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Nurturing workplace culture
Windsor Star
By Kim Covert, Postmedia News May 22, 2012 3:07 AM A company can achieve a nurturing work environment with a firm values statement that puts people before profits, says Ann Kaplan, CEO of iFinance in Toronto. She says it's important to hire people who ...

Employees That Play Together Work More Productively Together
Business Review Canada
Everyone needs a circle of friends – and when employees feel they have compatible peers at the workplace, the workplace is a more comfortable, pleasant, peaceful place to be. At iGATE, we've confirmed this through research, and developed several ...

Human resources expert shares tips to improve bottom line
Your Ottawa Region
HR expert. It's 'human resources' not inhuman resources, says professional speaker and employees relations expert Denis Cauvier. Derek Dunn Whether you are a prospective employee or a prospective employer, Dr. Denis Cauvier – a world renowned authority ...

Avoid merger mess Include HR professionals in preparing for change
Winnipeg Free Press
Yet, we know that stabilizing the new organization and integrating organizational cultures, systems and processes while sustaining employee trust and morale is a delicate and difficult task. Applying some of the following tips will help your ...

How companies are capitalizing on teamwork, turnover, and a growing youth ...
This Magazine
Unions aren't in the media as much as they once were—and labour news isn't exactly a hot topic on social media. There is the sense that unions are a thing of the past, unnecessary now that Canada has labour laws and minimum wages.

Employers waste money through miscommunication of the value of employee ...
HRmagazine.co.uk
The majority of employers in the UK could be wasting the money they spend on salaries and benefits by leaving employees in the dark about the true value of the total package. That's according to new research published today the CIPD at its annual ...

Unconscious bias in the workplace
Khaleej Times
Milton Perkins of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) says that unconscious bias creates “human capital waste,” and points out that “people who are hurting inside will inevitably hurt someone else — they will hurt your business, ...

Bullying can boomerang
National Post
Howard Levitt: The lesson for all Canadian employers is that the courts will not seriously entertain employer defences where there is evidence of abuse of employees. In my experience, harassing an employee into quitting never spares employers from a…

LGTB inclusion is good for business
Vancouver Sun
Today (May 17) marks International Day against Homophobia, a date I was reminded of by several prominent Canadian business organizations that are doing some pretty progressive work to tackle the issue in their workplace. Last August, I wrote about TD ...

Managing diabetes in the workplace
Canadian HR Reporter
By Brian Kreissl. As in most Western countries, Type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in Canada. With the aging population, increasing rates of ..

Sun Life wellness study to find ROI
Benefits Canada
“Little rigorous examination of workplace wellness has taken place in Canada and outside of the US,” said Rouse. “Even in the US (where the bulk of studies have taken place), there are few studies that are comparable and have sufficient data and ...

Does Flextime Benefit You More Than Your Employees?
Business Insider
The 2012 National Study of Employers, released by the Families and Work Institute (FWI) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), found that US employers are offering employees more options for managing when and where they work.

Robert Half Legal Survey: Four in 10 Law Firms Lack Leadership Succession Plans
Canada NewsWire (press release)
Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) attorneys polled said their law firm does not have a succession plan in place for its key leadership roles. Among those without succession plans, close to half (49 percent) said there are no intentions to develop one.

'No benefit' to short apprenticeships
The Independent
Apprenticeships of less than six months provide "no real benefit" to trainees or their employers, a parliamentary report warned today. The Commons Public Accounts Committee praised the Business Department's drive to boost the number of apprenticeships, ...

Avoiding a Lost Decade in Canada
The Mark
In April, Deloitte and the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) released a report entitled CanadaWorks 2025. Through discussions with 50 notable academics, CEOs, Chairs, ex-Ministers, and economists, the report outlined three alternative ..

Mental health matters at work, too
Globe and Mail
One of the most compelling ideas to come out of Canada's Mental Health Commission is that of psychological health and safety workplace standards. The commission is sending an important message to employers that steel-toed boots and hard hats are not ..

