Some Canadian companies are considering giving their non-smoking employees more vacation time to make up for the smoking breaks their fellow employees take during the workday, according to a new piece on CAHI.org. This discussion is making for quite the hot topic in Canada, when a Japanese marketing firm; Piala Inc., decided to give six …
Tag: Employee Wellness
Getting Hygge With It
I’m an avid reader. Sometimes, I read business books that make me think (like this one), other times, I read crime fiction for the escape from my everyday life (like this one), but most recently, I’ve been reading The Little Book of Hygge – The Danish Way to Live Well and it really struck a …
Celebrating Mamas (and Babies) at Salopek!
It’s amazing how fast time flies – and that’s especially true in the workplace when you have a team and colleagues that you respect and love working with. For me, this is the case at Salopek & Associates. Yesterday we had the pleasure of celebrating one of our amazing Consultants and rock star mamas, Clementine …
The Opportunity of Accommodation
As human resources professionals, the backbone that surrounds of much of the work that you do is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You are all familiar with your duty to accommodate and what that means for your employers. Accommodation is deeply ingrained in the human resources profession and is part of something we …
Managing Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism is one of the most common and frustrating issues faced by employers. According to Statistics Canada, in 2012, the average Canadian worker was away from work for 9.3 days – the equivalent of almost 2 weeks. Almost 80% of those absences were considered “casual” and not supported by any sort of doctor’s note. …
The Role of HR in Health & Safety
Traditionally, the makeup of organizations have included departments like Accounting & Finance, Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Operations, etc. This old-style model was quite rigid and didn’t allow for much fluidity in the structure, even when there was crossover between business units. Nowadays, although organizations may physically map out their structure, the lines between departments …
Why We Run – Culture, Caring & Community
Salopek’s Run to Renew 10km charity run to support the Calgary Food Bank is this Saturday, and admittedly, I haven’t trained at all. For me it will likely be a gruelling run, completed in a time that won’t be announced, and I am half expecting my weimaraner Bluelle who is running with me to barf …
Staying Positive in a Depressed Economy
2015 was a tough year for the province of Alberta and 2016 isn’t shaping up to be any better. The drastic dip in oil price has led to mass layoffs and unemployment rates that have not been seen since the previous recession in 2007-2008. Although there is no way to predict economic factors with 100% …
Lay-Offs – Moving Forward With Purpose
We have all either experienced it and/or read about it – the after effects of a lay-off. Staff leaving offices with their termination packages, stunned as they walk to their desk to pack up their belongings and looking embarrassed as they say a quick good-bye to those they meet in the hall. Those that remain stand …
The Quest for Work-Life Balance
Now, more than ever, employees have numerous commitments and obligations outside of the office and are constantly being pulled in many directions. A shift in technology in recent years has made it easier to stay connected to the workplace to the degree that some employees never fully “shut off” from work mode. It is because …