Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER APRIL 2019 8 NEWS However, employers may face challenges because of the change, as short-term employee absences are tougher to fill, said Andrew Shaw, partner at Baker McKenzie in Toronto. "It does create a bit of difficulty in terms of backfilling employ- ees," he said. "(Five weeks) is too short to actually backfill, but it's too long to have somebody else covering the work, and you might have issues of burnout with other employees." How it works e new benefit increases the du- ration of EI parental leave by up to five weeks in cases where the second parent agrees to take a minimum of five weeks using the standard year-long option at 55 per cent of earnings. For parents opting for the 18-month package at 33 per cent of earnings, the second parent would be able to take up to eight weeks of additional leave. Under the standard option, the maximum period any parent can take of parental leave is 35 weeks. To access the additional five weeks of benefits, any combina- tion of sharing is allowed, such as five weeks for one and 35 for the other, or 20 weeks for one and 20 for the other. Parents can split up to 69 weeks through the extended option, though one parent cannot claim more than 61 weeks, said Bueck- ert. "Parents may claim parental benefits at the same time or one after another." Quebec already has a second- parent leave in place, which pro- vides up to five weeks paid for new fathers. In 2016, 80 per cent of Quebec fathers expressed a desire to claim this benefit, as op- posed to 12 per cent of fathers in the rest of the country, according to Statistics Canada. While the new sharing leave is available to all eligible employees, changes to the job-protected leave provisions under the Canada La- bour Code do not apply to provin- cially and territorially regulated employers and employees, said Bueckert. "Provincial and territorial gov- ernments would need to make corresponding changes to their labour standards legislation in order to provide similar job-pro- tected leave to employees in their jurisdictions." Shifting mentalities e change ushers in a whole new mentality around the way pater- nity leave is used, said eresa Tran, senior benefits consultant at Eckler in Toronto. "Traditionally, it's been more around how did the workplace ac- commodate a woman taking ma- ternity leave. And, oftentimes, she takes the parental leave portion of it as well, and we don't necessarily focus on the dads," she said. "Employers will now see more of that thinking or consideration from their employees, but it's also going to depend really on their workforce… Oftentimes, it comes down to the income levels of those parents, and often the decision is really around 'Can we financially do this?'" e government is projecting that as many as 97,000 parents will claim the parental sharing benefit each year, but also noted that more than 32,000 parents claimed extended parental ben- efits since it became available in December 2017 — well over the anticipated claim total of 20,000. While short-term difficulties may exist in terms of fulfilling employees' duties while they are on leave, employers may enjoy long-term benefits in terms of employee relations, according to Shaw. "If the start of a child's life is dealt with better by both parents, and those tasks are shared, there can be a long-term benefit to com- panies," he said. "It's tough to figure out exactly what the implications will be for employers. It's something that employers need to look at and take seriously when they're plan- ning how they schedule work, and how many employees they're go- ing to have." While shorter leaves may be harder to fill, they could also be viewed as "an opportunity to foster a culture of support for caregiving in which all those in a workplace assist one another with important transitions in their personal lives," said Kate Bezanson, associate professor and chair of the sociology department at Brock University in St. Catha- rines, Ont. "Supporting employees to care… may have the additional benefit of securing long-term employee loyalty and productive work culture," she said. Advice for HR e change to parental leave is an opportunity for employers to support gender equality, said Bezanson. "Shared care, over time, may also contribute to changes in de- cision-making around full- and part-time work, and potentially increase the promotion of women to more senior positions." Working parents may increas- ingly choose to share respon- sibilities associated with chil- dren's sick days or appointments, which could decrease employee absences and reduce role strain, she said. HR professionals would be wise to consider cross-training em- ployees so they can backfill when necessary, said Shaw. Workplace policy should be reviewed to ensure compliance with new entitlements, while top-up provisions should also be reflected upon, he said. If top-up pay is currently pro- vided to employees on leave, it will need to be provided to both the birth parent and non-birth par- ent — if shared leave is chosen, said Shaw. "What ends up happening is a lot of employers decide not to pro- vide top-up at all, which is a bit of a penalty." However, employers will want to ensure there are no reprisals against employees who choose shared leave — such as a refusal to promote someone, or a change in assignment due to a perceived lack of company commitment, he said. "Certain private-sector work- places where the culture is such that non-birth parents never take leaves and all of a sudden people are going to say, 'Well, I'm going to be off five weeks' — I could totally see there being reprisal claims there." Employers can attempt to nego- tiate but ultimately are required to abide by the law, said Shaw. Income level often a factor for parents taking leave PATERNITY < pg. 1 The tweaks to the federal model are similar to rules in Quebec, where a second-parent leave is already in place, providing up to five weeks paid for new fathers. In 2016, 80 per cent of Quebec fathers expressed a desire to claim this benefit. Moonlighters who view second job as 'calling' often less engaged: Study Primary employers should require disclosure or permission for gig work, says lawyer BY MARCEL VANDER WIER WHEN employees view a second job as a "calling," they are often less engaged in their work at their primary employer, according to a study from the United States. "Dual job-holding requires sig- nificant personal attention and resources from individuals in the form of learning and switching job tasks, working longer hours and balancing schedules between two jobs and family life," said Bri- an Webster, study co-author and management professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. "e calling someone has found in a second job pulls not only from a person's personal life, but often reduces resources for the primary job. It can wear people out." A calling is a consuming, mean- ingful passion or people experi- ence. While holding a secondary position like this may decrease engagement at the primary job, it doesn't mean it will fall to an inad- equate level, he said. e study analyzed data from 227 people — whose average age was 31 — working more than one job. It was published in February in the Journal of Vocational Behavior. Respondents chose whether their secondary job position was taken for reasons of necessary compensation, or purely enjoy- ment and passion, said Webster. Sample primary positions in- cluded a computer technician and teacher, versus secondary jobs such as cashier and firefighter. A dual job-holder must receive some income from both jobs, otherwise the secondary position would be deemed a volunteer po- sition, he said. Individuals who are passion- ate about their work and derive great meaning from a secondary job must carefully consider the effects it may have on their career and personal life, said Webster. "Although performing work in one's calling should lead to a more pleasant and enjoyable ex- perience in that particular job, performing an activity viewed as a calling in the second job may lower work engagement at the primary job." Advice for employers Most employers share concerns that full-time employees may be distracted if they take on a second job, said Ron Minken, founder and managing partner at Minken Employment Lawyers in Markham, Ont. "Employers are still within their rights to have employees agree to exclusivity clauses in hiring let- ters or employment agreements to restrict them from doing so," he said. "e majority of employers do have restrictions to somehow prevent or limit moonlighting." Moonlighting — holding a sec- ond job in addition to regular em- ployment — can concern primary employers if a worker becomes fatigued or conducts business for the secondary position using company resources or time. Holding a secondary position that could be detrimental to the primary employer's brand is also an issue, said Minken. For employers concerned about moonlighting employees, includ- ing a duty to disclose or require- ment for approval in the employ- ment contract should be consid- ered, he said. "What all employers should do is require the employee to dis- close, and also (gain approval), so then at least the employer could have some say." Often, non-competition claus- es rule out similar gig positions within the industry. On top of that, requirements that the sec- ondary job duties must be com- pleted outside of company hours and cannot compete with the main job are perfectly reasonable, according to Minken. An employee's conduct and performance are also expected to be at a reasonable level, and should not suffer as a result of a secondary job. A breach could UNDERSTANDING > pg.10 Credit: Roy Harris (Shutterstock)

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