Workplace bullying: When HR is the target
Business Management Daily
by The HR Specialist on May 15, 2012 9:00am Ever feel like you're the unofficial “shock absorber” in your organization, soaking up the complaints and abuse from all corners of the workplace? A recent study says many HR professionals serve such a ..

Canadian startups struggle to attract talent: PwC survey
Canada.com
TORONTO - Unlike previous years, in which growing revenues and finding funding weighed more heavily on Canadian startups, last year it was finding warm bodies that was the biggest challenge. In a survey of 150 chief executives of emerging technology ..

Wellness an obvious choice
Vancouver Sun
Organizations that commit to a culture of health and wellness enjoy a competitive advantage. Healthy employees are more productive, which contributes to the bottom line. Conversely, organizations that lack a commitment to health and wellness will ..

6 in 10 workers have met their CEO: Survey
Canadian HR Reporter
Six in 10 Canadian workers (61 per cent) have met their CEO, while 39 per cent have not, found a recent survey by CareerBuilder. More female workers (64 per cent) have met their CEO, compared to 58 per cent of their male counterparts, found the survey ..

Who Will Win the Title of Canada's Most Attractive Employer?
PR Newswire (press release)
About Randstad Canada: Randstad Canada is the Canadian leader for staffing, recruitment and HR Services. As the only fully integrated staffing company in the country, we understand the recruitment needs and demands of employers and job seekers across ..

EI changes won't force workers to take unsuitable jobs: Finley
Vancouver Sun
Human Resources Minister Diane Finley told the House of Commons there's no plan to force jobless workers receiving EI benefits to take any job available, as the finance minister seemed to suggest the day before. "Canadians will be expected to take jobs ..

My Job Could Be Your Life: Lauren Canzius, labour-relations consultant
The Grid TO
Ever fantasized about mediating a labour strike? In this week's edition of our career-advice column, we find out how one goes about landing a career in human resources. In 30 seconds or less, tell me what you do all day at work. I work in a unionized environment, and my job contains four different dimensions: collective bargaining, which is negotiating the terms and conditions of employment…

Just hire the best candidate, period
Canadian HR Reporter blog (Todd Humber)
Finding talent is tough. That axiom holds true regardless of the industry or geographic location. That’s not to say employers won’t get flooded with resumés for every job opening — they will — but recruiters have to kiss plenty of frogs before (and if) they find royalty.

Sick time spikes on professional development days
Vancouver Sun
On a typical Monday for VIHA, 533 people call in sick, according to tracking by the health authority's human resources managers. However, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2011, which was a non-instructional day, there were nearly 700 sick calls - a spike of more ...

Short-term labour fix, or is it exploitation?
Victoria Times Colonist
If the federal government felt any qualms about giving employers carte blanche to create a two-tier workforce, it wasn't obvious. Its attitude: Canada is facing a labour shortage. This is a way to fix it. But groups that work with temporary foreign ...

Booming jobs figures hide unevenness
Globe and Mail
A flurry of mining and energy activity is causing many companies to boost recruiting efforts, while some factories in Central Canada are ramping up production as US demand solidifies. “Companies that hadn't been hiring on a permanent basis, ...

Health promotion betters bottom line
National Post
Studies identified an estimated 3% revenue loss every year due to employee absenteeism or reduced productivity stemming from illness in the workplace. While the monetary benefit of preventing employee illness was obvious, the return on investment of a ...

In the blink of an eye
Canada.com
To help him cope, the Workers Compensation Board of Alberta put him in touch with a representative from CNIB, a registered charity that delivers practical and emotional rehabilitation services to Canadians who are blind or partially sighted from coast ...

Taking workplace battles online
Canadian HR Reporter (blog)
A few years ago, a Canada Post depot in Edmonton was experiencing a fair bit of labour strife. Canada Post was trying to decrease socializing by employees while at work to make them more productive. This created tensions in the workplace that led to ...

Talent shortages, 'selfsumer' employees among biggest challenges for Canadian ...
Vancouver Sun (blog)
Recruiting talent and keeping employees top concern over revenue as the biggest challenge facing Canadian tech start-ups today. That's according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of 150 startup chief executives released today that found managing ...

