Canadian HR Reporter

Canadian HR RepoRteR February 9, 2015 14 INsIght HATS OFF TO HUMAN RESOURCES HoLLyWood, Calif. — one Milton, ont.-based HR profes- sional has, literally, been wearing many hats. Karen Viloria-Miguel is in human resources at the duf- ferin-peel Catholic district School Board, but she also has been min- gling with Hollywood stars thanks to a side interest in crocheted hats. Her business, Canada Bliss, was selected to appear at the Golden Globes ceremony in January, ac- cording to CtV news. e hand- made hats were off ered at a luxury gift lounge to award show attend- ees including Gina Rodriquez and Viola davis. e items sell for $60 to $70 in toronto boutiques and are also available online — but no word yet if Viloria-Miguel has quit her day job in HR. AT LEAST THEY FLOAT ottaWa — Workplaces every- where are looking for ways to cut costs, but there's a diff erence be- tween photocopying on both sides of the paper and not using sonar when you're in the navy. Canada's Royal Canadian navy has told the crews on frigates out on interna- tional missions to not use some of the sophisticated sensors onboard, according to the CBC. But these restrictions limit the ships' ef- fectiveness, found a department of national defence evaluation looking at the years 2008 to 2013. e frigates are also being updated — so if they're in dry dock and un- available, the navy has been using Maritime Coastal defence Vessels (MCdVs) which can be slow and also lack surveillance equipment. "our government is ensuring the Royal Canadian navy has the equipment it needs to monitor and defend Canadian waters, and to contribute to international naval operations," said Johanna Quin- ney, spokeswoman for defence Minister Rob nicholson. But the problems are not going to go away anytime soon and will continue beyond 2020, said the evaluation. " e navy will be obliged to do less with less." IT HELPS TO KNOW PEOPLE denVeR — if a masked man comes into rob your store, be sure not to recognize him. at's what one convenience store employee found out when a man wearing a hoodie and blue bandana covered his face and walked into the Quick Save, according to Reuters. " e suspect looked at the clerk and said, '(expletive), i was going to rob this place but i know you,'" the sheriff 's offi ce said in a statement. the man then asked the store clerk whether he recognized him, to which the employee replied that he didn't. " e suspect then stated, 'Good,' and walked out of the store while giving a 'thumbs up' sign to the clerk." e gesture was recorded by a store security camera before the would-be rob- ber drove off to rob a 7-eleven down the road. IT PAYS TO CHECK CREDENTIALS WeSt paLM BeaCH, Fla. — a white lab coat maketh not a doctor. at's what a patient at a hospital in Florida realized after noticing a rather young-looking doctor on duty. e culprit? a teenager, complete with a stethoscope and surgical mask, was wandering around the obstetrics and gyne- cology department at St. Mary's Medical Center in West palm Beach, according to Sky news. He introduced himself as dr. Robin- son, according to dr. Sebastian Kent, who worked alongside the 17-year-old during an examina- tion. " e fi rst thing i thought was 'i am getting old because these young doctors look younger every year,'" said Kent. CCtV footage showed the teen walking around hospital wings for at least a month before he was fi nally detained by security. e hospital said the teen "never had contact with any hos- pital patients and did not gain ac- cess to any patient care areas of the hospital at any time." W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 28 No. 2 – February 9, 2015 PuBLiSHed BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2015 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CaNadiaN Hr rePorter is published 21 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: John Hobel - (416) 298-5197 john.hobel@thomsonreuters.com editoriaL Associate publisher/managing editor: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com lead 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. Target hits mark with severance fund t here is no good way to lay off an employee. target has taken lumps, on social media and in the mainstream media, for being too callous with the handling of the announce- ment it is pulling out of canada. critics have derided the failed retailer because some employ- ees apparently found out about the closure through the media. But when you have more than 17,000 people on the payroll, and an announcement that is going to make national and international headlines the moment it is leaked, that's a near impossible task. at's not meant to absolve Tar- get of its sins but rather to view it as understandable in the context of a massive closure. In 2013, Best Buy and Future Shop experienced similar pains and public backlash with the de- cision to close 15 stores across Canada. In an exclusive commentary written for Canadian HR Report- er, Janice Antaya-Finlayson, vice- president of HR at Best Buy, and Chris Taylor, vice-president of HR at Future