June 1, 2009
- Lancaster's 2009 Canadian Labour Board Law Conference
- Workplace Democracy
- Random Drug Testing not Allowed without Reasonable Cause
- Right to Picket vs Trespassing Laws
- Employment Equity
- Workplace Bulletin
- Social Networking and Employer Reputation
- Hire Authority – Canadian HR Job Board
- Corporate Integrity
- Hardest Jobs to Fill
- Public Sector Employment
- Baby Boomers Calling it Quits
- ILO Labour Market projections for 2009
- Book of the Week
Lancaster's 2009 Canadian Labour Board Law Conference
Topics include: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; Improving the Adjudication of Labour Board Disputes; Regulating the Conduct of Employers and Unions; Challenging Scenarios at Labour Board Hearings; Effects of the Economic Downturn; and Major Case Law and Legislative Update.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 20 and Wednesday, October 21, 2009
WHERE: Sutton Place Hotel Toronto
Register and pay before June 26, 2009 and save $200 off the regular conference price and $100 off the price of the post-conference workshop.
Lancaster House website: Program Details
Lancaster House Registration Form
Workplace Democracy
Several Canadian companies have made WorldBlu’ list of Most Democratic Workplaces 2009. This list of 40 companies is comprised of for-profit, not-for-profit organizations, and government sectors from around the world that demonstrate democratic model of business based freedom and possibility.
WorldBlu is a non-profit social enterprise founded in 1997 by Traci Fenton, which is committed to creating more democratic workplaces.
List of Most Democratic Workplaces 2009, June 1, 2009
An article featured in the Globe and Mail has profiled employers who practice workplace democracy in their organization, also discussing what makes a workplace democratic. This article also features a brief podcast with writer Tavia Grant discussing this subject further.
Globe and Mail, June 1, 2009: Democracy Action in the Workplace, by Tavia Grant.
Random Drug Testing not allowed without Reasonable Cause
The Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled against Imperial Oil’s random drug testing policy -- companies cannot randomly require drug tests from unionized workers in safety-sensitive positions. According to Gabriel Somjen of Vancouver’s Borden Ladner Gervais, the Court of Appeal has made clear that “especially where there is a collective agreement with any provision that refers to [employees’] privacy or human rights — or even if the agreement is silent — that employers still need to be cautious about drug testing when it is not suspicion-based” or when the testing isn’t part of an investigation into an industrial accident.”
Lawyers Weekly, June 5, 2009: Reasonable cause needed for drug tests on unionized workers
Imperial Oil Limited v. Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 900, [2009] O.J. No. 2037, May 22, 2009 (30 pages, PDF)
Right to Picket vs Trespassing Laws
A posting titled, “Power to the classroom: CUPE 3903 and an owners right to exclude” on The Court blog from Osgoode Hall, analyses the conflict between strikers right to picket and the employers’ property rights in light of the recent strike a York University.
Employment Equity
Cavalluzzo Hayes Shilton McIntyre & Cornish recently released a report titled Pro-Active Employment Equity Obligations in Ontario’s Provincially Regulated Workplaces. Authors Mary Cornish and Fay Faraday discuss the establishment and maintenance of workplace employment equity in Ontario, specifically with regard to unions.
Report, April 2009 (31 pages, PDF)
Workplace Bulletin
The newest issue of the Workplace Bulletin, issued by the Labour Program, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, is now available. Published twice a month, this bulletin provides wage and other information relating to collective bargaining in Canada and offers updates on industrial relations issues.
Workplace Bulletin, May 29, 2009 (13 pages, PDF)
Social Networking and Employer Reputation
According to the third annual Deloitte LLP Ethics & Workplace survey, 60 percent of business executives believe they have a right to know how employees portray themselves and their organizations in online social networks. However, employees disagree, as more than half say their social networking pages are not an employer’s concern. This fact is especially true among younger workers, with 63 percent of 18–34 year old respondents stating employers have no business monitoring their online activity.
