Proactive Employment Standards Inspections

Proactive may be another way of saying "without a complaint".  Ministry of Labour Officers often used to be reactive NOT proactive. For instance, if an employee made a complaint about an employer the MOL would come and investigate. The Chief Prevention Officer wants to change that. By hiring and training more officers; putting out more public warnings; using social media to repeat the warnings and make sure all those "unknown" employers comply.

If you are in business it is time to make it your business to find out what your employer obligations demand of you with regards to the understanding of your employees' rights and safety.

Ontario will help ensure fairness in the workplace by enhancing the enforcement of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) through proactive inspections. Each year, employment standards officers visit employers to ensure compliance with core ESA standards such as posting the ES poster, wage statements, unauthorized deductions, record keeping, hours of work, eating periods, overtime pay, minimum wage, public holidays, vacation with pay and in the case of temporary help agencies, providing required information to assignment employees and charging employees fees.

Inspections are also aimed at educating employers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under the ESA, and helping them to find more information. If violations are found during an inspection, officers may issue a range of compliance tools, including compliance orders, orders to pay wages/fees, or Part I Notices of Offence ("tickets"). In some cases, prosecution may be considered, and employers may also be re-inspected at a later date.

Chief Prevention Officer, George Gritziotis, wants complete compliance from all Ontario employers and businesses according to his talk to the CME-EAC last fall.

We are ALL responsible — employers, supervisors and workers — for preventing workplace illness and injury. Get involved now! Your search for workplace health and safety information starts right here…or here.

 

Kaizen Your Employees

In Japanese Kaizen means continuous improvement; something we all should strive for. As a business owner or manager you look around your workplace and think of ways things could be better. How often does the thought cross your mind that the same should happen with your employees? It’s very likely that the people you’ve hired hold more potential to be better employees and could be tapping into more of their potential. Previously we’ve written about how to motivate employees and some of the benefits of cross training but these practices won’t just work to motivate your employees. Allowing your employees greater flexibility in terms of what tasks they can perform at work will ultimately lead to a more versatile workforce; illness, injuries and vacations will have less of an impact on productivity and stress levels among employees if people can move into other jobs relatively seamlessly. Next to think about is training. There are all kinds of training programs available, if employees can work better through training advocate for it. Colleges and Universities as well as business help centers will all be able to connect you with the right people to provide training for your employees, customer service is a popular choice. Maybe you’ve seen a motivational speaker or know of one coming to your city soon, invite them to your workplace to speak or provide tickets to your employees to attend an event, it may jump start a new level of commitment or motivation in your workforce.  Your employees are one of your greatest assets and are the most important factor in your businesses success. In the words of one car manufacturer marketing gurus, “Make Things Better”.

What Am I Doing Here? Orientation and Training

 So you’ve hired your new employee and they show up on the first day.  That’s a good start, but will it be their most productive day at work?  Maybe it won’t be. Will it be the day that you decide if this person is going to fit at your business?  This is also not likely. 

However, that first day and the days that follow will be the most crucial time period for the new employee in terms of learning what’s expected, what they are supposed to do, how your business operates and where they fit into the larger picture. 

In making this transition a smooth and efficient process you should provide a company overview, your policies and job descriptions. This can all be told to a new employee but it’s a lot to take in so an orientation package that explains all the important aspects of your business, their job and what is expected of an employee will speed the process up. Included with this orientation package should be what is expected of them and what happens when they choose to deviate from these expectations.  This is so they can avoid any unnecessary behaviours or actions. This type of orientation is an important way to avoid misunderstandings that could cause future problems and creates a smoother transition for all parties involved. 

Training is the next important step and how this is done will vary from one workplace to another but simply expecting a new employee will do things right and in the way that your business normally does them is unrealistic. 

New employees often come into a workplace with either little or no experience in exactly the job that you have them doing.  Perhaps,  the experience they do have gave them different habits or ways of thinking than would normally be expected at your business. 

