Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 31, 2016 NEWS/FEATURES 17 HR Manager's Guide to Employment Files and Information Management: Legislation and Best Practices uniquely addresses the management of all types of employee information throughout the employment lifecycle, from recruitment to termination. Employment information and documentation management carries legal requirements that protect an organization from litigation, and are essential to the creation of sound policies for efficient, effective, and ethical business practices. Easy to read and understand, this new guide provides Human Resources professionals and others who deal with employee files, either electronically or in paper format, with: • Key legislation and emerging case law • Best practices in the areas of privacy, records retention, human resources information systems (HRIS), and information security • Practical guidance, tools and templates, such as sample policies • Information on all Canadian jurisdictions Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # 986618-65203 $70 Softcover approx. 100 pages April 2015 978-0-7798-6618-2 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. New Publication HR Manager's Guide to Employment Files and Information Howard A. Levitt, B.A., LL.B., and Tanya Neitzert, B.A., CHRP Brought to you by: © 2016 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00228VC-A49657-E98871 requests under the Canada La- bour Code. "We've strengthened the crite- ria used to assess the merits of the request for a waiver, which should be granted on an exceptional basis only." Too paternalistic? Stricter enforcement will be a marked headache for federally regulated employers, said Ron Minken, managing director at Minken Employment Lawyers in Unionville, Ont., adding the rule's intent is to help transitioning em- ployees find new jobs. "In disguise, this is kind of like an employer outplacement com- mittee," he said. "Needless to say, employers are up in arms about this. e last thing you want is more regulation. ey don't want to have to take on a paternalistic role." Yet it appears that's what the federal government ex- pects through this alteration, said Minken. The regulation change is part of the pendulum swing expected when a new fed- eral party forms government, he said. "It's definitely going to be more of a burden," said Sara Kauder, a lawyer at Minken Employment Lawyers. "It's going to be one more thing that an employer is going to have to do as part of the termination process, and there's already a number of steps that are involved. From an employer standpoint, it's a burden from a time standpoint, from a financial standpoint." Mass layoffs are typically caused by major organizational upheaval spurred by financial strain, she said. Adding further red tape to the process will be up- setting to employers. "I think the rationale behind it is: When you have all these em- ployees flooding the marketplace at once, it's naturally going to take longer for them to find work," said Kauder. It's possible the federal government is doing this to lessen its employment insurance (EI) obligations, said Minken, "because instead of allowing employees to collect EI, if the onus is put on employers, then they're going to be lessening the EI ask and getting them re-employed quicker." e real question is whether the onus to find work should be on the employer or employee, he said. Struggling employers may be able to find other methods of mass terminations without pen- alty, said Minken. "It may be a greater burden on them, but we'll probably find em- ployers will be more creative." On the right track On the other hand, the move ef- fectively closes a loophole that employers were using much too frequently, said Basu Sharma, hu- man resources professor at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. "It's a very serious issue because when someone loses their job, it has a lot of implications for that person, the family, the communi- ty," he said. "So I think the minister is on the right track." The law already existed, but abuse of the "exceptional circum- stance" clause was rendering it ineffective, he said. "is has more to do with clos- ing a loophole," he said. "They were exploiting that particular provision. e government isn't trying to hurt the employer, but rather (have them) use this law appropriately." Abuse is still possible, said Sharma, pointing out companies could technically still lay off 49 workers over the span of a month. More work may need to be done in that respect. "In today's economy, employ- ers are facing a lot of competi- tive pressure from all around the world, but employment security is really in jeopardy," he said. "e way we understand employee se- curity does not exist anymore. So whichever way we can protect the workers, I think we need to do our best." Situations vary But it's not that easy, said Jamie Knight, president of the Cana- dian Association of Counsel to Employers (CACE) in Hamilton. "is is a very multi-layered issue and it seems to us that the government is looking at just a small slice," he said. "It's not a simple one-size-fits-all situation. It seems to us that the government is tinkering without really looking at the overarching question as to whether or not the legislation — as it currently stands — properly serves the interests of employers and employees, or whether it's really based on an outdated legal fiction." While the law was originally implemented to address major closures, current layoff situations could be as simple as relocating a government office, said Knight. "In a very fluid economy where you have a large organization with employment locations across the country, it's not always smart or applicable legislation," he said. "Tinkering with a waiver sounds a lot like window dressing, not a fundamental initiative that is either important or warranted. "When you hear the word 'waiver,' it sounds like a company is trying to avoid its statutory obligations and getting govern- ment approval to do so, but that's generally not the case at all. Let's face it, in most cases, having em- ployees hang around for 16 weeks simply to comply with a statutory obligation… doesn't make any sense." Poor morale and disinterest could cost the company even more, he said. Change could prove burdensome for employers MASS LAYOFFS < pg. 1 "e way we understand employee security does not exist anymore." What's getting in the way? Where organizations have opted to install an enterprise social network, but aren't seeing high levels of engagement, it might be because company leaders aren't using it, according to Altimeter's 2015 study. When top executives don't see collaboration and en- gagement as a good use of their time, employees quickly learn they shouldn't either. ere's also a chance organiza- tions haven't chosen a platform that suits employees' needs or corporate culture. Three-quar- ters (77 per cent) of employees said their IT department didn't consult them before rolling out a new collaboration tool, while an- other 58 per cent said they didn't get asked for feedback after a tool was implemented, according to a 2014 poll by Softchoice. Alternatively, employees might not grasp how to make the most of the tech installed on their lap- tops and devices. Thirty-eight per cent of respondents said they never use some of their company communications tools, found the survey. Digging a little deeper, one- third of employees didn't receive any training on using a new col- laboration tool, and of those that did, about half said they got less than half an hour of training time. Considering the macro view Deciding whether or not to bring a collaboration tool into the workplace is a decision to be made within a broader context, says Pau. "Does the tool fit the bigger pic- ture?" she says. "You need to figure out why it's important for the business and what you're trying to achieve with it. What's your overall goal and why does it fit into the overall strategy and vision? If employees don't see the value of it, why would they use it?" e other thing to consider is the collaboration tool is not going to fix a broken process, says Pau. "It's not going to work unless collaboration is already embed- ded into the culture of the busi- ness. e tool is only going to work if you honestly believe in collaboration and the leaders are demonstrating those behaviours all the time and they're really, truly valued in the company," she says. "If the company doesn't believe it, the tool's not going to fix it." If an organization does choose to install an enterprise social net- work, weaving it strategically into everyday practices, rather than layering it on as separate commu- nications tool, is recommended, says Pelletier. "The key is to move beyond standalone tools and embed so- cial-driven collaboration directly into core business processes." Continued shift It's projected the global market for enterprise social networking will reach $4.8 billion by 2020, accord- ing to a 2015 report by Global In- dustry Analysts, fuelled in part by an effort to keep an increasingly mobile workforce virtually linked. "is is the trend," says Pelletier. "It's all about connectedness. e more we collaborate, the more powerful our performance is bound to be. Social collaboration tools are going to work differently in each organization but, overall, a powerful new network is emerg- ing around us. Over time, we'll ex- periment with different forums to bring in the new." Melissa Campeau is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Technology use requires employee training NETWORKS < pg. 15 "The more we collaborate, the more powerful our performance will be."

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