Canadian HR Reporter

PM40065782 RO9496 May 4, 2015 Former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi leaves court after getting bail on multiple counts of sexual assault in Toronto in November 2014. The broadcaster has since released a report detailing how the scandal was handled and "severed ties" with its head of HR. INSIDE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS Gaps in Ontario's labour laws, enforcement make labour market more precarious: Report Mom accommodated Refusal to grant day shifts seen as discrimination page 5 Misjudging t How can you truly assess an employee match? page 8 5 key indicators Best practices for employee engagement page 15 page 9 Credit: Mark Blinch (Reuters) 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 CIBC's 'unusual' succession Ex-CEO earns $16.7 million for 18 months BY SARAH DOBSON CONCERNS about rising CEO pay — for salaries and severance — have fi lled the headlines in the last few years, with various groups calling for greater restraint. But CIBC raised new concerns recently when it revealed its pre- vious president and CEO, Gerry McCaughey, was being paid $16.7 million for 18 months — even though he was no longer in charge. In April 2014, McCaughey had announced he would be retiring in April 2016 after nine years of ser- vice — eff ectively giving two years' advance notice. But in July 2014, the bank re- vealed it had found an internal suc- cessor to the CEO, Victor Dodig. As a result, the board chose to "ac- celerate" McCaughey's retirement to September 2014. And until April 2016, the de- parting CEO was entitled to base salary payments, monthly incen- tive compensation payments and continued participation in all pen- sion and benefi t programs — for a total of $16.7 million, according to a 2015 CIBC management proxy circular. Essentially, it's severance, ac- cording to Jane Milburn, a partner at Kuretzky Vassos Henderson in Toronto. "In law, when someone gives advance notice of retirement and then they're asked to depart early, it triggers the same kinds of obliga- tions as in a term of employment without cause." But this is not your typical situ- ation, she said. "What's unusual is that very of- ten senior executives will have an employment contract at the out- set of their employment or entered into at the time of a promotion, and it would be quite common to pre-agree in that contract about what advance notice an executive is required to give prior to either a resignation or a retirement. And it would be quite unusual for that to be as long as occurred in this case." Usually, someone in the C-suite would give advance notice of six months, possibly 12 for more se- nior positions, said Milburn. But, sometimes, executives don't want such a lengthy period as they would be restricted from accepting other employment. "If someone has a 12-month clause, it's highly unlikely that they can attract a new employer who is prepared to wait that long, where- as six months might be a possibil- ity. So, to some extent, that time frame will depend on the seniority level of that individual and, realis- tically, their age because if it's ex- pected to be their last job, then the ability to move is less of a concern." The CIBC situation demon- strates why employers might want to put a cap on the period of no- tice in employment agreements, she said. It's an interesting concept, said Bernie Martenson, senior con- sultant at compensation firm Best of the best 4 organizations provide insights into 10 years as 'top employers' BY LIZ BERNIER IT'S a coveted title, and for good reason: Every year, the Best Work- places in Canada competition highlights organizations that have an extraordinary work culture. And while there are plenty of companies that make repeat ap- pearances on the list, only four Canadian organizations have won for 10 consecutive years: Carswell, Softchoice, TD Bank and Urban Systems. e award-winners — compiled by the Great Place to Work Insti- tute Canada — are selected based on feedback from employees at the nominated companies. Judging is based on survey answers complet- ed by randomly selected employ- ees, as well as an in-depth review of the organization's culture and HR policies. And the four dissimilar com- panies share similarities when it comes to dealing with change, HR's changing role and cultural fi t. Coping with change One critical factor behind any workplace with a strong culture is being able to thrive through change, said José Tolovi Neto, managing partner at the Great Place to Work Institute Canada. And dealing with change and growth is one thing Carswell in particular has gotten quite com- fortable with, said Barbara Con- way, Toronto-based vice-presi- dent of HR at Carswell, a omson Reuters business. "(Since) 2005, we've become a much more global organization. So one of the challenges from an employee engagement (perspec- tive)… is how do you be part of something global and yet keep that sense of community? So we've worked really hard to make sure that we strike that balance," she said. BEST > pg. 14 PART > pg. 2 Ghomeshi report outlines troubled culture Details bad behaviour, lack of trust, inept leadership, faulty processes BY SARAH DOBSON THE RECENTLY RELEASED report on former CBC radio host Jian Ghomeshi is fi lled with ex- amples of a workplace challenged by bad behaviour, lack of trust, in- ept leadership, egoism and faulty processes. And while this case might seem extreme, there are defi nite paral- lels — and lessons that can be ap- plied — to other employers. "My biggest concern is it will be written off as a unique situation because it is obviously extreme, it takes place in a somewhat rari- fi ed environment and it doesn't represent every workplace — you don't have a radio star in every workplace. But many, many work- places have their own kind of stars, whether that is a high-performing employee or a well-connected se- nior executive. ere's a lot of dif- ferent environments in which this kind of turning a blind eye could be tempting when you're dealing with your own version of the star," said Erin Kuzz, a founding member of INFORMAL > pg. 12

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