In December of last year, Bill 168 - an Act to amend the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace was passed.  Effective June 15, 2010, this bill came into effect.  This bill imposed new and onerous obligations on employers with five or more regularly scheduled employees. 

We are now more than a month in, and organizations and HR professionals in particular, are living with the impact of the extensive amendments to the OHSA. 

The following bullet points represent the most substantive employer obligations associated with Bill 168:

Risk Assessments:

• Employers must conduct a risk assessment in order to identify potential sources of harassment and violence within the workplace.
• The results of the risk assessment is to be shared with either the joint health and safety committee or the health and safety representative or the employee group whichever is relevant within your organization.
• Employers are required to share information with employees, necessary to protect them from physical injury when there is a risk of exposure to individuals within the workplace with a history of violence.

Workplace Violence Policies & Development of Workplace Violence Prevention Program:

• Employers are required to have policies in place which address violence and harassment in the workplace and to have a program in place to implement the policies;
• The Workplace Violence Prevention Program must include:
     
• a) In accordance with risks identified in the risk assessment process, measures and detailed procedures to control the risks.
• b) Detailed procedures to call for assistance in the event of a real or potential workplace violence incident.
• c) Detailed procedures for reporting real or potential incidents
• d) Detailed procedures for investigating incidents of workplace violence.

Domestic Violence:

• Unique to the Province of Ontario, is the requirement that employers take every reasonable precaution to protect and ensure the safety of an employee if they become aware that domestic violence may expose the employee to injury within the workplace.

Additional OHSA Employer Obligations

• Obligation of supervisor/manager to advise workers of potential hazards relative to workplace violence
• The requirement to provide training and information to workers
• In the OHSA, the right to refuse work has been expanded to include refusal based on the workers belief that workplace violence is likely to endanger him/her.

As we begin to live with Bill 168, we will undoubtedly appreciate the broader implications for organizations and particularly HR professionals.  At a high level, Bill 168 is about respectful workplaces which promote healthy relationships, good communication, effective problem solving and dispute resolution mechanisms and above all a safe workplace for all.  

This article was written by Brenda Kinnear, President of Kinnear & Associates Consulting Inc. 

It’s a brilliant summer day and I’ve just booked two vacation trips.  That got me thinking about work and whether we, as managers, do enough to promote vacations among employees.

Certainly, the positive benefits of vacations are well documented. With time off from our daily grind, we experience increased creativity and stave off burnout. Our overall wellbeing is enhanced and we strengthen the bonds with those who are important to us. The psychological benefits increase the quality of our lives and the stress is relieved in lasting ways.  There is no question; vacations are good for us.

Why, then, do we not take them often enough and, when we do, in this age of laptops, Blackberries and WIFI, why do we take our work with us?

If we are serious about promoting a balance of work and life, then supporting employees to take restorative time off is part of this broader goal. As managers, we worry about how the work will be covered when people go off on vacation. Inadvertently, the message we send increases the burden on those who are trying to get away. In turn, conscientious employees react to try and mitigate their absence by taking work with them or checking in from the road.

While it is difficult to cover employee absences, perhaps it is time to think more long term.  Employees who have the benefit of a real break from their working lives come back refreshed, more focused and capable of greater productivity.

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We all need a refresher in how to take a vacation. Be a good role model. Take uninterrupted vacations and support others to do the same. Give a straightforward message in the workplace that sets out the expectations for balancing a vacation with professional responsibilities. Discuss the importance of vacations in meetings and encourage support systems. Support employees to plan ahead and set out the sorts of actions that can assist (out-of-office auto responses to email; alternate contact, no major meetings scheduled for day of return).

Give a clear message that you do not expect employees to be available for any work related activities.  Encourage them to lose any guilt they feel over leaving the work behind. Have as much respect for their personal lives as you do for their professional lives.

Now, walk the talk and make some firm plans of your own. I have to run. The day is still brilliant and my garden calls me.

This article was written by Corinne McDonald an associate of Kinnear & Associates Consulting.

The following article written by Howard Levitt, appeared in the June 30, 2010 Financial Post "Employees don't have rights they think they have."

Myth, fabrication and tomfoolery: the stuff of life and law. It seems the more dismissal law becomes part of everyday experience, the more misapprehensions exist between employees and employers. Here are a few of the more common ones:

A fired employee is entitled to one month's severance for each year of service. Wrong. An employee is "entitled" to no more than employment standards minimum severance, just a few weeks pay for most workers. A fired employee cannot sue for more unless, despite her best efforts, she remains unemployed beyond that time.

