Canadian HR Reporter - Sample Issue

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 17, 2016 18 INSIGHT 'GRAZING' HAZARD KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Fired after drinking her store's orange juice, a diabetic employee has fought back — and won. Linda Atkins' employers at the Maryville Dollar General store knew she was diabetic and needed to keep citrus handy to ward off hypoglycemic attacks. But when she took gulps from a bottle out of the store cooler in 2012, Atkins was dropped from the payroll for "grazing" — eating or drinking inventory without fi rst paying for it, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. However, a U.S. judge ordered the store's corporate owner, Dolgencorp, to pay US$250,000 in damages alongside nearly US$30,000 in back pay, ruling Atkins was discriminated against. While she kept insulin and juice in the break room, she wasn't able to access it when working the cash alone — a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the court rejected the notion managers acted maliciously, allowing the company to avoid punitive damages. STRIPPED OF HIS JOB ST. JOHN'S — A former New- foundland radio announcer is defending a rogue tweet that cost him his job. Joel North released a lengthy podcast defending his comment insinuating a woman would get more online viewers by stripping rather than playing video games. North refused to apologize for his comment, say- ing it would be insulting to exotic dancers, many of who are self- employed entrepreneurs. The original tweet was directed at a woman who had invited her fol- lowers to watch a livestream of her playing a video game, accord- ing to the Toronto Star. North, then employed by Coast 101.1 in St. John's, responded: "You'd get more viewers if you were strip- ping." Social media backlash cost him his job. " e idea of some- body losing their entire livelihood over a harmless joke sets a very dangerous precedent. Free speech is something we all need to fi ght for," said North in his podcast. LOSING THEIR SHIRTS BOBIGNY, FRANCE — A group of Air France workers has gone on trial for a violent incident that left two executives shirtless and fl ee- ing over a fence. e episode was caught on camera during a union protest at the airline's headquarters last year, according to the Associ- ated Press. Five former employees face fi nes and jail time, while 10 current workers face charges of property damage. After thousands of job cuts were announced, the group broke through a gate and scuffl ed with the managers, both of whom were manhandled. One was left with only the tie around his neck and a piece of sleeve on his wrist while the other saw both his shirt and suit jacket shredded. ODOUR ETIQUETTE JAPAN — Smelly employees in Japan earned some professional help recently courtesy of an "odour etiquette" seminar. Forty employ- ees from mobile phone company SoftBank took part in a session aimed at stemming the tide of "smell harassment." A deodorant maker gave lessons on how to stay fresh and avoid workplace bullying and customer complaints, accord- ing to the Mirror. Topics discussed included armpit smells, bad breath, cigarette stench and overuse of cologne or perfume. One com- pany even addressed the issue in a workplace manual, calling for em- ployees to brush their teeth after breaks, refrain from using scents and avoid strong-smelling foods. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 29 No. 17 – October 17, 2016 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 EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor in Chief: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Marcel Vander Wier - (416) 649-7837 marcel.vanderwier@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 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 A farewell to DB pension plans G oodbye, defi ned benefi t pension plan. We hardly knew ya. e end of defi ned benefi t (DB) pension plans for new hires at GM in Canada is hardly shocking. But what is surprising is the paltry re- sistance put up by the leadership and membership of Unifor. Union president Jerry Dias told Canadian HR Reporter not one ac- tive member — not one — raised the issue of pensions during the ratifi cations meeting last month. "We were the last ones standing," he said, noting that GM operations around the globe had already shed the DB plan in favour of defi ned contribution (DC) schemes. ( e last contract with GM Canada had a hybrid DC-DB plan for new hires, but the company didn't hire anyone in the last four years.) In his last days in offi ce in 2008, former Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove called the prospect of changes to pensions "so remote… that it's not worth speculating on." Oh, how the times have changed. e Great Recession followed by an era of historic low interest rates has made getting a good return on pension investments nearly im- possible. DB plans rely on solid, double-digit returns. Otherwise, they wreak havoc on the books of companies and long-term fi nancial planning. Look for Chrysler and Ford to gleefully wind down their hybrid DB plans for new hires as negotiations with Unifor continue based on the pattern set with GM. Hargrove, for his retired part, still sounds