Canadian HR Reporter

pM40065782 Ro9496 February 23, 2015 INSIDE HR ASSOCIATIONS LOOK AHEAD Leaders of every provincial HR association, and others, reveal priorities for 2015 Mental blocks Managers key to helping workers with mental health page 2 Lessons in fear Toronto school board report looks at staff monitoring page 3 All in the family Linamar's CEO shares secrets of rm's success page 8 page 11 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com www.EmploymentLawToday.com Expert opinions from the best employment lawyers in Canada CELT1504-2015 ad.indd 1 2015-01-09 11:07 AM Federally regulated employers can dismiss without cause: Court By JenniFeR BRoWn a Federal Court of Appeal de- cision eight months in the making is being called a monumental deci- sion that overturns almost 40 years of arbitral law. In Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Federal Court of Appeal held that federally regulated employers may dis- miss employees without cause. Previously, the general consensus was that employees governed by the Canada Labour Code could only be terminated for just cause. e decision is being viewed as a victory for federally regulated employers such as banks, tele- communications companies and air and marine transportation or- ganizations, said Ronald Snyder, a partner at Fogler Rubinoff in Ottawa who represented Atomic Energy in the case. "It is transformational in that employers will now have the neces- sary fl exibility," he said. "I've always held the view that there is no issue that's more fundamental, more sig- nifi cant that goes to the core of the employer-employee relationships than the right to hire and fi re." George Vuicic, a partner at Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie in Ottawa, said the deci- sion fi nally resolves a longstand- ing divergence in the case law in this area. "The Federal Court and now the Federal Court of Appeal have, I think, conclusively determined this issue. Justice (David) Stratas said in his own words: ' e court needs to be a tie-breaker on this issue' and that's what the decision is," said Vuicic. e biggest issue is whether Jo- seph Wilson will seek leave to the Supreme Court of Canada, he said. (Wilson's lawyer did not respond to an interview request by press time.) "If it goes to the Supreme Court, it could still go the other way but I would be surprised given it is a very well-reasoned decision, very exhaustive," said Vuicic. "If it stands, I do think it resolves the is- sue conclusively." Wilson was employed by Atomic Energy for four-and-a-half years, starting as a senior buyer/ order administrator. His last pro- motion was to procurement su- pervisor, tooling — but it was not a STAY EAST, YOUNG MAN Irving Oil workers at the terminal in Saint John, N.B. The province has a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking), as does Nova Scotia. As a result, workers from the Maritimes are heading west — where the controversial oil extraction technique is permitted, says former employment minister Jason Kenney. He argued it makes no sense for provinces such as Nova Scotia to lose its "best and brightest" young workers to fuel Alberta's economy when they could be doing the same work at home. Credit: Devaan Ingraham (Reuters) time-limited u.S. certifi cation off ered by SHrM New designations available to CHRP holders via online test By SaRaH doBSon HaVing made waves last year in announcing it was introducing a new certifi cation — and parting ways with the HR Certifi cation Institute (HRCI) — the Society for Human Resource Manage- ment (SHRM) in the United States is now off ering an online tutorial pathway to earn that certifi cation. Current holders of HR general- ist certifi cation — including Can- ada's Certifi ed Human Resources Professional (CHRP) — have until the end of 2015 to obtain SHRM's new certifi cation in three "simple steps": documenting their cur- rent certifi cation is in good stand- ing; signing the SHRM code of ethics; and completing a "brief " online tutorial focusing on HR competencies. e latter is an educational pro- gram that focuses on the eight be- havioural competencies found in SHRM's Competency Model and Body of Competency and Knowl- edge. ere are fi ve modules, in- cluding an interactive tool to cre- ate a competency self-portrait and scenario-based questions found on the certifi cation exams. e scenarios and question examples are not scored but give partici- pants exposure to how compe- tencies are being assessed in its exams, according to SHRM. is is a rare situation and a one-time option, said Alex Alson- so, vice-president for research and SHRM certifi cation in Alexandria, Va. "We want to acknowledge that individuals have worked hard for existing credentials and that they've developed a foundation of knowledge that is recognized through an existing generalist credential. We did not feel it was appropriate to supply the burden of full testing for these individuals. "We felt that it was incum- bent upon us to off er them a so- lution that acknowledged their knowledge domain and their knowledge mastery but also then focused on helping them build cipd > pg. 6 you're fi red… but not quite yet Risks, advantages to giving staff working notice By Liz BeRnieR gener ally, getting fired means you also get sent home — free to wallow without be- ing expected to report back to work the next day. But that wasn't the case for many of the 17,600 Target workers losing their jobs in the retailer's closure of its Cana- dian operations. Workers were given working notice, meaning they'll have to continue to work — some for up to 16 weeks — before the stores' final closure dates. Regard- less of when their last day is, all employees will receive a full 16 weeks of pay — while managers will receive additional payouts totalling up to $6.5 million. Giving working notice may be a bit unexpected but it's a decision that's completely above-board legally, said Lisa Stam, partner at Koldorf Stam in Toronto. "Unless you have a contract low > pg. 10 cAses > pg. 6

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