Top court to decide if data on work computer is private
CTV.ca
Canada's highest court will have to determine how much privacy workers are entitled to for the personal data they store on computer devices they don't own. (AP / Jay LaPrete) How much privacy Canadians can expect when they use work computers for ...

EI reform set to redefine 'suitable' work for job seekers
Globe and Mail
The Conservative government is giving its clearest signal yet that a hard line is coming on employment insurance, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty saying to expect tougher rules on the type of work Canadians must consider while job-hunting on EI.

Maternity Leave Basics: Canada Vs. The U.S.
San Francisco Chronicle
SEE: Parental Leave: Can You Afford It? Canada The Canadian government mandates both a leave and a benefits component, the latter being administered by provincial employment insurance plans. Depending on the length of employment history and the hours ...

Write your resumé with caution
MetroNews Canada
By Daniel A. Lublin By Daniel A. Lublin Metro Canada By Daniel A. Lublin Metro Canada Lying on your resumé can get you fired — or at least land you in very hot water. That is what Yahoo and its current CEO Scott Thompson learned last week when it was ...

More employers providing benefits for domestic partners
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
By Julie Appleby / Kaiser Health News WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's stand last week in favor of same-sex marriage has no legal effect on employers' decisions on whether to offer benefits to workers' domestic partners, but some advocates ...

Companies cut costs by shedding pounds
Globe and Mail
In the past six months employers as diverse as the New York Stock Exchange and UK retailer John Lewis have signed up US-based Weight Watchers to help staff shed some pounds – leading to healthier workers and cheaper health insurance premiums.

Employers: think before you click
Lawyers Weekly
By Stuart Rudner Over the past few weeks, the notion of employers forcing job-seekers to hand over the “keys” to their social media accounts has captured headlines across North America. Stories of companies in the United States requiring candidates to ...

GOP Representative Says Employers Should Be Allowed To Fire ...
By H. Scott English
Freshman Representative James Lankford said in a recent interview that laws banning discrimination for sexual orientation should not be passed because of his.

It's about time we loosened self-imposed gag orders for depression
TheChronicleHerald.ca
This past week, I began speaking out, on national television yet, about my two-year ordeal with workplace depression. It's no coincidence I chose to publish my memoir during Canadian Mental Health Week. Many of us take freedom of speech for granted.

U.S. Workforce Unprepared for New Reality of Workplace Benefits, Survey on ...
MarketWatch (press release)
The survey results suggest that a significant proportion of the American workforce remains unprepared for the current shift in workplace benefits, as more employers give workers the responsibility to decide whether to purchase group benefits such as ...

Gen Y study: Young people told to get internships to get a job. Then the ...
Toronto Star
Employers want to see work experience, and in the challenging job climate (13.9 percent youth unemployment) a resume needs all the extra oomph it can get. The catch is that while nearly all employers think students should have one or two internships ...

Growing Need to Streamline Operations and Reduce Costs Drives the Global Human ...
DigitalJournal.com (press release)
Plagued with mounting complexity and compliance pressures of business processes, organizations are increasingly opting for outsourcing of HR functions. Growth in the market is dependent on factors such as sales and marketing capabilities, ...

Employers' group urges improvements in sickness levels
BBC News
The EEF employers' group said that there had been a decline in short-term absence over the past five years. However, the overall sickness absence rate had flattened off in 2011 and remained unchanged from 2010 at 2.2%. EEF chief medical adviser Prof ...

Jobs outlook turns positive for employers
People Management Magazine Online
A decrease in employers' redundancy intentions has boosted the immediate jobs outlook into positive territory for the first time in over a year, according to the CIPD's latest Labour Market Outlook. The report's net employment balance – which measures ...

Employers 'have embraced flexible working'
ashdowngroup.com
Only a tiny minority (four per cent) of employers have had difficulties complying with the right to request flexible working since it was introduced nearly a decade ago, it has been reported. Research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel ...