hawkish on pensions. He has a new gig as an educator at Toronto's Ryerson University, but he hasn't lost his union soul. Pen- sions are gone for the autoworkers because of one plain and simple fact — company greed, he said. " ey are making record profi ts, all three of them," he told Canadi- an HR Reporter. " ere's no argu- ment that they can't aff ord them." Are you listening Ottawa? Did the words of Dias and Hargrove echo in provincial legislatures? Did a head just turn at city hall? Because if the table-banging, line- in-the-sand-drawing union that represents auto workers throws its hands up on pensions when deal- ing with companies making mas- sive profi ts — well, there can't be much life left for the gold-plated public sector plan either in an era of budget defi cits and austerity, can there? Just do the math. GM generated a profi t of US$9.7 billion in 2015, and it will never again hire a work- er and promise a DB pension. e federal government is projecting a defi cit of $5.4 billion in 2016. On- tario will be in the red to the tune of $5.7 billion. Alberta is looking down the barrel of a $10.4-billion defi cit. e Canadian Federation of In- dependent Business (CFIB) says the unfunded liability for public pension plans across the country is $300 billion. It breaks that math down, showing it "works out to $9,000 for every man, woman and child in Canada." Campaigning on reining in pub- lic sector compensation and end- ing the so-called gravy train has al- ways paid dividends for politicians. Even the Liberals have jumped on that bandwagon. Before being elected, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau — a pensions expert in his former life — had this to say at a 2013 conference, according to the National Post. "Who believes that the aver- age Canadian, without a defi ned benefi t plan, and with the demon- strated capacity to save enough to support their retirement, will, over the long term, agree to fund public sector pensions at a level that they can only dream about attaining themselves?" Never underestimate the power of jealousy. ere's no doubting the defi ned benefi t plan will cease to exist — the question of "if " has long been replaced by a question of "when." As a concept, pensions don't have a long history. e fi rst has generally been credited to Germa- ny's Otto von Bismarck, who pro- posed support for older workers. In 1889, the nation unveiled a scheme that provided for those over age 70, which was pretty much the life ex- pectancy at the time. In the decades that followed, pensions evolved and private sec- tor fi rms started off ering them. After the Second World War, the concept really caught on and de- fi ned benefi t plans fl ourished. But the pensions I watched my grand- parents and my parents retire on are either long dead or clinging to life support. Freedom 55 has been replaced with less-zingy marketing slogans such as "How much do I have in my plan?" and "How long do I think I will live?" Workers' retirement dreams of lazy days on the beach have succumbed to obsessing over asset mixes, lifecycle funds and which fund might have the better rate of return over the next decade. So, farewell, DB plan. And hello expanded Canada Pension Plan — we're going to need you now more than ever. BOLD BURGLARY OTTAWA — It's one of the oldest — and most cringe-worthy — tricks in the book. A Royal Canadian Mint employee allegedly smuggled out nearly $180,000 in gold, evading several layers of security by hiding it in his rectum. e case against Leston Lawrence, 35, of Barrhaven, Ont., took place in an Ottawa courtroom. On multiple occasions, Lawrence took small circular chunks of gold — cookie-sized nuggets called pucks — to a gold buyer in the area, according to the National Post. He would then deposit his cheques at a nearby bank, and request the money be wired out-of-country — that is, until an alert bank teller became suspicious and called the RCMP. Lawrence set off the metal detector at the Mint's secure exit more than any other employee, but always passed searches conducted with a hand-held wand. Investiga- tors found a container of Vaseline in Lawrence's locker. In total, Lawrence smuggled out 18 pucks. Credit: Keith Homan (Shutterstock) ODOUR ETIQUETTE It's one of the oldest — and most cringe-worthy — tricks in the book. A Royal Canadian Mint employee allegedly smuggled out nearly $180,000 in gold, evading several layers of security by hiding it in his rectum. e case against Leston Lawrence, 35, of Barrhaven, Ont., took place in an Ottawa courtroom. On multiple occasions, Lawrence took small circular chunks of gold — cookie-sized nuggets called pucks — to a gold buyer in the . He would then deposit his cheques at a nearby bank, and request the money be wired out-of-country — that is, until an alert bank teller became suspicious and called the RCMP. Lawrence set off the metal detector at the Mint's secure exit more than any other employee, but always passed searches conducted with a hand-held wand. Investiga- tors found a container of Vaseline in Lawrence's locker. In total, Lawrence Credit: Keith Homan (Shutterstock) There can't be much life left for the gold-plated public sector plan either.

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