Canadian HR Reporter

NEWS BRIEFS Women and racial minorities remain underrepresented in the upper levels of Canadian organizations, according to a diversity study. Conducted by the Ted Rogers School of Management's Diversity Institute, it analyzed 9,843 individuals who made up the boards of directors of various organizations including large companies, agencies, boards and commissions, hospitals, the voluntary sector and educational institutions in eight cities across Canada. The results? More than four in 10 were women while just one in 10 were racialized. And yet women represent more than half of the population and racialized people make up 28 per cent in the eight cities involved in the study. The proportion of women on boards ranged from 46.6 per cent in Halifax to just one-third in Calgary. Toronto — with more than half of its population consisting of racialized people — had the highest proportion of minorities on boards of directors at 15.5 per cent, while Montreal brought up the rear at just 6.2 per cent. The More than one out of every three working women have experienced at least one sexist workplace demand since the pandemic lockdown started in March, a U.K. survey has revealed. The survey of 2,000 men and women by law firm Slater + Gordon found that, despite the fact that many women are working remotely, they are still facing pressure from their employers to look "sexier" and wear makeup for video calls. Respondents reported that the top three reasons bosses give for making comments about their appearance are to "help win new business" (41 per cent), to "look nicer for the team" (41 per cent) and to be "more pleasing to WOMEN FACING SEXISM IN REMOTE WORK DIVERSITY LACKING ON CANADIAN BOARDS 65% Canadian small businesses were hit hard by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — with six in 10 making rapid changes to their payroll — but many were showing signs of recovery a few months later, according to a survey of 300 small business owners with two to 99 employees by payroll software company Wagepoint. Nearly half of employees say their employer does not monitor their computer activity using special monitoring software, according to a survey of 400 full-time U.S. workers by B2B consulting firm Clutch. And only 10 per cent would trust their employer more if it tracked their work with such software. study found that the educational sector had the highest level of diversity while the corporate sector remains dominated by white men. • 47.3% of school board directors are women • 25.3% of corporate board members are women • 14.6% of university and college directors are racialized • 4.5% of corporate board members are racialized a client" (38 per cent). However, nearly four in 10 said such comments are directed only at the women on their team and not the men. Despite the inappropriateness of the comments, a quarter of survey respondents said they complied with the requests to adjust their appearance. "This is a powerful form of coercion, which makes women feel as if they must adhere to the manager's request and be more visually pleasing to be successful at their job," says Danielle Parsons, an employment lawyer at Slater + Gordon. "This is demeaning to women." 72% say monitoring software would not affect their productivity 15% say they would be less productive 13% say they would be more productive Is tracking software really that effective for employers? Small businesses showing signs of recovery • 70% of companies with 10 or more employees reduced staff, wages or hours • 57% of companies with fewer than 10 employees reduced staff, wages or hours • 58% of small businesses that had layoffs were rehiring employees by June • 55% of small business employees laid off in March were rehired by June SMALL BUSINESS PANDEMIC PAYROLLS PRODUCTIVITY WITH TRACKING SOFTWARE REPRESENTATION ON BOARDS OF DIRECTORS 47.3% 25.3% 14.6% 4.5% 16 www.hrreporter.com M A R K E T N E W S

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