Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER August 10, 2015 18 INSIGHT PENSIONS TAKE THE RAP LONDON, U.K. — ere are some people who probably shouldn't try to rap. at was evident recently when the British government re- released a video about workplace pensions featuring a group of about 20 employees from a Lon- don DIY store. "Can I have your attention, about the workplace pension? Did I forget to mention? Millions of people are already benefi tin' from being enrolled in the workplace pension," raps one worker, as others chill to another employee's beatbox backing. e musical clip was fi rst released in October 2013, according to the Mirror, but the Department for Work and Pensions re-released the video, adding the lyrics, as part of a wider ad campaign. " is govern- ment rap video about workplace pensions is making me cringe," tweeted GeorgeMcF. NO LAUGHING MATTER BIRMINGHAM, U.K. — Em- ployees at HSBC in England went a little too dark with their humour recently when they posted a video of themselves staging a mock Is- lamic State-style beheading of a colleague. e six workers were on a team-building exercise in Bir- mingham when they made the fi lm and put it up on Instagram, accord- ing to Reuters. e video showed fi ve people in black jumpsuits and balaclavas pretending to behead a kneeling man in an orange jump- suit with a clothes hanger. " is is an abhorrent video and HSBC would like to apologize for any of- fence caused," said a spokesperson for the fi nancial fi rm, which did not say how many employees had been dismissed. SOONER MIGHT HAVE BEEN BETTER BOISE, IDAHO — Under United States federal law, an airline pilot is allowed to carry weapons onboard the plane, but only in the U.S. at could explain why a United Air- lines pilot was being investigated for fl ushing live ammunition down a toilet during an international fl ight from Houston to Munich, according to the Associated Press. e captain apparently fi rst threw the bullets in a trash bin and later flushed the evidence. "We are reviewing the incident and the pi- lot remains an employee," the air- line said in a statement. Under a post-9-11 federal program, pilots are allowed to carry guns on do- mestic fl ights, according to United Airlines spokesperson Karen May. is individual was not carrying a gun but realized he had left am- munition in his bag. "He did incor- rectly dispose of the ammunition," May said, "but it is likely that the pilot is not going to face any crimi- nal charges." BEER PONG MISFIRE SAN FRANCISCO — e diver- sity memo must have gotten lost. Employees at Twitter — a com- pany criticized for its low female population — recently decided to throw a fraternity house-themed party. A purported photo of the event showed red plastic cups, a keg and a beer pong table, ac- cording to Reuters. The party was "in poor taste," said the tech giant, which is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit from a former female software engineer claim- ing Twitter's promotion process unlawfully favours men. is so- cial event was "not refl ective of the culture we are building here at Twitter," said the spokesperson. "We've had discussions internally with the organizing team and they recognize that this theme was ill- chosen." A photo of the event was deleted but the group Global Tech Women put it up on its Twit- ter feed with the hashtags #love- whereyouwork, #diversitymatters and #brogrammers. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 28 No. 13 – August 10, 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: (on leave) 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. Todd Humber EDiTOR'S NOTeS Look for the good in people – you won't have to look far Random acts of kindness will make you a little less jaded T o say, "People are gener- ally good" is a weird state- ment. We kind of know that, right? But, perhaps, some- times we forget it. In the world of human resources, too often professionals are exposed to the worst in people — dealing with sexual harassment, violence, workplace theft and more. If you know any cops, you'll know they tend to be a little jaded. It's hard to blame them — they spend the bulk of their time dealing with idiots and, after a while, they just kind of assume people are bad un- til proven otherwise. My old neighbour was an RCMP offi cer. It took him a while to warm up to me, and even longer to admit what he did for a living. It wasn't until he was sure I was a "good guy" that he opened up — he just kind of assumed I probably had a criminal record and might not take kindly to police. But assuming the worst in peo- ple is a bad road to go down. It's also just wrong. Last week, news surfaced out of Vancouver about a police offi cer who had gone un- dercover in an attempt to bust the person or persons responsible for assaulting and robbing vulnerable people in wheelchairs. Instead, Staff Sgt. Mark Hors- ley got a lesson in human com- passion. Even in one of the worst neighbourhoods in the country, Vancouver's notorious down- town eastside, he found exceeding kindness. He never caught the at- tacker — but what he did get was a lesson: People are generally good. Citizens constantly went out of their way to help him, not hurt him, according to a Toronto Star article. He made it easy to be a vic- tim. He displayed cash openly. He asked people to buy him stuff — and every time he got the item and all his change back. In some cases, he got more money back than he was entitled to. "We had people that needed money, people that are drug sick, people that were desperate, yet they wouldn't stoop so low as to assault or rob me," said Horsley. "And I think that says something good about the human condition. I believe that people are good and want to be good." I don't have a story to equal Horsley but I did have an experi- ence on a recent trip to New Or- leans that endeared that city to me. If you've ever been there, you know there are some rough neigh- bourhoods — areas that make Vancouver's downtown eastside look like relative paradise. A friend and I decided to go see one of our favourite jazz musicians — Kermit Ruffi ns — perform his regular gig on Tuesday night at Bullet's Sports Bar. Bullet's is far off the beaten tourist track of the French Quarter. We took a cab to the bar, despite mild warnings and protestations from the driver, and settled in for the show. It was a fantastic night, fi lled with great music, great people and great barbecue. When the trumpets stopped playing at 10, we called a cab to take us back to our hotel. ey said they would send one — we waited a half-hour, nothing. We called every cab company in the book. When we told them the address, they said they didn't have any cars available. As it approached 11, the bar closed and out came our waitress, Tina. When we said we were wait- ing for a cab, she said: " ey're not coming. ey won't come here af- ter dark." To a couple of guys from Ontar- io, that was unfathomable. ere isn't a neighbourhood in Toronto where cabs won't come get you. Tina pulled up in her van and said, "Hop in." It was her birthday and she was heading to a party. But she had time to drag a couple of Cana- dians back to the French Quarter. Her low fuel light was on and yet she refused any payment. We left $20 on the seat, to protests. So, yes, people are generally good. 'YOU'RE UNDER… APPEAL' WATERLOO, ONT. — A former police offi cer caused a stir recently when he shared details of his three-year suspen- sion, for which he was paid al- most $350,000, according to the Hamilton Spectator. Sent to a police services solicitor — and subsequently made public — Craig Markham's email thanked the force for his continued salary while he played golf, travelled and trained to become a fi refi ghter. "I am very thankful and fortunate to have received such a nice gift… You have opened up other doors for me and have paid me to sit back and watch. What a dream come true." Markham said he sent the message to try and make the best of a bad situation: "My intention was never to mock the system." e offi cer was originally criminally charged with breach of trust and given a conditional discharge in October 2012 after pleading guilty. He was also fi red but appealed the decision and received a salary during the appeal process. When the appeal was dismissed, Markham was ordered to resign and he quit in February. Credit: Barna Tanko/Shutterstock 'YOU'RE UNDER… WATERLOO, ONT. A former police offi cer caused a stir recently when he shared details of his three-year suspen- sion, for which he was paid al- most $350,000, according to Hamilton Spectator. Sent Assuming the worst in people is a bad road to go down.

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