Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 May 5, 2014 INSIDE WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE – BUT NO BILL City of Ottawa worker fi red for tampering with water meter in his house Closet skeletons Vetting of senior execs crucial in social media era page 3 Out of the shadows Former addict reveals what he wants HR pros to know page 16 Violence aftermath HR professional offers her advice on conducting termination meetings page 22 page 5 Termination nightmare: Stabbing Termination nightmare: Stabbing rampage raises unsettling questions rampage raises unsettling questions BY LIZ BERNIER BY ALL ACCOUNTS, he was considered a nice, normal guy — a family man. At least, that's what Chuang "Ray" Li's neighbours in Missis- sauga, Ont., told reporters about the computer programmer, who has a wife, a teenage daughter — and a long list of criminal charges around an Apr. 9 stabbing ram- page at his former workplace. Li, 47, is facing charges of at- tempted murder, aggravated as- sault and assault with a weapon after allegedly stabbing and injur- ing four of his former co-workers while being fi red from his em- ployment at Ceridian Canada in Toronto. "He was being fi red and I guess then he proceeded to get involved in stabbing some of his bosses and some other employees," said Det. Daniel Darnbrough of the Toronto Police Service. "I believe the employees eventu- ally subdued him until the police got here." Ceridian, a payroll and human resources fi rm, said it was stunned by the incident. "As you might imagine, this is a very diffi cult time. e entire Ceridian family is shocked and deeply saddened by this inci- dent," said the organization in a statement. "We are working closely with the Toronto police department and are off ering our full co-oper- ation during their investigation." e incident has raised some unsettling questions for employ- ers: If a seemingly normal per- son can turn so violent during a termination, does HR need to change the way it thinks about the termination process? Can we do anything to prevent those inci- dents that seem to come out of the blue? Are there any warning signs employers could be missing? Photo: Mark Blinch (Reuters) Police officers stand in front of a Toronto office building where police reported multiple stabbings occurred April 9. A former employee is facing charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. LOCATION > pg. 8 'Male-wanted' job ads 'Male-wanted' job ads Subtle cues could put women off Subtle cues could put women off from applying for certain jobs, fi nd studies from applying for certain jobs, fi nd studies BY SARAH DOBSON THE WORDING OF an employ- ment ad can be a crucial factor in determining whether the job goes to a woman or a man. Women feel less inclined to respond to ads containing words such as "determined" and "asser- tive" because these are linked with male stereotypes, found research- ers at the Technische Universität München in Germany. In studying how leaders are se- lected and assessed, the research- ers showed 260 test subjects — largely students — fictional employment ads. ese included, for example, a place in a training program for potential manage- ment positions. If the posting described a large number of traits stereotypically associated with men — "assertive," "independent," "aggressive" and "analytical" — the women found it less appealing and were less inclined to apply. On the other hand, women found words such as "dedicated," "responsible," "conscientious" and "sociable" more appealing. For men, the wording in the ads made no diff erence. "For the women, it makes a dif- ference which (words) we use," said Claudia Peus, a professor at the university who headed the study. " e tendency to apply and feel attracted by the job ad is lower for women because it's in a male- worded way. However, for the men, it doesn't make a diff erence — in other words, we're not losing the men when we use more female language." Similar fi ndings were outlined in a 2011 paper from the Univer- sity of Waterloo in Ontario and Duke University in Durham, N.C. It found job ads for male-dominated areas used greater masculine word- ing (words associated with male stereotypes such as "leader," "com- petitive" and "dominant") than ads for female-dominated areas. ere was no diff erence, how- ever, with the presence of feminine words (such as "support," "under- stand" and "interpersonal") in all areas, found Evidence at Gen- dered Wording in Job Advertise- ments Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality. And when jobs ads included more masculine wording, partici- pants perceived more men within CAREFULLY > pg. 10 Foreign worker Foreign worker scandal serves scandal serves up controversy up controversy Government crackdown Government crackdown on McDonald's franchises on McDonald's franchises puts TFWP back under microscope puts TFWP back under microscope BY LIZ BERNIER A RECENT government crack- down is sparking renewed contro- versy around temporary foreign workers. ree Victoria, B.C., McDon- ald's restaurants, owned by a single franchisee, are facing government investigation for alleged misuse of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). e franchisee was added to a federal blacklist in early April. "Within 24 hours of becoming aware of these allegations, inspec- tors from my department did an on-site inspection at the loca- tion in Victoria and I suspended all labour market opinions and work permits in process for this franchise pending the outcome of the investigation," Jason Kenney, federal minister of employment and social development, said in a statement. STEPPED-UP > pg. 2 Corporate Outplacement Services CMScareers.ca Leaving made Easier

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