Canadian HR Reporter

INSIGHT York University's shameful decision Gutless. That's the only word that comes to mind when one thinks of how York University handled an accommodation request earlier this month from a sociology student who wanted to be excused from group work with women, citing religious grounds. The Toronto-based university's human rights centre gave a thumbs-up to the request, which stunned Paul Grayson, the sociology professor who wanted to deny the request but went through appropriate channels first. It also offended pretty much every Canadian in the process. Grayson, to his tremendous credit, dug in his heels and ignored the university. He denied the request, at which point the student completed the group work with the female students. It's not often you'll be applauded for insubordination, but hats off to Grayson — who probably won't (and shouldn't) face any official sanction for his action. If we look at this through a strict human resources lens, the university's decision to accommodate the request is troubling. Post-secondary institutions are supposed to prepare students for the working world — yes, there are plenty of other good things that happen in the ivory towers but, when you boil it all down, that is the main purpose of higher education. If this type of thinking reigns, just what kind of workers are universities handing over to employers? Individuals who think, Todd Humber Editor's Notes yes, you can be excused from working with women? Yes, you can trample on gender rights because working opposite a female somehow makes you feel uncomfortable? And let's not forget about the impact this has on female students, particularly ones pursuing careers in historically maledominated industries. Let's not fool ourselves — gender equality may seem like a given today but you don't have to turn the calendar back a single day to find examples of ongoing, systemic discrimination. Religion-based accommodation has been a huge issue for employers in recent years, and there are plenty of grey areas where organizations struggle to find the balancing point between respecting religious freedoms and the practicalities of running a profitable business. Human rights tribunals across Canada have, for the most part, done a good job of trying to set de- finable boundaries of what is and isn't worthy of accommodation. Observing holidays, respecting religious dress and allowing time and space for prayers are some areas where progress has been made — and that can only be applauded. But there are some black-andwhite issues when it comes to accommodation — and gender equity is right at the top of that list. The idea that someone can refuse to work with members of the opposite sex, and get a thumbs-up for that behaviour, is disturbing if it happens anywhere. The idea that it almost happened — if not for a strong-minded, level-headed professor — at a publicly funded, secular university in Canada is a disgrace. There are far too many parts of the world where women face discrimination, where education is forbidden or frowned upon, where women aren't even allowed to drive a car. That's not Canada, and that type of thinking can't be allowed anywhere where the Maple Leaf flies — not in schools and certainly not in organizations. We all want to respect religious differences. There's no debating that, and banning workers from wearing appropriate religious symbols — as Quebec is trying to do with its proposed values charter — is wrong. But religious accommodation has its limits. To borrow some legal terminology, employers have a duty to accommodate a worker to the point of "undue hardship." As soon as someone says, "I don't want to work with women," that undue hardship flag needs to go up quickly. Any organization that hums and haws on that front can only be called one thing: Gutless. READER COMMENTS Brian — thank you for your article. I like your suggestion that where change is likely not to be positive for employees, to be transparent about this. I believe one of the reasons trust is so low in some organizations is the lack of courage in acknowledging this and the tendency to "spin." Yes, change is constant, but we must encourage senior leadership to continually plan, evaluate and course-correct based on effective stakeholder consultation. And, yes, provide meaningful resources to employees rather than tossing a book over the fence. — Rob Crooks, commenting on Brian Kreissl's blog "Is 'change management' patronizing to employees?" Join the conversation online. Comment freely on any blog on www.hrreporter.com. WORKPLACE EIRD HR BOSS HELD HOSTAGE AMIENS, FRANCE — It's hard to say what's weirder: That French workers are kidnapping their bosses in an effort to stop plant closures or that nearly one-half of the population approves of the extreme tactic. Workers at a Goodyear factory in northern France seized two managers — the plant's director and the head of HR — and held them inside the plant for more than 24 hours. The company has been trying to sell or close the plant for the last five