However many years worked, however assiduous that work and however "unjust" the dismissal, employers can get off virtually scot-free if a fired employee is re-employed comparably or the court finds they could have been. But even if an employee remains interminable unemployed, there is no judicial formula.

An employee cannot be discriminated against.  Wrong again. You can hire or fire employees based on their looks, their approach to life, their personality, their height or even whether they wear lipstick.

What you cannot do is discriminate against them base on one of a few factors delineated in the human rights code, which are race, gender, sexual orientation, colour or national origin. Everything else is open season. Its hardly a secret, and it's a statistical fact, that good looking employees, as well as those with British accents, earn more than the rest of us.

Those who work hard are entitled to promotions or salary increases relative to weaker workers.   An employer has the right to be wrong or capricious. They can withhold salary increases from the meritorious and reward them to their relatives or the laggards.

A strong performer of unimpeachable character and conduct cannot be fired. There need be no cause at all to fire an employee. There is also no appeal mechanism and a court lacks the power to reinstate employees. If an employer improperly evaluates an employee or believes a false allegation, that employee has no recourse when dismissed, other than appropriate severance.

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A worker, who is told to work out severance instead of receiving the money, can refuse.   If a worker does refuse, he is treated as having resigned. One of the most underutilized weapons in an employer's arsenal is working notice. That is, if an employee is told he is to be terminated six months from that date, it is legally equivalent to dismissing him on the spot and paying six months' severance.
Employers tend to be uncomfortable with this option, but not half as much as the fired employee is, after all he or she is working away the severance. Often it leads to a reduced offer of severance. But even if that is not the case, the employer is getting value for its severance dollar.

Working out a severance does not work for everyone, especially employees with access to confidential information or considerable customer contact.

A properly drafted non-competition covenant can keep a dismissed employee out of his industry for a year.  Only very rarely is this the case. Few non-competition covenants of any length are enforceable because of a series of recent cases. 

Such contracts only bind fiduciary employees with significant ability to damage the employer who would be approached by customers and employees even if they did not approach them. And even those employees likely could not be restricted from their industry for more than six months. With respect to the other 98% of employees, non-competition covenants are unenforceable.

Contracts limited to restricting former employees from soliciting customers or other employees, if limited to 12 months or less and restricted to the narrow geographical area in which they worked, are much more likely to be enforceable for those.

Howard Levitt, counsel to Lang Michener LLP, practices employment law in eight provinces and is the author of the law of Dismissal for Human Resource Professionals. He can be reached at hlevitt@lang-michener.ca

If you work in an organization, you’ve heard this complaint repeatedly. Leaders and managers say they want change and continuous improvement but their actions do not match their words. The leaders’ exhortations to employees ring false when their subsequent actions contradict their words. A CEO once asked me, “Why do they do what I do and not what I tell them to do?” Another asked, “Do I really have to change, too?” These are scary questions coming from leaders.

The power of an organization’s leaders in creating the organization’s values, environment, culture and actions is immeasurable. Want to know how to “walk the talk” to enable organization change and improvement? Want to take the power away from the oft-repeated employee complaint that managers don’t walk their talk? Start here to learn how to walk your talk. Or, use these ideas to help your organization’s leaders and managers walk theirs. It’s the shortest journey to empower change and the work environment they desire

Tips for Walking Your Talk:
The most important tip comes first. If you do this first action well, the rest will follow more naturally. If the ideas you are promoting are congruent with your core beliefs and values, these actions will come easily, too. So, start with a deep understanding of “why” you want to see the change or improvement. Make certain it is congruent with what you deeply believe. Then, understand and follow these guidelines.

• Model the behavior you want to see from others. There is nothing more powerful for employees than observing the “big bosses” do the actions or behaviors they are requesting from others. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Become the change you wish to see in the world." And, it will happen.
• If you make a rule or design a process, follow it, until you decide to change it. Why would employees follow the rules if the rule makers don’t?
• Act as if you are part of the team, not always the head of it. Dig in and do actual work, too. People will appreciate that you are personally knowledgeable about the effort needed to get the work done. They will trust your leadership because you have undergone their experience.