Self-employed people can reap benefits of wellness strategies
The Coloradoan
Making conscious investment in your company's biggest asset, you and your health, is critical. About one out of every nine people in the American workforce is self-employed, and 90 percent actually chose to become so. Corporate-culture refugees are ...

Canada Post mail sorter who went postal on Facebook loses job
Yahoo! News Canada (blog)
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers filed a grievance calling for her reinstatement, arguing Canada Post had created a toxic workplace, which forced the woman to vent her frustration on Facebook where she believed her postings were private.

The human resources walled city
ZDNet (blog)
Because they create work for every employee in the company, while serving only to meet HR-driven compliance processes. Somewhere along the way in building these systems, we focused the core design on the wrong problem. Saleforce have the firepower to ...

Stop asking for Facebook Passwords: Ontario Privacy Czar
Memo to employers: Stop asking for Facebook passwords. That's the advice from Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner. She launched a paper on May 3, titled Reference Check: Is Your Boss Watching?

Employer seeks ruling on teachers' right to cut volunteer activities
Vancouver Sun
Public school employers are seeking an order that would end a BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) protest that has disrupted after-hours activities, including field trips, parent-teacher interviews, end-of-year celebrations and fine arts performances.

Employers atwitter about social media
National Post
Recent US headlines about employers asking job candidates for Facebook login passwords have sparked debate about social media ethics and the role of social networks in the recruitment process. Some jurisdictions — including Maryland, California and ...

Worker rescued after Commonwealth Stadium ceiling collapse
CBC.ca
City officials said occupational health and safety staff arrived on scene shortly after the incident occurred. "We are taking this matter seriously," said Joe Kabarchuk, branch manager for building and landscape services in a news release.

CLC Releases Guide for Investigating Corporate Negligence in the Workplace
Business Review Canada (press release)
... ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 9, 2012) - On the 20th anniversary of the deadly Westray explosion that killed 26 miners in Nova Scotia, the Canadian Labour Congress has released a guide for investigating corporate criminal negligence in the workplace.

The Government of Canada Recognizes the 20th Anniversary of the Westray Mine ...
MarketWatch (press release)
The Government of Canada is committed to promoting fair, safe and healthy workplaces across Canada. We work closely with employers and unions to raise awareness in preventing work-related accidents and diseases, to educate them and to keep them ...

Shaping Up: Workplace teams stepping it up
Ottawa Citizen
By June Thompson, The Gazette May 9, 2012 Kidney Foundation of Canada staffers make up one of six foundation teams taking part in the world's largest corporate health initiative. MONTREAL - Walking is one of the best forms of exercise out there: you ...

Supreme Court to rule on random alcohol testing
Globe and Mail
Now, it is headed to Canada's highest court. The case, which pits the Communications Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 30 against Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd., is being watched closely by employment lawyers across Canada, who say it could have ...

Practical advice on how to protect online privacy
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
Spurred by numerous recent media reports of employers requesting Facebook passwords from job candidates, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian, launched a paper to provide Ontarians with practical advice on how to protect their online privacy in the increasingly complex social media world.

Company recognizes the power of the personality test
FunEducation
In 2011, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) polled 495 human resource professionals to learn if any of them rely on a personality test during the hiring process. While 82 percent of respondents said they do not, 71 percent of those who do ...

Canadians Are Happier and More Productive at Work
Victoria Times Colonist
For Canadian business people, finding harmony between their careers and personal lives is showing signs of improvement. According to the Regus Work-Life Balance Index, there has been a 16 per cent rise amongst Canadian business people who feel their ...

Labor Department: Employers Advertising More Jobs
NPR (blog)
If you're an optimist, it means employers are feeling a bit more "robust" about the economy and want to add workers. If you're a pessimist, you'd point out that roughly 12.7 million people are still out of work and that the unemployment rate remains ...

Employee perks good for employers, too, study suggests
msnbc.com
A study released Wednesday found employers that offered substantial programs focused on the long-term financial health of their workers saw a host of business dividends as a result, everything from lower turnover to better customer service.

