Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT February 2019 www.hrreporter.com WILL GLOBAL UNREST SLOW THE ECONOMY? page 17 High harassment numbers One- fth of women experience it at work: StatCan report page 3 Claim of family status discrimination denied B.C. woman sought extended leave with young daughter page 5 Understanding ancient drives Interactions at work impact employee energy levels page 12 'We've got too many red fl ags out there that will cause some type of labour disruption' BY MARCEL VANDER WIER Knowing the difference Some employees think performance management is harassment — and that can be costly for employers THE NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT February 2019 page 17 High harassment numbers One- fth of women experience it at work: StatCan report page 3 Claim of family status discrimination denied B.C. woman sought extended leave with young daughter page 5 Understanding ancient drives Interactions at work impact employee energy levels page 12 Knowing the difference Some employees think performance management is harassment — and that can be costly for employers Credit: Henry Nicholls (Reuters) Pro-Brexit protesters march in London, U.K., on Jan. 12. Trade uncertainties across the globe have economists uneasy about the year ahead, and employers worried about labour supply. payroll-reporter.com LEGISLATION PAYROLL NEWS, AND TIPS T rade uncertainties around the globe may slow the Canadian economy in 2019, and human re- sources professionals will need to be prepared, according to experts. Scuffl es between major world powers are leading to instability unseen in the last half-century, said An- thony Ariganello, CEO of CPHR (Chartered Profes- sionals in Human Resources) Canada in Vancouver. Unknowns around U.S. President Donald Trump's decisions on trade, Britain's impending exit from the European Union (EU), Canada's pipeline struggles and China's economic slowdown are all part of the picture, he said. "All of this to me — when you think about the G7 countries — is signifi cant," said Ariganello. "I've nev- er seen all these countries being aff ected at the same time in one way with these geopolitical issues." Canada's economy isn't immune to global economic tensions, and a domestic slowdown is being predicted with the trickle-down reaching all the way to HR de- partments in terms of labour restructuring, he said. "We've got too many red fl ags out there that will cause some type of labour disruption," said Ariganello. " e next couple of months will really tell the tale in terms of what's going on." Last year was a good one for Canadian economic growth, but the eff ects won't last, according to Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa. "Growth has kind of peaked in 2018 and the con- sensus around the forecast for 2019 is there's some challenges for the global economy that will at least slow its growth," he said. " ere are risks that we could have a harder hit to the economy, if not in 2019 (then) in 2020. Certainly, there are a lot of risks out there." e U.S. economic growth cycle is "really long in the tooth" and due for a slowdown, said Antunes, while U.S. tariff wars could also have a major ripple eff ect across the globe. LABOUR > pg. 8 FROM > pg. 10 After a seven-year battle, Suncor and Unifor have reached an agreement around random drug testing at Fort McMurray operations. Credit: Todd Korol (Reuters) Suncor, union agree to random drug testing Move long time coming, but issue nowhere near settled: Experts BY SARAH DOBSON THE internal email went out Nov. 29, 2018 — Suncor announced it had reached a settlement with Unifor Local 707A regarding alco- hol and drug testing for workers in safety-sensitive positions. at meant the company would proceed with random testing at operations in the Regional Mu- nicipality of Wood Buffalo, in- cluding Fort McMurray: "Suncor is pleased to move forward with what we believe will positively aff ect safety at our work sites in the region. We are committed to ensuring a workplace where ev- eryone is fi t for duty so we can all make it home safely." e move was a long time com- ing. It was back in 2012 when Sun- cor introduced such a policy, citing drug- and alcohol-related safety incidents at its operations. Unifor disagreed, saying there was no evidence of a widespread problem and this was an infringe- ment of privacy. While a panel of arbitrators agreed with the union, the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench sided with Suncor, saying random testing was permissible if the employer could establish there was a general prob- lem with drug or alcohol use at the workplace, not just for unionized employees. It also said the testing was a bona fi de requirement to en- sure workplace safety. e union — which represents about 3,800 Suncor workers — appealed the decision to the Al- berta Court of Appeal, which up- held the Court of Queen's Bench decision, so the union appealed

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