Training has to be gradual and conducted in more than one way to best deliver your message.  Be sure to take into account that some people will learn better through different methods or at a different pace. Be thorough, expect bumps in the road and make sure you ask for feedback so you know how your employee is adjusting and where they need more help.

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How does privacy in the workplace affect the employer and the employee?

Most of us are aware of PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection of Electronic Data Act). The Act put into place in 2000 to assist consumers to trust electronic transfer of their personal information; such as medical and health issues, credit card information, social insurance numbers and Ontario health information and medical care numbers.  Fraud in the use of our medical system was rampant as information numbers were stolen and there was no identification necessary at that time.

Things have changed drastically since then.  Has fraud stopped?  Well, no...  Usually as soon as a new rule comes into place some genius has already found a way to use it or abuse it.

However, when it comes to the employer, you have a duty to protect your employee's information and keep it confidential.  What about those 3rd party phone calls that ask you if so and so works for you and is this how much they make?  There is an easy way to take care of that situation.  Make a policy that asks each employee to fill out a request form for a certain company to ask about their employment information and have it active for a certain time period.  This way you do not have to comprise any information without your employee's consent and the employee can have their information verified quickly and painlessly.

Most financial institutions are happy to have a pay stub from the employer and if they know you - your word on how long you have been employed by that company.

It is very important that all employee information is kept confidential and not given to anyone without the employee's consent.

Something that even small businesses may want to consider - what are you doing with your computer/blackberry smart-phone backups.  If you are wondering exactly what this refers to you could be looking at a lot of hassle down the road.  Most individuals don't even know that they are able to backup their phones.  And many businesses only have their client and employee information on one computer.  If anything happens to that computer - well, let's just say copy the information on your computer to a flash drive, SD card, digital backup hard drive, etc.  Protect yourself, your business, your employees and your clients.

Be smart - not burnt!

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Employee Handbooks for Your Golf Course

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           When were they last updated?  Is it time to dust them off and see if they are still relevant?

·         Are different handbooks made for seasonal/full-time, clubhouse/grounds crew, management?

·         Do they include salaries/set hourly rates, calculation of OT and vacation pay rates? What about the pay periods?  Do new employees have easy access to the information they need most - When is payday?

·         Are OT calculations different for different departments?  Have you checked with the Employment Standards Act before making your handbook so that you are paying your staff correctly?

·         Are holiday work policies included; are these different for different departments?

·         Is there a set procedure for reporting sickness/absences?  Who does the employee call?  Is the procedure different for the grounds maintenance crew than it is for the banquet room serving staff?

·         Are grievance or discipline procedures described?  Have employees been informed of their rights and their responsibilities?  

      The golf course is a beautiful place to spend leisure and casual business hours.  Let's make sure that the experience that the members have is the very best customer service possible.  

     

      This starts at the top.  The leader is just that - the leader.  He leads by example and by having the correct policies in place to manage his greatest asset - his human capital.  

      The sun is shining today, soon the birds will sing and it will be the time to check out your golf swing.  Which golf club will you choose?

HRNC creates Employment contracts and Employee handbooks

Employment contracts ensure that there is a “hard copy” of the terms of the employment relationship between employee and employer and that both parties will abide by these terms. HRNC will be able to draft an employee contract that is not only simplistic but comprehensive and will outline the necessary information needed to hire an employee. The contract will include the information for your company as well as link the handbook into the contractual agreement so as to ensure that the terms of employment also relate to policies outlined in the employee handbook. www.hrnc.ca

Including Contract workers in workplace policies and training

HRNC assists employers with what is the best fit for their company.  Workplace policies should address the contract worker as opposed to a full-time employee.  Contract workers have the potential to be both an asset and a liability for the company.  They are more likely to leave after training has developed them.  However, if there is a slow down for the company - they make it easier to deal with than terminations.  If they are willing not to receive benefits that reduces costs as well.  I understand that the information technology sector has difficulty keeping full-time employees because workers prefer contracts only.www.hrnc.ca

A most interesting solution to human resources sharing has been met by Hannah McKinnon, of www.peoplepooling.ca.  If companies sign up for membership to share some of their employees during slow times - they also have the opportunity to share another company's employees when they have an extra project. What a great way to keep our human resources maximized!