5 Warnings for Leaders: Brand Humanization Is Not A Social Media Fad
Forbes
The executive team gathers to concoct a brand statement to describe the culture of the company with the goal of making the company appealing to candidates. But this gets things exactly backwards. Why? Because defining workplace culture and corporate ...

Taking CHRP to the next level
Canadian HR Reporter
I have my Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP) designation, and I am currently going through the recertification process the second time around. So, it’s probably in my best interests to try to put a positive spin on the CHRP and help raise the profile of the designation.

Fallen bridge worker's son breaks silence for safety's sake
CBC.ca
Barker was one of 10 men painting the Canadian side of bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor in November 2000. The scaffolding they were on collapsed in high winds. Two workers were plucked from the water. Four others dangled by their safety harnesses ...

Tech woes top source of workplace stress in Canada: study
ITBusiness.ca
Technology woes are the top source of stress in the Canadian workplace, a new study reports. Malfunctioning technology topped a new Toshiba of Canada survey of 1000 Canadians, with 40 per cent of respondents naming it as the biggest source of workplace ...

National mental health strategy launched today
News1130
"It's costing Canadian employers, estimated $50 billion, in either absences from work or what they call presenteeism - you're their, but you're really not." "It's important at the workplace, we spend so much time there, and that workplaces themselves ...

It's About Time—and Money
Workforce Management
Most of the limelight in the human resources software world for the past decade or so has gone to talent management applications such as recruiting, compensation and learning tools. But, quietly, the less-trendy territory of workforce management has ...

Basic planning, data cleansing seen as crucial to HR system integration
TechTarget
Greg Newman recently spent four months integrating a Software as a Service (SaaS) performance management application with an on-premises ERP human resources system. Then he spent another three months working out the bugs.

How-to: Hiring new staff
Toronto Star
But as Dave Hagel, Certified Human Resources Professional and owner of High Performance Human Resources has learned in his 30-plus years on the job, some simple dos and don'ts can significantly improve both the experience and the results.

4 ways to retain and inspire your employees
John O'Groat Journal
If you're a human resources professional, business owner or CEO, you're definitely aware of how hard it is to retain top talent. But are you doing everything you can to keep turnover low? Aside from compensating fairly, offering great benefits and ...

A Great Culture Does Not Ensure the Success of a Stupid Strategy
Business Finance Magazine
by Mark Graham Brown Your organization has a set of values and a culture whether it was engineered or not. Most organizational cultures tend to revolve around the personal values of the founders, even if the company has been around a long time.

Jan Wong dishes on depression in the workplace
Macleans.ca
It's the eve of the publication of her fifth book, Out of the Blue: A Memoir of Workplace Depression, Recovery, Redemption and, Yes, Happiness and much is on the line. She is self-publishing after Doubleday Canada cancelled her contract at the 11th ...

Mental health plan calls for cash and political action
CBC.ca
Years of underfunding of mental health services must be corrected and poorly coordinated government policies and programs need an overhaul, according to Canada's first mental health strategy that contains more than 100 priorities and recommendations.

More women finding careers in Occupational Health & Safety
Regina Leader-Post
Matheson decided to go back to school and obtain a certificate in Occupational Health and Safety from BC Institute of Technology. She started working in the OHS field in 2002 and four years later, she obtained her Canadian Registered Safety ...

Why Canada needs a flood of immigrants
Globe & Mail
Between now and 2021, a million jobs are expected to go unfilled across Canada. Ottawa is making reforms to the immigration system but isn't going far enough. We need to radically boost immigration numbers. With the right people, Canada can be an innovative world power. Without them, we'll drain away our potential.

A bottom-up immigration strategy
Toronto Star
Tim Rees Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is to be congratulated for the urgency with which he is moving to transform the chaotic and dysfunctional nature of Canada's current immigration system. However, abdicating the immigrant selection process to ...

