Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER November 30, 2015 12 NEWS if they sincerely realize it and take steps around correcting the behaviour and not repeating the misconduct again." e decisions arbitrators make usually turn on the investiga- tion of the case and the belief of whether this misconduct has the possibility of repeating itself or not, she said. But even if it's not a hugely high-profile situation, there are still a lot of relational ripples among employees when an event like this occurs, he said. "Hydro One just happens to be a public company. (But) in a privately run company, the is- sues are the same. In both cases, to me, the main issue that you have to manage is the polariza- tion of employees' perspective and management's perspectives," said Salveta. In most organizations, employ- ers have embraced the fact there have to be anti-harassment poli- cies, non-violence policies and procedures and standards, and corrective discipline and action, he said. "You have standards as an or- ganization and you have values as an organization, and if one of your employees is acting outside of those standards, you have to stand up and enforce them." Which is one reason why it's likely employers will continue to be arguably a bit heavy-handed with discipline. "It's much more serious I think today — organizations take al- most a zero-tolerance approach toward many of these activities," said Salveta. "When it happens, either inside or outside the workplace, on Face- book or on Twitter, you're going to see much more progressive disci- pline and perhaps more termina- tions as a result." In cases like this, there will be polarization and resentment from some employees, and agreement from others, he said. "e number one issue for me is you've just taken a workforce and divided it." Re-integrating problem employees If it's decided an employee should be reinstated, how can the em- ployer balance giving her a sec- ond chance while also protecting its own interests? "What HR can do, manage- ment can do is spending time with the employee, having discussions about the issue, making sure they sincerely realize they performed misconduct, making clear what it means, and making it clear… how this misconduct can be avoided in the future. And keeping an eye on them from both perspectives," said Vassilieva. "When it comes to reinstate- ment… form a logical human perspective, they're tough situ- ations, and if it can be avoided, that's better. Reinstatement is a difficult step." ere is just no way to com- pletely avoid the fact that work- ers are human and they will have opinions on the situation, said Salveta. "If the employee comes back, no matter what you try to do, no matter how you train your manag- ers and employees, there's going to be personal biases that you're going to have to manage. "There's going to be resent- ments, there's going to be perhaps individuals that will feel that the organization is completely rud- derless, valueless or, on the other hand, the more non-supportive of the employees are going to use this as a way of saying, 'See? Our organization is unfair.'" Avoiding harassment ere's no perfect way for em- ployers to reintegrate an em- ployee back into the workplace, said Cissy Pau, principal consul- tant at Clear HR Consulting in Vancouver. "e employer has to be re- ally careful how they deal with the communications piece, the public relations piece, they have to manage with the union, what happens with the employees at the workplace who've seen all this and now have formed their percep- tions, and then for the employee (himself ) — how do you protect his confidentiality? "How do you make it easier for him so that he's not being bullied or harassed?" It's about ensuring there is a safe and harassment-free workplace for all parties — including the re- hired employee, she said. "It kind of goes all ways. It's not just the people at the workplace being comfortable with him — you also have to make sure that he's not being harassed as well. If these people have negative feel- ings about him, are they going to ostracize him, are they going to make it difficult for him?" said Pau. "As an employer, enforcing the company's policies on harass- ment and bullying and all that is important." Having an action plan is also key, she said. "How do we make sure the em- ployee gets integrated or re-inte- grated back into the workforce so that it's as positive an outcome as possible? And that involves deal- ing with the employee, talking to the union and making sure they're onside; it's some communication with the rest of the employees, it's some PR." It's important to make every worker feel safe in the workplace, said Vassilieva. "In Ontario, for example, there is workplace harassment (legisla- tion) and employers have to com- ply with that. So, in my opinion, it's all about having a policy in place and making communication about it very clear. "So employers have to be very transparent and communicate very clearly what the policy is, what are the mechanisms around the policy, how employees can report to relevant parties if they feel threatened or if they feel unsafe for whatever reason, and what remedies organizations have in place in order to address those questions and concerns for people," she said. "Employers have to be very clear in terms of what protection mechanisms they offer." at's particularly important if the employee in question had issues such as addiction or anger issues, said Pau. "It can't be swept under the car- pet, that's for sure. I think those issues need to be addressed at the outset of the rehiring. I would hope that that would have been taken into consideration in the arbitration as well," she said. "If there were those kinds of is- sues and rehiring was required, then (it's about) certainly setting expectations with the employee of what's expected of their perfor- mance, giving them appropriate feedback… do they need coun- selling? Does the person need ad- ditional training or the employee assistance program? "If it's purely a performance- related issue, I think that has to be set out upfront." Polarization, resentment arise among employees REHIRING < pg. 1 Having that flexibility can help mitigate the effects of fatigue, said MacVinnie. "One (common thing) when people are going through treat- ments is fatigue, so it might be about how to manage that fatigue. It might be a reduced work day, for example, to help them get through — they'd have a bit more time to rest, a bit more time to sleep," she said. "Oftentimes, going through treatments, a person's immunity is compromised, so they're some- what more prone to catch things. "So if there's the possibility of working from home for a period so that they're not in contact with others, particularly during sea- sons where there's a lot of flus and colds and people are very conta- gious, that might be very helpful if they can do some telework." ere can be a range of solu- tions, just as there is a range of patient experiences, said Nellis. "e way employers can be the most useful in helping someone work through treatment or come to work in the early stages of re- covery is to think creatively with them about ways to mitigate those challenges. What can we all do to improve someone's ability to con- tinue to work?" she said. "Is it having the person who typically changes the water cooler but can't because they can't lift it for a period of time, have someone else do that? Is it having them start work a little later so they miss the throes of the commute, because that makes their day longer and they're very fatigued? "So it's about coming up with those unique accommodations to the circumstances — but practical solutions to the problems." Nothing set in stone One of the most critical things to understand is that carefully laid plans notwithstanding, things may change — and, as an em- ployer, it's about being flexible, said MacVinnie. "If people are going to be going through the traditional types of cancer therapy, they will go on for a period of time. It could be quite intense — a daily treatment, for example, if they're having radia- tion therapy over a month or six weeks; if they're having chemo- therapy, it could be every other week over six months. So they'll have an intense period where it's hard to anticipate what kind of side effects they'll have from their treatment, so it's hard to know how they will feel," she said. "ere's a plan A — 'Here's what we're going to try to do assuming that things go more or less as we anticipate' — (but then) maybe try to explore with the person, what if? 'What if you feel really unwell and you can't work?'" e more sensitive an employer can be to that and the more willing it is to work with the employee, the more successful the outcomes are for everyone, said Nellis. "We talk to a lot to patients and survivors and employers and health-care professionals about how important it is that everyone goes into these conversations rec- ognizing that it's a fluid process. Because what someone's experi- encing one day one isn't neces- sarily going to be the same thing they're experiencing on day 45." Employers should recognize it's a fluid process CANCER < pg. 9 "How do we make sure the employee gets re-integrated back into the workforce so it's as positive an outcome as possible?" CityNews reporter Shauna Hunt speaks to Shawn Simoes at a Toronto Football Club game in Toronto on May 10. Simoes was subsequently fired by Hydro One, but later rehired after arbitration. Credit: CityNews Toronto

• Cover