Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER NOVEMBER 2018 26 INSIGHT MAKING A CLEAN GETAWAY UPPER TANTALLON, N.S. — Two women in Halifax came close to being ar- rested recently — just for doing their job. e close call came about after a suspicious woman phoned her absent neighbour to tell her two women had just entered her home, according to the Canadian Press. e homeowner then reported the "suspicious" intruders to police, but when offi cers arrived, they instead discovered a very clean house. " ese ladies showed up, cleaned up, and left without knowing it was the wrong house," said Cpl. Dal Hutchinson of Halifax district RCMP. "Nothing was taken, nothing was disturbed, just the house was cleaned up." Apparently the cleaners had mistaken the house for another and had managed to enter the home because the door was left open for a dogwalker. e women apologized later, said police, who reminded residents to always lock their doors. HISTORY 'LESSON' SODDY-DAISY, TENN. — An assistant principal at a Tennessee school got into hot water recently when he blamed girls for "pretty much ruining everything." Jared Hensley made a video for students explaining a new dress code, say- ing athletic shorts were no longer allowed: "If you really want some- one to blame, blame the girls, be- cause they pretty much ruin every- thing. ey ruin the dress code… Ask Adam, look at Eve… you can really go back to the beginning of time. It'll be like that for the rest of your life, get used to it." One alum- ni from Soddy Daisy High School called the comments "deplorable" but some students said they sup- ported Hensley and didn't think the video was "severe enough" for him to be fi red, according to WCTV, an affi liate of ABC. e principal of the school apologized for the inappropriate comments, saying they were not representa- tive of the school, and Hensley was placed on paid leave while the school district investigated. BE LIKE A CHICKEN PARIS — French President Em- manuel Macron also landed him- self in hot water recently. At a pub- lic event, he was asked by French- man Jonathan Jahan about how to fi nd a job, and the exchange was caught on video. "If you're keen and motivated, in the hotel trade, cafés, restaurants, construction even — there's nowhere I go that people don't tell me they're look- ing to hire," said Macron. "Hon- estly... if I cross the road, I can fi nd you something. ey simply want people who are ready to work." But many viewers questioned the pres- ident's blunt advice, and whether it was right for him to point out a mismatch between a French un- employment rate of nine per cent and thousands of unfi lled vacan- cies, according to Reuters. PAYING FOR NAP TIME LONDON — e news is fi lled with stories of overworked, ex- hausted and stressed-out work- ers. But there may be a solution in London, U.K., at least. Busy people looking for a place to col- lapse can now rent out a sleep pod for 15 pounds (C$25) per hour. e rooms feature dark walls, ear plugs, an eye mask and a lavender aroma to help residents relax, ac- cording to Reuters. e problem is people are tired all the time and coff ee and tea just aren't enough, according to Mauricio Villamizar, co-founder of Pop & Rest, "so we thought we should set up some- thing like a private space where they can relax in peace." e busi- ness has about 30 to 35 custom- ers each week, he said. "Fifteen pounds to have a decent rest and clear mind for the afternoon or for a meeting late on in the day is perfect, as far as I'm concerned," said customer Graeme Daniel, director of a fashion company. "If I go out late in the evening and I've got maybe meetings spread throughout the day, it's just nice to have a one-hour catch-up on the sleep that I've probably missed the night before." IMPORTANT FIRST STEPS RIYADH — Weam Al Dakheel has become the fi rst woman to anchor the main news bulletin on Saudi Arabia's state-run TV chan- nel, based in Riyadh. She had pre- viously worked as a reporter for CNBC Arabia, according to the Daily Mail. Crown Prince Mo- hammed bin Salman has said he wants to modernize the country with "Vision 2030," and is looking to raise women's participation in the workforce from 22 per cent to 33 per cent — though human rights campaigners have said this is a "mirage," claiming Saudi Ara- bia still remains one the world's most dangerous countries for women. Vol. 31 No. 11 – November 2018 PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2018 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 12 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Media Solutions, Canada: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor in Chief: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Marcel Vander Wier - (416) 649-7837 marcel.vanderwier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. 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Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: customersupport. legaltaxcanada@tr.