Don Draper offers lesson in what not to do to get hired
USA TODAY
This is precisely why, when job hunting, it's risky to badmouth your present or past employers. I don't care what they did, whether they didn't honor their word to give you a promotion or training you need or if your boss was a first-class knucklehead.

The Jobless Young Find Their Voice
New York Times
But employers say they will hire 10.2 percent more college graduates from the class of 2012 than they did from the class of 2011, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Nuggets of news like this are welcome as the economy ...

Many veterans still looking for employers 'eager' to hire
USA TODAY
Schmiegel says human resources managers and recruiters also need to be better educated to understand that most vets with post-traumatic stress can function fine in the workplace. A 2010 poll by the Society for Human Resource Management found 46% of ...

Job Hunt: Tips for using social networks to your advantage
Lexington Herald Leader
Jobvite, a recruiting software company, conducted a 2011 survey of human resources professionals that found 55 percent of them recruit using Facebook and 47 percent use Twitter. And in this competitive job market, job seekers need to heed this growing ...

Job Front: More employers offer flex time, study shows
Sacramento Bee
By Darrell Smith Employers are showing more flexibility with their workers, a new report reveals, with more firms offering time during the day to attend to family and personal matters and flex time. The news comes out of the 2012 National Study of ...

Virtual doctors visits catch on with insurers, employers
USA TODAY
Insurers such as United Healthcare, Aetna and Cigna, and large employers such as General Electric and Delta Air Lines are getting on board, pushing telemedicine as a way to make doctor "visits" cheaper and more easily available.

Q&A: Jan Wong's long march from depression to reinvention
CBC.ca
Out of the Blue: A Memoir of Workplace Depression, Recovery, Redemption and Yes, Happiness is self-published. The book chronicles the trajectory of Wong's depression, which started after a controversial article she wrote in 2006 about the Dawson ...

Low Literacy in the Workplace Affects Canadian Businesses
LiteracyNews.com
New information reveals that a large percent (80%) of Canadian businesses have difficulty in finding qualified, skilled employees. The primary reason is because 50% of job candidates have low literacy levels and subordinate communication skills, ...

Canada's youth are hardly making gains in employment
CanadianBusiness.com (blog)
However, the most recent labour force survey from Statistics Canada showed signs of hope: youth unemployment was 13.9% in March, a 0.8% decrease from the previous month and 0.5% lower than the same period last year. But other stats are more sobering.

More employers to hire, not fire
Chicago Tribune
Far more employers plan to hire employees in May than lay them off, according to a recent report from the Society for Human Resource Management. According to the Leading Indicators of National Employment Report from SHRM, which surveyed about 500 ...

How Do Your HR Metrics Compare to Your Competitors'?
CFO.com Magazine
The human-resources outsourcing provider's plan could provide a big boost to companies' intelligence about their HR strengths and weaknesses. ADP has HR data on 590000 client organizations, the vast majority of which it expects will allow their ...

Labour law debate healthy
StarPhoenix
But to suggest this early that the very idea of examining Saskatchewan's often cumbersome and counterproductive labour laws is to participate in a conspiracy does neither the NDP nor the unions any good. In fact, it should have been made patently clear ...

April hiring seen picking up
Reuters Canada
By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers likely increased hiring in April, although not enough to lower the country's 8.2 percent jobless rate, keeping pressure on President Barack Obama ahead of his November re-election bid.

Maryland becomes first state to prohibit employers from asking for Facebook logins
Washington Post (blog)
Martin O'Malley has signed legislation banning employers in the state from requiring workers and prospective employees to disclose their user names and passwords to Facebook, Twitter and other personal social media accounts. Maryland's Facebook law was ...

Emotional Well-Being: The Focus During Mental Health Week
NorthumberlandView.ca
HAMILTON, ON (May 3, 2012) – In Canada, mental health disorders in the workplace, cost Canadian companies nearly 14% of their net annual profits, and up to $16 billion annually*. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) stresses ...

Attention Turned to the Workplace During Health and Safety Week
ForConstructionPros.com
Organizations across North America will be planning their activities and programs for Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), May 2 to 8. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) will be participating in the National launch of NAOSH Week ...

