Canadian HR Reporter

pM40065782 Ro9496 December 1, 2014 INSIDE MENTAL HEALTH CHAMPIONS County of Wellington takes home Psychological Safety Award as part of Canada's Safest Employers Maternal instincts Pregnancy, breastfeeding human rights policy updated page 3 One more time Last-chance agreement not nal chapter for B.C. man page 5 Birth of a bene t Why are Apple and Facebook freezing eggs? page 10 page 11 Credit: Robert Galbraith (Reuters) chrp > pg. 12 Corporate Outplacement Services CMScareers.ca Leaving made Easier HR_Reporter_SmallAd_2014_Layout 1 1 Culture of enforcement Ghomeshi, Parliament Hill scandals highlight gap between policy and practice By LiZ BeRnieR it's PrettY easY to draft a workplace anti-harassment policy. We've seen it on posters and read it in policies time and again: "Ha- rassment will not be tolerated." Where employers tend to drop the ball is when harassment hap- pens anyway and it comes time to actually enforce the policy. at was a central theme in re- cent weeks as news continued to unfold around the Jian Ghomeshi scandal, and a separate story arose about workplace sexual harass- ment among federal politicians. At press time, nine different women had come forward with allegations Ghomeshi sexually or physically assaulted them. At least three of them are having their complaints investigated by police. e CBC has hired an external investigator, Toronto-based em- ployment lawyer Janice Rubin of Rubin omlinson, to look into allegations of workplace sexual ha- rassment by Ghomeshi. e CBC "clearly mishandled" a 2010 sexual harassment complaint against Ghomeshi, said Heather Conway, head of CBC English language services, in which the complain- ant was told Ghomeshi is "never going to change." Parliament Hill faced a work- place scandal of its own, with two female New Democrat MPs ac- cusing two male Liberal MPs of "inappropriate conduct." eir al- legations prompted former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps to reveal she had been sexually as- saulted by a fellow MP when she was in her 20s. Political response Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said she was open to a study of workplace sexual harassment after Laurie Scott, MPP and Progressive Conservative critic for women's issues, asked her to strike an all- party committee to study the issue. "We owe it to the victims of Employment lawyer Janice Rubin has been hired by the CBC. hArAssmeNt > pg. 8 out and proud at work Tim Cook's announcement 'paves the way' for other leaders By SaRaH doBSon aPPLe Ceo Tim Cook broke new ground recent- ly when he announced, in a column he wrote, that he was proud to be gay. "I've come to realize that my desire for person- al privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important," he said in Bloomberg Businessweek. "If hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy." It's a "trailblazing action" by the fi rst openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company, said Michael Bach, founder and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Di- versity and Inclusion (CIDI) in Toronto. "He's an introvert, he's a very shy person, so for him to do that was not only a personal challenge but the impact on the experiences of LGBT people was pretty signifi cant," said Bach. "It's the same when we look to women who have been in executive positions — we're looking for a role model. We're looking for an example to say, 'Yes you can do this' and the fact that an openly gay man is leading probably the most infl uential company on the planet is kind of a big deal." Cook has really paved the way for others to do the same, said Matt Petersen, chair of Pride at Work Canada in Toronto. "For gay people themselves, seeing someone who stroNG > pg. 2 Apple CEO Tim Cook walks onstage during an Apple event in San Francisco. Cook has publicly announced he's gay, a move lauded as a "trailblazing action." mixed response to hrPa's new designations Updates appreciated but critics fear marketplace confusion By SaRaH doBSon ontario's hr association made waves recently when it de- buted a new three-level HR des- ignation to replace the current model, as outlined in our exclusive cover story in the Nov. 3 issue. When it was unveiled, Bill Greenhalgh, CEO of the Toronto- based Human Resources Profes- sionals Association (HRPA), called it a "game-changer." e new Certifi ed Human Re- sources Professional (CHRP) is now an entry-level certifi cation and does not require a degree (un- like the CHRP recognized by the other provinces). A test of employment and workplace law knowledge has been added to the HR functional competencies knowledge exam. And by 2016, CHRP preparation will include a Job Ready Certifi cate program. e Certifi ed Human Resources Leader (CHRL) does require a de- gree and assessments will include tests of knowledge, an application of knowledge of functional com- petencies and employment and workplace law. To earn the Certifi ed Human Resources Executive (CHRE), candidates must have acquired core executive-level competencies — in areas such as governance,

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