Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 June 16, 2014 INSIDE PREGNANT PAUSES Supreme Court of Canada reinforces right of pregnant women to refuse unsafe work, without repercussions Who, what, when? Newspaper reporter fi red for misleading employer on injury page 5 Executive Series What HR can learn from quantum physics page 8 Its weight in gold The Royal Canadian Mint's new HR technology page 11 page page 3 Ontario leaves national HR association Ontario leaves national HR association HRPA to exit CCHRA, place focus on strengthening CHRP designation HRPA to exit CCHRA, place focus on strengthening CHRP designation BY LIZ BERNIER AFTER 20 years, the Human Re- sources Professionals Association (HRPA) has decided to leave the Canadian Council of Human Re- sources Associations (CCHRA). Eff ective June 30, the Ontario association said it will be pulling out of CCHRA and focusing on strengthening the CHRP desig- nation in the province — saving HRPA $500,000 in the process. HRPA has been a member of CCHRA since 1994, according to Philip Wilson, chair of HRPA's board of directors. But the asso- ciation, which recently achieved self-regulated status for the HR profession in Ontario, saw the need to make some changes. " e need for change has be- come even more acute for HRPA as a result of the passage of our (self- regulation) act. What changes there is that it empowers HRPA to focus basically on upgrading our designation, because now we're a tier-one association. And that's a tremendous benefi t for our mem- bers in Ontario, and it also means that we have to play the role of pro- tection of the public," he said. "Basically, we feel that — in the current framework — the re- sources and the activities that we need to focus on aren't necessar- ily the things that CCHRA has in progress or can deliver within their framework." CCHRA acknowledged the impending change in an emailed statement to Canadian HR Re- porter but a spokesperson was not available for an interview. "Cheryl Newcombe, chair of CCHRA, says that the CCHRA will determine what impact, if any, HRPA's departure will have on the CCHRA's work underway or planned," said the statement. " e granting and recertifi ca- tion of the CHRP is the responsi- bility of the individual provincial human resource associations, in- cluding transportability between one province and another." Transferability of CHRP Ontario's exit from CCHRA will make it the second provincial as- sociation to leave the council, behind Quebec. e seven other provincial associations are still CCHRA members. REINVESTING > pg. 2 Childcare obligations Childcare obligations clarifi ed in federal decision clarifi ed in federal decision 4-part test should provide guidance for employers 4-part test should provide guidance for employers BY SARAH DOBSON A RECENT decision by the Federal Court of Appeal has clarifi ed some of the grey areas when it comes to family status accommodation. e case involved Fiona Ann Johnstone, an employee at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Prior to returning to work from her fi rst maternity leave, she asked for an accommodation to her work schedule at Toronto Pearson International Airport. In- stead of variable shifts that met the hourly requirement to be consid- ered full-time, she sought a fi xed work schedule on a full-time basis. While the CBSA had accommo- dated some employees who had medical issues or religious beliefs with static shifts, it refused to do the same for workers with child- care obligations on the ground it had no legal duty to do so. And while it did allow employees with childcare needs to have fixed schedules, they had fewer hours and were considered part-time. Johnstone fi led a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Com- mission in 2004 alleging discrimi- nation on the basis of family status. e matter wound its way through the legal system over the years, with the most recent decision by the Federal Court of Appeal issued in May. e conclusion? "There is no basis for the assertion that requiring ac- commodation for childcare BEYOND REPAIR? A Chrysler worker uses an ergo-arm to load seats into Chrysler minivans at an assembly plant in Windsor, Ont. Ontario's auto assembly and parts industry may never return to its glory days, according to an RBC report. Only 8,300 of the 43,400 jobs lost between 2007 and 2009 have been recovered — despite record auto sales in Canada and a strong market in the United States — and new investment has shifted to plants in Mexico and right-to-work jurisdictions in the American south. Credit: Rebecca Cook (Reuters) IMPLICATIONS > pg. 6 Get ready Get ready for 'talent decade' for 'talent decade' BY SARAH DOBSON EMPLOYERS ARE entering a "talent decade," according to the Conference Board of Canada. Talent is increasingly a com- petitive diff erentiator and there is growing recognition of the value driven by a high-performance workforce and HR's critical role in building eff ective talent systems. Organizations and HR functions that fi nd, develop and deploy the right talent will likely build sus- tainable competitive advantage, said the Conference Board's re- port Human Resour ces Trends and Metrics: HR Function Benchmark- ing, ird Edition. " ings like a changing regula- tory environment… skills short- ages… the overall economy that is improving, slow labour force growth and drivers like changing technology and changing leader- ship choices are really pushing this focus on talent," said Heidi Martin, research associate and network manager at the Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa. "With the upcoming mass re- tirements of baby boomers, the focus is just going to be that much greater." In some sectors and regions, there is an emerging talent crunch. And with economic growth, the demographic profi le of the country and declining rates of unemploy- ment, we're in the emerging talent decade, said Ian Cullwick, vice- president of leadership and HR research at the Conference Board, adding this will really hit home in the next 12 to 18 months with a bulge of baby boomer retirements. "Organizations in those geog- raphies and sectors that are es- pecially knowledge-intensive and high-skilled driven, they've got to by progressive/proactive," he said. " ey've got to be progressive in terms of an HR strategy and programs to meet the particular U.S. > pg. 10

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