Canadian workers not as connected as those in China, India: Survey
Calgary Herald
Canadian workers are less likely to have access to the Internet at work or have a smartphone — either their own or one provided by their employer — than workers in so-called "developing countries" such as China and India, according to survey results ...

Changes to immigration policy could transform society
Globe and Mail
These are people who are brought here at the pleasure of employers, and stay at the pleasure of employers. In 2011, 156000 economic immigrants entered Canada as permanent residents, while 191000 people entered with a temporary work permit, ...

Employers, co-workers urged to spot signs of domestic abuse
Waterloo Record
Barbara MacQuarrie, community director at the centre at the University of Western Ontario, emphasized the importance of prevention by encouraging employers and co-workers to ask questions as soon as problems are suspected. “It's already too late if you ...

Government says it will do more to protect foreign workers
CBC.ca
On Wednesday, Immigration and Employment Minister Rob Norris said he's looking at possible changes to the existing legislation to ensure that foreign nationals living in Saskatchewan during their recruitment, immigration and settlement process are ...

Corporate Culture for Introverts
Business Insider
But it also meant I had a choice to make—how to fit into this company's culture. As Rhea said in her post about embracing your extrovert in business, one of the things she got out of the development process is being able to respect style differences, ...

Sense of entitlement sapping Canada's productivity
Financial Post
The problem is a widespread sense of entitlement in the workplace, and its effects are being felt among Canadian companies — small to medium-sized businesses and major corporations alike. A sense of entitlement is nothing new.

New innovations for the aging workforce
Benefits Canada
Michael Meagher, the company's president, explained how 500000 Canadians miss work each day because of brain health issues, which are at the root of 70% of workplace disability costs. Brain health differs from mental health, in that it's focused on ...

Fostering a culture of inclusion
National Post
People from around the world come to Canada in search of a better life. That is the case for my family, which emigrated from India when I was five. I know first hand the feelings of fear, uncertainty and hope people have when they arrive.

Inadequate literacy skills plague Canadian workplaces
Vancouver Sun
Nearly 80 per cent of Canadian business leaders say they have a hard time finding qualified employees, with nearly half attributing the problem to low literacy and essential communication skills levels among workers. Those are some of the key findings ...

Outcry over Proposed Human Capital Metrics Disclosure
CFO.com Magazine
The Society for Human Resource Management's proposed standard for what companies should disclose about their human capital is not a big hit with CFOs and is getting mixed reviews from equity analysts. The SHRM and others are concerned that the absence ...

Can HR Make Friends at Work?
By Jessica Miller-Merrell
share HR Are People Too. Cross My Heart. This week I'm at the SHRM Talent and HRO Today Forum conferences in Washington, DC and next week I'm in New York City for the HRPS Global Conference. All three are.

A business model would suit EI better
Vancouver Sun
It's a long-standing quirk of the Canadian labour market that the best place to be unemployed is often one that offers the worst prospects for finding a job. This is because the federal Employment Insurance program, like Unemployment Insurance before ...

Bill Banning Employer Requests for Facebook Passwords Reaches the House
Mashable
At the end of March, we learned members of the United States Congress were looking into drafting a bill that would bar employers from asking potential hires for private login information for their Facebook accounts. States had been instituting laws on ...

What you need to know to stickhandle tricky interview questions
Globe and Mail
Over all, these five questions give the impression that there is or may be a problem with absenteeism and the amount of sick time in the organization. The interviewers will want to be aware that the interviewee will be wondering why the interviewers ...

Quebec increases minimum wage
CBC.ca
Martine Herbert, the vice-president of a group that represents independent businesses in Quebec, says hikes in the minimum wage can create an imbalance in the workplace. “It puts pressure on the small business owners to increase the other wages of ...

Succession planning – more important than ever
Canadian HR Reporter (blog)
By Brian Kreissl While succession planning is not the trendiest topic in human resources right now, perhaps it should be. This is particularly true given current demographic challenges relating to the aging workforce and predicted talent shortages ...

