Category Archives: Human Resources

Comp board revises oh&s training

The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador (WHSCC) has announced that it has revised oh&s training based on feedback from industry, training providers and safety associations.

The certification training program for Occupational Health and Safety Committees and Worker Health and Safety Representatives/Designates (WHSR/Ds) will come into effect on July 1. The new training program will be shorter, with a minimum of 14 hours, and has been condensed into one course for both oh&s committees and WHSR/Ds, the WHSCC reported in a statement on Feb. 2. The program content will also be updated to include a practical component, reflect new legislation, introduce case studies and use new training materials.

Once participants have completed this new program, they will be required to renew their certification every three years.

The WHSCC said in the statement that the training that many oh&s committee members have already completed will continue to be valid for a period of time. Through a phased-in approach, those who have already completed the existing training program have until June 30, 2018 to re-certify, and then must renew their certification every three years thereafter.

Tom Mahoney, executive director of worker services with the WHSCC, said that it is important to offer training to oh&s committees to make them aware of their responsibilities. Mahoney added that the number of oh&s committees in the province has more than tripled in the last decade, with over 3,800 committees as of the end of last year.

Oh&s committee training is now available province-wide from more than 95 training providers. Trainers are required to attend a curriculum orientation session in order to be ready to deliver the new program, with sessions beginning in March.

For more information on the revised training, visit www.whscc.nl.ca. To register for a session, contact the WHSCC at (709) 778-2926 or 1-800-563-9000.

B.C. appeal court rules against Mexico in migrant farm worker case

The Court of Appeal for British Columbia has ruled that the defence of state immunity does not protect Mexico from labour relations issues that affect its workers in Canada.

On Jan. 30, the high court dismissed the appeal from the Supreme Court of British Columbia relating to Mexico’s judicial review petition. The issue arose out of a decision by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board (BCLRB), which involved an application to decertify Local 1518 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW) union as the bargaining agent for a group of agricultural workers at Sidhu & Sons Nursery Ltd. in Mission. The labour board had concluded that state immunity did not prevent it from considering and making findings regarding Mexico’s conduct.

“I do not agree that the [BCLRB] exercised jurisdiction over Mexico when it considered whether Mexico’s conduct amounted to improper interference with the employees of the union for the purpose of exercising its discretion to refuse to cancel the union’s certification,” wrote Justice David Harris in the appeal court decision. “The [BCLRB] made no orders in relation to property in the ownership, possession or control of Mexico. It did not affect Mexico’s legal interests. In my view, that conclusion is sufficient to dispose of this appeal,” Justice Harris wrote.

On April 11, 2011, certain employees of the union applied to the labour board to decertify the union, the decision noted. A little more than a week later, the UFCW filed a complaint seeking the dismissal of the decertification application on the basis that Mexico had engaged in unfair labour practices and improper interference, such that the representation vote was unlikely to reflect the true wishes of union employees. “The union alleged that Mexico employed a policy of preventing workers who supported the union from returning to Canada or from working in unionized workplaces,” Justice Harris wrote.

Initially, the BCLRB ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to require Mexico to participate and dismissed the unfair labour practices complaint. But Justice Lisa Warren of the Supreme Court of B.C. dismissed that position, ruling that Mexico’s conduct could have consequences for others under Canadian law.

“It is one thing for Canadian courts to refrain from imposing Canadian labour law on a foreign employer if necessary to avoid interfering with a foreign state’s sovereign functions,” Justice Warren wrote. “It is quite another thing to ignore conduct of a foreign state that is relevant to the imposition of Canadian labour law on a Canadian employer.”

In the appeal court decision, Justice Harris wrote that it was not necessary in this particular case to consider the scope or content of the act of state doctrine. “The [BCLRB] did no more than examine Mexico’s conduct for the purpose of exercising its remedial powers under the law of British Columbia, in respect of the rights of the employees, the union and the employer in British Columbia,” he wrote. “I do not see that the act of state doctrine, however articulated, has any application to the case before us.”

Ivan Limpright, the president of UFCW Local 1518, called the ruling a victory for the workers involved and said that the case had involved leaked documents that had pointed to the blacklisting of suspected union sympathizers by the Mexican government.

Mexico has 60 days from the date of the appeal court’s decision to decide whether to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

About 40 per cent of workers wouldn’t disclose mental health problems: study

Although nearly four in 10 workers wouldn’t tell their managers if they had mental health problems, half said that if they knew about a co-worker’s illness, they would want to help, a new survey by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found.

The survey, “Worker attitudes towards mental health problems and disclosure,” was published recently in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Headed by Dr. Carolyn Dewa, senior scientist with CAMH in Toronto, the study revealed that workers have both negative and supportive attitudes about mental health in the workplace.

Dr. Dewa said that the survey had asked 2,219 working adults in Ontario: “Would you inform your manager if you had a mental health problem? And, if a colleague had a mental health problem, would you be concerned about how work would be affected?”

Among the 38 per cent who would not tell their manager, more than half were afraid that it would affect their careers, the study found. Other reasons for not disclosing included the bad experiences of others who came forward, fear of losing friends or a combination of those reasons.

The survey also found that three in 10 people wouldn’t tell because it wouldn’t affect their work. A total of 64 per cent said that they would be concerned if a worker had a mental illness, and one in five also worried about making the mental health problem worse.

According to a statement from CAMH, a positive relationship with their manager was the key reason given by those who would reveal that they had a mental health problem. Supportive organizational policies were cited by half of those who would disclose as another factor influencing their decision.

Dr. Dewa said that her past research had shown that workers with depression who received treatment were more productive than those who didn’t. Without disclosing, it might be difficult to get treatment, as work absences for counselling sessions or appointments need to be accounted for, she noted. “Stigma is a barrier to people seeking help,” Dr. Dewa said. “Yet by getting treatment, it would benefit the worker and the workplace, and minimize productivity loss.”

For organizations that want to address the stigma surrounding mental illness, Dr. Dewa recommended a number of elements to be in place, including policies and procedures, as well as facilitating positive relationships between managers and co-workers.

Statistics from CAMH show that in any given year, about one in five Canadians experiences a mental health or addiction problem.