years, according to the Associated Press. It's a tactic that's been tried before in France. Staff at plants run by Sony, 3M and Caterpillar have held managers inside factories overnight, a practice dubbed "bossnapping," according to a 2009 Reuters article. And while 50 per cent of French people disapproved of the acts, 45 per cent thought the tactic was acceptable, found a poll that same year. EVEN TERRORISTS HAVE TO FILE EXPENSES TIMBUKTU, MALI — Documents seized over the years from Al Qaeda show the terrorist group is run a lot like a corporation, complete with corporate workshop schedules, salary spreadsheets, job applications and letters from what essentially amounts to a human resources department, according to the Associated Press. It's also obsessed with tracking expenses. "For the smallest thing, they wanted a receipt," said Mohamed 'BEAM ME OUT OF HERE' INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. — A North Carolina town councillor who is planning to run for Congress has quit by submitting a resignation letter written in Klingon, the language of an extraterrestrial warrior species on Star Trek, according to Reuters. David Waddell chose the language k because the fierce-looking science fiction characters value integrity, honour and duty. The city's mayor, Michael Alvarez, a self-described Trekkie, said he didn't understand the letter and only realized Waddell was leaving when he started getting phone calls about it. He was disappointed by the resignation (and the use of Klingon to do it) but had this sage Vulcan advice for the councillor: "Live long and prosper." Djitteye, who runs a market in Timbuktu. "Even for a tin of Nescafe." Receipts found in Al Qaeda hideouts include $1.60 for a pot of mustard, 60 cents for a bar of soap and $330 to buy ammunition. Former leader Osama bin Laden, who studied economics, was "obsessed with enforcing corporate management techniques," according to Lawrence Wright, an expert on the terrorist organization. UMMM… PLEASE CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD WASHINGTON, D.C. — The most common (and worst) passwords used by employees are the all-too predictable "password" or "1234." But even those might have been preferable to the secret password used by the United States to safeguard its arsenal of nuclear missiles during the Cold War — "00000000," according to the Huffington Post and the Centre for Defense Information. An extra layer of security was put on the missiles by order of the White House, according to Bruce Blair, who used to be a missile launch control officer. However, there were concerns the locks would delay the launch of the missiles, so the locks were set to all zeroes — "Everyone knew the combination," said Blair. 'I COULD TELL YOU WHY I'M NOT AT WORK… BUT I'D HAVE TO KILL YOU' WASHINGTON, D.C. — "I won't be coming in to work today, I'm on a top secret assignment with the CIA." That's essentially what John Beale, a 65-year-old adviser at the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA), told his bosses. But, in reality, he was just playing hooky. Beale skipped work for two-and-half years out of his 13 on the job while claiming to be working on a project for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other jobs. He even falsely Credit: Keith Bedford (Reuters) Vol. 27 No. 2 – January 27, 2014 PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2014 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 22 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Carswell Media: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Publisher and Editor: John Hobel - (416) 298-5197 john.hobel@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Senior Editor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor: Liz Bernier - (416) 649-7837 liz.bernier@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 ❑ From time to time, we make our subscriber list available to companies and organizations whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not want your name to be made available, please check here and return with your mailing label. CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. January 27, 2014 CANADIAN HR REPORTER THE 30 claimed he had malaria in order to get a parking space worth $200 a month — for a job he wasn't even showing up for. During his time off, he was still paid by EPA and even received a bonus. Beale was sentenced to 32 months in prison, ordered to pay EPA US$886,186 in restitution and will forfeit another US$507,207. EPA has since tightened its spending oversights. CHINA'S COMMUNIST PARTY BUTTING OUT BEIJING — Communist Party officials have been ordered not to smoke in public places or buy cigarettes using public funds, according to Reuters. They should also encourage colleagues to quit smoking, a top Chinese government body said in a circular earlier this month. China is the world's largest tobacco consumer, and smoking is deeply entrenched in Chinese social life, particularly for men.

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