Profile of a workplace bully
Canadian Occupational Safety
Workplace safety legislation requires every company to have policies and programs to protect workers against workplace aggression. In some cases, however, despite having such policies, management still fails to act for lack of sufficient knowledge — until it’s too late...

The Recession's Bright Side? Work-Life Balance
LiveScience.com
"Employers continue to find ways to offer flexibility to their employees, despite economic challenges they may face," said Henry (Hank) Jackson, president and CEO of Society for Human Resource Management. "As we look ahead, it is clear that in order to ...

HR guide gives corporations tips on hiring vets
Minneapolis Star Tribune (blog)
In the name of eradicating the oxymoronic duo known as "the job skills gap" and "unemployed vet syndrome," the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) issued its "Military-Veteran Hiring Toolkit for Employers" on Monday. The free toolkit provides ...

Social media and the employment relationship
Canadian HR Reporter (blog)
By Stuart Rudner Last week, I was honoured to be on a panel at the Law Society of Upper Canada's special lectures, which this year focused on employment law and the new workplace in the social media age. I spoke on a panel with fellow blogger Lisa Stam ...

The antisocial network: why Facebook abuse is a matter for employers
The Guardian (blog)
Comments that would be construed as bullying in the office are not out of bounds to employers if you make them in public, as one worker found to his cost at a tribunal in Belfast. It upheld a decision by a firm who dismissed an employee for gross ...

New guide to enhance workplace mental health
Canadian HR Reporter
Canadian employers have a new tool to protect the mental health of employees with the launch of Psychological Health and Safety: An Action Guide for Employers. The free guide provides a series of steps and 24 actions accessible to all employers ...

Most employees report high workplace stress
Benefits Canada
Nearly two-thirds of employees rate the stress level in their workplace as high, according to a survey of more than 450 North American employees by Right Management. Asked how to describe the stress level in their work environment, 64% said it was high ...

What are the jobs of the future? To be honest, we don't really know
Vancouver Sun
Indeed, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce cites a shortage of highly skilled labour as the top barrier for businesses and the issue has become a major policy concern for the federal government and the Bank of Canada. Given our poor record of prediction, ...

Ever have days when you don’t feel like yourself?
Have you ever supported a co-worker going through a mental health problem or illness? Or, had a day when you didn't feel like yourself? You're not alone. Mental health affects us all. And the incidence and impact of mental health challenges in Canada is profound - particularly in the workplace. To take the pledge on Monday, April 30 and find out how your workplace can get involved, please visit: notmyselftoday.ca.

New Study of Employers Released by FWI and SHRM Shows Significant Changes for ...
DigitalJournal.com (press release)
ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The latest edition of the National Study of Employers, designed and conducted by the Families and Work Institute (FWI) and released jointly today by FWI and the Society for Human Resource ...

Laws to protect Facebook passwords from prying employers
Telegraph.co.uk
Employers who demand Facebook passwords would be fined thousands of dollars under laws proposed in the United States. The SNOPA Bill (Social Networking Online Protection Act) would mean any current or prospective employer would face a $10000 civil ...

Worker safety is everyone's responsibility
Canada.com
All workers in BC and across the country who struggle to put in a good day's work should know that their employers are doing everything possible to make their workplaces safer. Unfortunately, as we have been reminded by the death of two men following a ...

New Brunswick decision offers hope for employers on substance ...
Canadian Occupational Safety
The risks posed by alcohol use in the workplace from a health and safety perspective are obvious, but it has far-reaching consequences beyond health a...

Public sector workers brace for 3rd wave of notices
CBC.ca
CBC News has learned the unions representing employees at five other departments — Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Library and Archives Canada, Statistics Canada and Transport Canada ...

Canada's Labour Minister Marks National Day of Mourning
MarketWatch (press release)
"I would like to extend my sympathies to all Canadians who have lost loved ones to workplace fatalities. No words or action can take away their sorrow," said Minister Raitt. "The National Day of Mourning reminds us that, despite all efforts made to ...