Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER January 25, 2016 8 NEWS employer cuts are sometimes written into collective agreements through a tip pooling or sharing provision — the government said the bill was drafted in a manner that will eventually phase out the practice when those contracts expire, effectively eliminating the practice on all fronts. at the legislation has been in the works for so many years is indicative of a precarious labour force and loosely regulated indus- try, compared to the traditional workforce, said Jonquille Pak, an employment lawyer at Toronto- based firm Whitten & Lublin. "It's a really positive develop- ment as it relates to the hospital- ity and service industry where you typically have a lot of staff who are highly dependent on tips as part of their overall remuneration." One reason for the delay could have been the lack of employee pushback against the practice, she said. "You have generally a workforce that is very young, maybe less educated if they're not students, and there is a high turnover. You have a lot of transient workers in that industry, so they're less likely to push back on employers taking advantage." Because tips were not con- sidered part of wages under the Employment Standards Act, it left room for interpretation and, in some cases, manipulation. Employers are allowed to make certain types of deductions to wages, such as for Canada Pen- sion Plan or income tax or health benefit programs, but because tips weren't included, it became problematic, said Pak. "at never applies to tips. It wasn't defined as a part of wages, and it's still not. But this legisla- tion addresses that gap." It's a move in the right direction to hold the industry to a standard, to make it accountable, she said. "It's not just bars and restau- rants, it's any type of service pro- vided. It casts a broad net in terms of its application and employers need to be careful of this — there are fines under the Employment Standards Act; compliance issues, Ministry of Labour complaints. It's narrow, but the application is vast." It is, therefore, the responsibil- ity of HR professionals to review current policies and practices, and determine whether they may have to make changes or develop a set of clear guidelines, said Pak. Oftentimes, it is the role of hu- man resources to inform man- agement, as the latter are not al- ways aware of these reforms and how they apply to their business. It's HR's responsibility to inform management on how to revise and properly implement current practice for collecting tips, she said. 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Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00228VC-A49657-E98872 New Publication HR Manager's Guide to Employment Files and Information Management: Legislation and Best Practices A Canadian HR Reporter Special Report Howard A. Levitt, B.A., LL.B., and Tanya Neitzert, B.A., CHRP Brought to you by: • eating more fruits and veggies • eating out less often • reading nutrition labels. Eighty-eight per cent of the participants said their Fitbit was effective in building awareness around leading an active lifestyle and getting adequate sleep. Two- thirds said the diet log was effec- tive in helping them gain aware- ness and improve their personal eating habits. ey also found blood work re- sults were important in motivat- ing them to change their lifestyle. On the coaching side, 84 per cent of the employees found their coach provided the information and support needed to achieve the goals of their wellness action plan, while 53 per cent found the number of interactions with their assigned coach was adequate and timely. Two-thirds (68 per cent) of the participants said they had a very good or excellent overall experi- ence and 85 per cent would rec- ommend Self-Health to friends, family and other colleagues. Some of the participants who only had one hour with the coach said they would have appreciated the 30-minute followup session enjoyed by others, said Chin. And going forward, TELUS is con- sidering offering different types of coaching for different groups. Higher-risk groups, for example, might have more time with a coach while lower-risk people might have a more robust social challenge, so healthy people sup- port healthy people. "It's sharing the resources to put the resources in the right place for the right people… it's personal- ized wellness," she said. Investment in the pilot project cost TELUS $750 which garnered an ROI of about $87 per person based on the reduction of diabe- tes or prediabetes risk that was linked to potential returns when it came to a reduction in sick days, disability and health benefit costs, said Chin. "We were able to reduce the team's cardiovascular risks by al- most 50 per cent; we were able to improve and lower the risk of dia- betes… by 35 per cent; and arthri- tis by 22 (per cent) and so forth; and even depression, almost at 10 per cent." When it comes to an employer building a wellness ROI, science- based programming is important, she said. "Besides the idea that, yes, it's the right thing to do, there's always the dollars investment but also the time investment in this project, so you want to understand what's working, what's not, what pays off better and what doesn't pay off, so when you have numbers, you can run the analtyics, you can see if your program is working from even a steps perspective." By understanding a certain number of people have metabolic syndrome, and this kind of pro- gram could reduce their risk, em- ployers could see fewer employees taking medication with respect to hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, said Chin. "(Wellness) is a strategic piece of the business, not only about performance but also about cost. It doesn't mean that a company shouldn't pay for looking after people but I always say people are really smart — just give them the tools to look after themselves, and they will. "We believe employers have a huge role — given the fact they're already committed to team mem- bers, why not do it in a very scien- tific way with an ROI so that the chief financial officer checks it off as a 'necessary to do' rather than a 'likely to do?'" Project cost $87 per person TELUS < pg. 3 "When you have the numbers, you can see if your program is working."

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