Shop, wrote about the decision not to give employ- ees advance notice of the loss of their jobs. " e most prevalent criticism we received was we didn't give employees advance notice of the closures," they wrote in the April 8, 2013 issue. "We considered this option but decided against it because we felt it unfair to ask employees to focus on providing top-level customer service while their imminent job loss loomed overhead." at's a luxury Target doesn't have — Future Shop and Best Buy were just shuttering a handful of stores and remain a going con- cern. Target, on the other hand, is completely shutting down all operations in Canada. Employee trust But Target did do something very interesting and noteworthy from an HR perspective by setting up an employee trust, with an infu- sion of roughly $70 million in cash from its operations in the United States, to cover its termi- nation and severance payments for workers. e money should ensure that every worker receives full sever- ance without having to jockey amongst all the other creditors who are owed money by Target. at's not insignifi cant, and per- haps could serve as a blueprint for other organizations to follow should a similar fate befall them. Target has also been criticized for providing working notice rather than just cutting employees loose with a package. But that, too, is a reality that is becoming more common — and it's something we plan on ex- ploring more in a future issue. A couple of employment lawyers I spoke with said more organiza- tions seem to be using working notice. It can be appealing — it could reduce the reasonable no- tice amount if the worker fi nds another job and it also gives the employer work for its money. It also carries plenty of risk in terms of morale and sabotage — but those are two issues Target probably isn't really worried about for its Canadian operations. Attend a conference: You won't regret it As I write this, I'm back in the offi ce for the fi rst time after at- tending the three-day Human Resources Professionals Associa- tion (HRPA) annual conference in Toronto. I always feel rejuvenated and reinvigorated after attending conferences. It's great to get out of the of- fi ce and talk face-to-face with our readers and HR professionals, and to attend sessions to fi nd out the latest and greatest advice when it comes to tackling workplace challenges. It can be hard to fi nd the time — and the budget — these days to get out of the offi ce and attend conferences like this, but it's time you'll rarely regret taking. HR professionals are often the internal champions for the im- portance of professional develop- ment, but they shouldn't forget about their own careers and need for learning. While Ontario's annual con- ference has passed for 2015, pro- fessionals in other parts of the country still have time to sign up and attend conferences put on by their provincial associations, such as the Human Resource Manage- ment Association (HRMA) in B.C. or the Human Resources In- stitute of Alberta — they're both holding annual conferences in April. If you've never gone, I en- courage you to give it a shot. And if you're in Ontario, it's never too late to start planning for 2016. HIGH-JINKS AT THE OFFICE HaMiLton — ere's always too many goodies at work — in the lunchroom, off ered by colleagues. But one worker at the City of Hamilton had more than he could handle. e man fell ill and was taken to hospital — in a "code four life-threatening situation" — after unknow- ingly eating a pot brownie at work, according to CBC. two city employees were suspended after bringing the munchies to work, and an investigation is un- derway, said public works head Gerry davis. "We're taking this seriously and we want to wrap it up as soon as possible," he said. "it's frustrating. We want a safe and healthy work environment for our employees." City management is taking all of the necessary steps to make sure the people responsible for the incident are being dealt with, said Coun. Sam Merulla, who is also the chair of the public works committee. "in every group there will be bad apples and our job is to mitigate that." police said there was insuffi cient evidence to lay charges. it's very unlikely a person could die from eating marijuana, said Mitchell Levine at the Centre for evaluation of Medicines. " e fear that can occur when you don't know what's happening to you can be a total panic attack." Credit: Atomazul/Shutterstock — ere's always too many goodies at work — in the lunchroom, off ered by colleagues. But one worker at the City of Hamilton had more than he could handle. e man fell ill and was taken to hospital — in a soon as possible," he said. "it's frustrating. We want a safe and healthy work environment for our employees." City management is taking all of the necessary steps to make sure the people responsible for the incident are being dealt with, said Coun. Sam Merulla, who is also the chair of the public works committee. "in every group there will be bad apples and todd Humber eDITOR'S nOTES

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