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• Help people achieve the goals that are important to them, as well as the goals that are important to you. Make sure there is something for each of you that will result from the effort and work.
• Do what you say you're going to do. Don’t make rash promises that you can’t keep. People want to trust you and your leadership.
• Build commitment to your organization’s big goal. (You do have a big, overarching goal, don’t you? Other than to make money, why does your organization exist?)
• Use every possible communication tool to build commitment and support for the big goal, your organization’s values and the culture you want to create. This includes what you discuss at meetings, in your corporate blog, on your Intranet, and so forth.
• Hold strategic conversations with people so people are clear about expectations and direction. Gerard Kleisterlee, Philips' president, is holding strategic conversations with as many groups as he can. "In order to build internal confidence, stimulate cross-boundary cooperation, and spark new-product speed to market, Kleisterlee is sponsoring what he calls ‘strategic conversations’: dialogues that center around a focused set of themes that Kleisterlee believes will define Philips' future."
• Ask senior managers to police themselves. They must provide feedback to each other when they fail to walk their talk. It is not up to the second level managers and other employees to point out inconsistencies. (Confronting a manager takes courage, facts and a broad understanding of the organization.) Senior managers must be accountable to each other for their own behavior.

In 1513, Machiavelli wrote, “There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old system and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new one.”

Given these thoughts from Machiavelli - true for centuries – provide leadership and sponsorship through walking your talk. Incorporate these tips and behaviors to ensure the success of your organization. Walk your talk.

This article was written by Susan M. Heathfield and appeared in About.com: Human Resources.

Inspire – vb. 1. to exert a stimulating or beneficial effect upon. 2. to put thought, feeling or life into; to breathe life into

Workplace – n. the environment in which one works at one’s job (for too many people a source of stress, anxiety and despair: see Dilbert).
Imagine the kind of workplace where everybody wants to work and where no one wants to leave. Imagine a place where people want to do their best, where creativity thrives and where people come first. Imagine a workplace where your customers become lifelong, passionate advocates for your organization. And imagine if work didn’t feel like work. Just imagine . . .

Now think about the cost of working in a less than inspiring workplace. Imagine the costs associated with employee stress, turnover, and absenteeism. Imagine the cost of losing customers. Imagine the cost of employees quitting and staying put in your organization.
Imagine the cost to your family, your health and your soul.

An Inspiring Vision: Imagine going on a family road trip where everyone drives a different car without ever discussing where the final destination is! Inspiring workplaces have an inspiring vision that serve to unite the entire organization towards a common and compelling dream of the future. People in an inspiring workplace understand that it’s not the words that matter, but the idea behind the words that move people forward with passion. And in an inspiring workplace, the link between people’s jobs and the vision are constantly reinforced, so that everybody feels valued and connected by understanding how their particular role contributes to the greater cause.

Inspiring Values: Inspiring workplaces value their values. They talk openly about their values,  and they use them to help them guide their choices. You know what your organization’s values are by the way people behave—actions are the only real indicators of values. The choices leaders make and the way employees and customers are treated reflect the true values of any organization. And if there is one overriding value that is consistent in any inspiring workplace it is this: people come first. Inspiring workplaces understand that it is not the cars in the factory or the oil in the ground that is their most valuable commodity—it’s their people.

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Inspiring Creativity: In an inspiring workplace employees at all levels are encouraged to share their ideas without fear of retribution. Idea-squashing language (“we tried that in 1912 and it didn’t work”) is minimized and failures are regarded as setbacks in the pursuit of learning. In an inspiring workplace, the message employees receive is loud and clear: “Yes, we do pay you to think around here.”

Inspiring Communication: Open and honest communication is a cornerstone of inspiring workplaces. Real communication happens on an on-going basis, and is always treated as a dialogue. Inspiring stories are used to convey a sense of the organization’s tradition and values, to highlight its heroes and successes, and to connect employees to the vision.

Inspiring Fun: Who said work isn’t supposed to be fun?  In an inspiring workplace, work and fun go hand in hand. Safe, positive workplace humour is used to motivate employees, lower stress levels, boost productivity and spark creativity. In fact, the level of workplace fun and laughter is seen as a sign of health—an indicator that employees are working well together and performing to the best of their abilities.

Copyright Michael Kerr, 2006.
Michael Kerr is an international speaker, trainer and author of “You Can’t Be Serious! Putting Humor to Work” and “Inspiring Workplaces.”  You can reach Michael at 1-(866)-609-2640  or mike@mikekerr.com . For more humor at work articles, DVDs and other humor at work resources, surf on over to www.mikekerr.com. Michael helps workplaces reduce stress, boost morale, spark creativity and increase productivity by putting humor to work.