums and/or attorney’s fees
Accidents and incidents
Fines and/or penalties

Indirect (soft) costs, which go beyond those recorded on paper, such as:

Accident investigation
Repairing damaged property
Administrative expenses
Worker stress in the aftermath of an accident, resulting in lost productivity, low employee morale and increased absenteeism
Training and compensating replacement workers
Poor reputation, which translates to lost business share and difficulty attracting skilled workers

When calculating soft costs, minor accident costs are about four times greater than direct costs, and serious accidents about 10 to 15 times greater, especially if the accident generates fines or litigation costs.

Just the act of measuring costs will drive improvement. In theory, those providing the data become more aware of the costs and begin managing them. This supports the common business belief that what gets measured gets managed. And, as costs go down, what gets rewarded gets repeated.

How Can You Show ROI?

Studies indicate that for every $1 invested in effective safety programs, you can save $4 to $6 as illnesses, injuries and fatalities decline. With a good safety program in place, your costs will naturally decrease. It is important to determine what costs to measure to establish benchmarks, which can then be used to demonstrate the value of safety over time.

Also, keep in mind that your total cost of safety is just one part of managing your total cost of risk. When safety is managed and monitored, it can also help drive down your total cost of risk.

Safety as a Core Business Strategy

Industry studies report that companies who focus on safety as a core business strategy come out ahead. Safety experts believe that there is direct correlation between safety and a company’s profit.

Workplace Policies to Prevent Harassment Claims

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Marijana Dabic

Though the hiring and firing periods of employment are when an employer is at the greatest risk for litigation, lawsuits based on the company’s employment practices can happen at any time. Poorly worded policies or a manager’s passive attitude can embroil an entire business in the complaint of a single employee.

Workplace harassment can come from a lack of managerial action as easily as it can come from offensive behaviour. The best method to limit a company’s risks is to ensure all employees have a solid understanding of company policies and the rights they are entitled to. It is the employer’s legal duty to make clear rules for workplace conduct and to make certain every employee understands and follows them.

Harassment

Workplace harassment is one of the most difficult risks for an employer to control. Whereas most forms of litigation come after company management for the deceitful or improper actions they took, harassment suits usually seek to blame managers for the ignorant or hateful actions of their employees.

Harassment is any form of malicious or exploitive behaviour that alienates or damages an individual to the point of affecting employment conditions. Harassment can be caused by co-workers or managers, either individually or in groups. When the harassment is pervasive or repeated, the situation is deemed a hostile work environment.

No matter what party is responsible for the harassment, the employer could quickly be implicated in an employee’s complaint. While it will be difficult for an isolated incident of co-worker harassment to be blamed on management, every instance of harassment should be regarded as extremely serious. Managers should investigate and document all cases thoroughly.

Types of Harassment

Though harassment includes a variety of offences, one of its most common forms is sexual harassment. While there are blatant acts of sexual harassment (threatening to fire subordinates if they do not grant sexual favours; an openly discriminatory system of promotion and pay) some less aggressive forms can be the result of one employee paying too much attention to a co-worker or an improper joke that had no direct target.

What constitutes sexual harassment is not always clear. Opinions on offensive behaviour vary widely, and courts often have to spend time deciding what constitutes normal behaviour. As a general rule, if an employee is ever made to feel uncomfortable or harassed, he or she should report it immediately so the offensive behaviour can be stopped.

General harassment claims are as serious as sexual harassment. It is surprisingly easy for people to develop a group bias that results in the exclusion of one co-worker or creates favouritism for similarly minded employees. Managers should watch for harassment at all times and talk to individuals who have displayed clear signs of discriminatory behaviour based on race, ethnicity, disability or religion. The latter is a common pitfall, as it is often visually indiscernible and co-workers may feel they have religious superiority or no rational reason to be considerate of another person’s beliefs.

Workers should feel as though they can report harassment without any threat of repercussion. At least two different channels for reporting harassment should be set up in case one is compromised or directly connected to the harassment. If employees do not feel they can report harassment safely, managers may not be aware there is a problem until litigation for a hostile work environment and negligent management is filed. Workers should be trained to recognize harassment of co-workers and be taught to treat offences seriously.

Employers can also be held liable for harassment that happens away from the workplace. Job-sponsored events are often considered to be under a company’s liability. Although harassment completely outside of any work-related functions is not the company’s responsibility, employers should be open to receive reports of any harassment incidents between two employees and speak with the offending party. While an employer cannot reprimand or punish employees for actions performed in their free time, he or she can remind them that there will be no tolerance for similar actions in the workplace and, if necessary, make accommodations to isolate them from the targeted employee.

The best general action an employer can take to prevent harassment and negligence litigation is to make sure all employees receive training and are made to sign an agreement that they understand and will comply with company standards. This training should happen on a regular basis, not just when employees are hired. Demonstrating and reminding workers of the severity of harassment can keep adverse actions from ever occurring and can prove in court that managers made genuine preventive efforts.

Negligence in Hiring

In certain cases, employers can be sued for negligence after a first incident of co-worker harassment. If a new employee is accused of physical harassment and it is discovered that he or she has been reported or arrested for similar behaviour prior to being hired, a plaintiff could claim the employer showed negligence in hiring. Employers should do thorough background checks on all job applicants to ensure they pose no threat to current employees.

Documentation

Proper action by company managers and HR representatives is useless if it does not get properly documented and stored. When litigation is filed, courts usually look to the employer to provide the necessary documents and records pertaining to the suit. Failure to produce these records can cast suspicion on the company. Since jury biases tend to be against companies, a business needs solid proof that its managers took the proper steps to prevent problems and inform employees about their rights.

Every company should have a policy and official forms for handling complaints. Every complaint should be logged and investigated using prescribed methods. Any notes about how the complaint was resolved should also be put on record. These forms can be essential for establishing details later on.

Having every employee read and agree to a company handbook is one of the most important things a company can do to protect itself and educate its workers. Handbooks should be written carefully and list rules for employee responsibilities and rights. Managers should be subject to the handbook as well and carry out all investigations and evaluations with the rules of the handbook in mind. Handbooks should be reviewed by legal professionals that can guarantee that the company’s policies conform to national and provincial guidelines.

As long as there are employees, there will be some risk for harassment. Well-made policies and incident documentation can greatly decrease your company’s exposure, but cannot help if litigation occurs. Employment Practices Liability insurance is used by many companies to cover harassment risks and mitigate expenses when unavoidable claims are filed.