Who is a Human Resources Professional?

Anyone can call themselves a Human Resources Professional.  However, the HRPA of Ontario is the regulating body for HR professionals.  You can find out if someone is a member of this association by going to www.hrpa.ca.  Just check their name under the listings and you will know for sure.  The CCHRA issues the exams and the HRPA issues the designations which HR professionals value highly - their C.H.R.P.  You can also find out if an individual has this designation on HRPA's web-site.  This gives you confidence that the individual you are considering hiring as an employee or as a consultant really meets the Canadian and Provincial standards set out by their regulating body.  It doesn't mean that they are perfect or know everything as there are so many specialists within the HR community.  But - it should be a qualification that you definitely need to be aware of and look for.  It is a long, hard road to achieve this designation - therefore, respect the education and experience that those have earned.
Joy Vas, CHRP

Balancing Act: Internet and Social Media Use At Work

                      With social media outlets such as Facebook and Google+ being so popular and things like fantasy football leagues becoming a staple for many during the winter months personal computer use and even online shopping and banking are inherently going to creep into your employees minds, especially with the ease of receiving email updates on smartphones and wireless internet available nearly everywhere now. So this brings up the question of how employers should address this issue. Is it something that’s been constantly eating away at productivity, is it merely a minor distraction or is it even an issue at all. As the employer you have to ask yourself is it a problem worth addressing? what will the reaction be? And what is the best case scenario or improvement that could come of banning these distractions all together? In doing some online reading reports have suggested ideas on both sides of the spectrum; employees personal internet use is taking up hours of time each day and others saying that yes internet use is common in the workplace but productivity is almost no lower on account of that. My take is distractions are going to creep into the workplace in most cases, internet use is just one of these. Extended lunch breaks, chatter amongst employees and at times foolish games or pranks invented to add a bit of flavour to a sometimes mundane day are common at work. Taking away personal computer use, the one contact they may have outside of work in an 8-10 hour day could cause some unrest with your employees, especially the younger generations who are seemingly tapped into their network of friends, online social groups and hobbies at all times. My opinion is don’t impose a policy eliminating this practice altogether because internet use for personal interests is going to happen. I would encourage employees to do this on their breaks, lunches and at home as much as possible and suggest if it becomes a problem then some disciplinary or internet limiting policies may find their way into the workplace as a result of low productivity. What are your thought on the topic?

Recruiting; How To Find The Right People

Recruitment and hiring might be the most important factor in determining how well your business is going to run, especially in a small business where each member's contributions, benefits and drawbacks can be amplified. Compared to a large organization where it’s an entire team of maybe 100+ employees working towards the same goals whereas one poor employee in a group of ten can have a significant negative impact. So where do you start? It’s like shopping, walking into a store without knowing exactly what you want gives you plenty of options but what are the chances you’ll come out with all the things you need. That being said make a list of the “core competencies” that you’ll need in this position, what are the most important skills, knowledge, experiences and educational qualifications needed to perform the job. Next decide upon some of the secondary qualities or personality traits that would make for the ideal fit in a given position. Creating a ranking model or score sheet to track and maintain records accompanying these competencies can make your decision making process that much easier. Next is advertising. Make sure you’re doing this function in the right spots, simply posting an ad in a local paper may not be enough or attract the right people. For example, say you want an entry level IT person to join your team; advertising in a local or national paper could be a costly mistake. How many young people with an education in IT are scanning newspapers for their next job? My guess would be very few so targeting your add can greatly affect who responds. Seek professional associations, online advertising options, government job boards and university or colleges will often provide student resources for new graduates and exploring this option could reap an enthusiastic, knowledgeable individual just waiting for an opportunity to prove him or herself. Think critically about what you need, the ideal type of person for your company's “fit’ and make sure your looking in the right spots to increase your odds of finding a successful new employee.

John Ruyter, HRNC