Hire Authority – Canadian HR Job Board
Hire Authority, a Canadian job board dedicated exclusively to Human Resources, has partnered with Canadian HR Reporter to provide improved access to jobs and candidates.
Corporate Integrity
The Conference Board of Canada has recently published a report titled , The Corporation With Integrity: A Well-Found Vessel in an Angry Sea, which discusses what boards of directors should be doing to help their organizations get through the current economic crisis. A list of questions and actions that should be taken into consideration when attempting to steer through these difficult times is included as well.
This document is available to members of the Conference Board of Canada e-Library
Hardest Jobs to Fill
Manpower Inc. has published its fourth annual 10 Hardest Jobs to Fill. Engineers, nurses and skilled/manual trades are among the most challenging positions to fill according to the survey. The survey of more than 2,000 employers in the United States found that the same positions have been on past lists. The survey highlights the problem many employers are having finding individuals with the right combination of job-specific skills, experience, training and soft skills. Manpower Inc. has also released a paper on the current talent shortage.
Press release of survey results, May 28, 2009 (2 pages, PDF)
The Global Talent Crunch: Why Employer Branding Matters Now, May 28, 2009 (8 pages, PDF). The paper highlights what businesses should be doing to become employers of choice and attract the right people for their organization’s success.
Public Sector Employment
According to a new release by Statistics Canada public sector employment reached 3.6 million in the first quarter of 2009, up by 74,000 or 2.1% over the same quarter in 2008. This rate of growth was slower than the annual increase of 3.2% for 2008 as a whole. Public sector workers accounted for 19.7% of total employment in 2008, a proportion that has remained stable since 2001. Public sector employment has been increasing at a similar pace as total employment.
Public Sector Employment, First quarter 2009 (preliminary) and 2001 to 2008 (revised), May 29, 2009
Public Sector Employment: 2001 - 2008 Table 1
Public Sector Employment: by level of government and type of institution Table 2
Baby Boomers Calling it Quits
Statistics Canada has released the study, Federal Public Service Retirements: Trends in the New Millennium which examines retirements among permanent federal employees. The paper found that baby boomers are retiring at an increasing rate, public service workers are older but retire younger, women retirees are on the rise, and that public servants are eligible to retire at unprecedented levels but eligibility does not result in automatic retirement.
Analytical Paper, May 9, 2009 (15 pages, PDF)
Analytical Paper, May 9, 2009 (html)
ILO Labour Market projections for 2009
The International Labour Office has issued new labour market projections for 2009, showing a further increase in unemployment, the working poor and those in vulnerable employment. In presenting the new data, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, said the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference, to be held in Geneva on 3-19 June, was to consider an emergency “global jobs pact” designed to promote a coordinated policy response to the global jobs crisis.
Global Employment Trends, May 2009 Update (52 pages, PDF)
Global Employment Trends, May 2009 Update (52 pages, PDF)
Book of the Week
A Practical Guide to Job Analysis, by Erich P. Prien ... [et al.] San Francisco : Pfeiffer, 2009. xiii, 265 p. ISBN 978-0-470-43444-5 (hard cover)
Presenting the first book that provides HR professionals with a context for understanding the importance of doing a proper job analysis together with a step-by-step guide to conducting such an analysis. This unique guide contains a series of eight ready-to-use templates that provide the basis for conducting job analyses for eight different levels of job families, from the entry-level to the senior manager/executive.
About the Authors: Erich P. Prien, Ph.D., is an industrial/organizational psychologist specializing in the development, standardization, and application of psychological tests; Leonard D. Goodstein, Ph.D., is a consulting psychologist specializing personality assessment; Jeanette Goodstein, Ph.D., is an organizational consultant and writer specializing in working with governmental and non-profit organizations; Louis G. Gamble, Jr., Ed. D., is a consultant and entrepreneur specializing in the application of information technology to organizational change.
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