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Todd Humber EDiTOR'S NOTeS One HR friend's story of sexual assault O n Sept. 29, I woke up to a 722-word text message sent by a dear friend I don't see nearly enough. It took a minute for me to realize what I was reading. It was the in-depth story of a woman — a friend, wife, mother, daughter, HR professional — who had been inappropriately touched at a work function. And when I say inappropriately touched, I mean sexually assaulted. Because that's what it was. With her permission, I'm shar- ing her story. At her request, it is anonymous. And at my choosing, I've included a lot of details about what happened to her — because it matters. "I felt confused, incredulous and really, really angry. I felt stifl ed, backed into a corner and small," she wrote. "How can that have just hap- pened? My boss was sitting next to me the whole time. ere was a room full of other people. Later that night, he got a service award to recognize his years with the organization. I clapped. I played it over and over and over in my head: How can that have just hap- pened? How can he have done that? How did he know I wouldn't say anything?" ere were only two women in the room full of men, and she was the most junior person at the table. It was like every other meeting — a formal agenda, data to review, lunch brought in. Boil- erplate corporate world stuff . "At that point, would it have been appropriate for me to stand up and say 'Stop. Don't touch me. How dare you grope me?' What words do you use to say, 'You are groping my ass under the table with your foot?' And 'I can't be- lieve you are doing this. I moved out of the way three times, and you kept doing it,'" she wrote. " e rest of the leadership team and his boss would say what? And the off -site would then dissolve into what? It would either pain- fully disintegrate or we'd continue as if nothing happened?" My friend continued with a stream of questions about when or how it would have been appro- priate to come forward: "Once I've fi gured out the impact on my career?" "When I've fi gured out that if I report it, I won't be able to work with these individuals again because it would be mortifying?" "When I fi gure out that if I report it to HR, and it's investigated, there will be no one to back me up?" at is a stream of questions that are impossible to answer. It sums up, powerfully and pain- fully, why coming forward isn't as easy or black-and-white as some people like to pretend. My friend thought about how to respond for weeks — running through a gamut of emotions that included anger and disappoint- ment with herself. " is isn't the woman I thought I was," she said. She made a plan to confront the man, spoke to HR off the record — as a protection against retaliation — and called him. "He apologized immediately. He said he'd hurt his back and had been having trouble getting comfortable," she said. "I said 'no.' I told him I had moved away from him three times and each time his foot returned." She warned him that although she wouldn't be making a formal complaint, if there was ever a hint of anything similar happening, "he would regret it immediately." Immediately, she felt a weight lift from her — "Taking my power back felt awesome." is is a person I admire more than most, who is stronger than average and, frankly, would be among the last people I would ex- pect to stay silent. And that, to me, says more than anything about the diffi culty of women coming forward in the wake of an assault and why they deserve the benefi t of the doubt — even if it takes de- cades to reach a point where they can tell their stories. "Women dominate HR, yet we can't get it fi gured out," she said. "(Women have) no true power. We are at the table by the gener- osity of our male leaders. And our success relies on them liking us." is is not, as some are now ad- vocating, an era where it is a scary time to be a young man. at, frankly, is bullshit. It remains what it has always been — something driven home by U.S. President Donald Trump, who turned Christine Blasey- Ford's recollection of a painful, life-altering event — which she related at a Senate hearing look- ing into the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court judge — into punchlines at a po- litical rally in Mississippi a week later. Punchlines about sexual assault from a global leader that actually generated laughter from the au- dience — that's where we are in 2018. Credit: djmilic (Shutterstock) W EIRD ORKPLACE THE "I played it over and over in my head: How can that have just happened?" Two women in Halifax came close to being ar- rested recently — just for doing their job. e close call came about after a suspicious woman phoned her absent neighbour to tell her two women had just entered her home, according to the Canadian Press. e homeowner then reported the "suspicious" intruders to police, but when offi cers arrived, they instead discovered a very clean house. " ese ladies showed up, cleaned up, and left without knowing it was the wrong house," said Cpl. Dal Hutchinson of Halifax district RCMP. "Nothing was taken, nothing was disturbed, just the house was cleaned up." Apparently the cleaners had mistaken the house for another and had managed to enter the home because the door was left open for a dogwalker. e women apologized later, said police, who Credit: djmilic (Shutterstock)

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