In Canada, nearly all Provinces have a holiday during the summer months.  The dates, names and pay treatments vary by province but, generally, the first Monday in August is set aside as a holiday. 

In the Halifax Regional Municipality, the first Monday in August is Natal Day.  Natal Day is not, however, a province-wide “statutory holiday” rather it is classified as a “civic holiday”.  HRM By Law H100 dictates that all shops, except those explicitly listed as “exempt” must close, and remain closed, during the whole of the civic holiday except between the hours of twelve noon and six o’clock.  Because Natal Day is not a statutory holiday no employer in the HRM is required to pay “holiday pay” nor is any “exempt” employer required to pay an overtime rate for hours worked on Natal Day. 

In New Brunswick, the first Monday in August is New Brunswick Day and New Brunswick Day is a province-wide, paid statutory holiday.  Qualifying employees who work that day are eligible to receive regular wages plus time-and-a-half for all time worked.  Qualifying employees who do not work New Brunswick Day are eligible to receive holiday pay. 

Finally, in the event that you are operating with a collective agreement, the rules of the agreement will dictate how the holiday is observed in your company.

Still unsure?  Call or send us an email with your questions.

HR pros is in the spotlight in the July edition of Biz Beat, the online newsletter of the Centre for Women in Business.  Read the full article here.

HR pros is extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Wayne Adams will be joining HR pros as a Senior Consultant and Government Liaison.  The official press release is here.

Dr Wayne Adams

From 2004 – a CBC interview with Dr Wayne Adams.

Seeking hands-on and dynamic Vice President of Finance - Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Reporting to the President & CEO, the Vice President of Finance will be responsible for all functional aspects of finance, accounting, human resources, legal and administration.   The incumbent will play a significant role in strategic planning and will drive the overall company financial function to support growth and revenue objectives. 

The position offers an excellent remuneration package and growth opportunity!

Additional information on our job opportunity page here.

HR pros is pleased to announce the appointment of Tanya Sieliakus, managing partner HR pros, to the Human Resources Committee of the Board of the East Coast Music Association.   

A certified human resources professional, Tanya will bring her skills and experience to the activities of the Committee.

With a keen interest in music and its industry, Tanya is excited to offer her expertise to the Association. The committee chair, Lynn Daigle of Malkin Music, is also expressing her satisfaction with the new addition.

Those of you who can remember the Canada/USSR Summit hockey series (La Série du siècle in French) will recall the passion that overtook Canada that September in 1972.   I recall schools closing early and special work arrangements being made so that folks could watch the games.   Everybody was talking about the Summit, it was in all the papers and on TV.   More recently, Olympic Hockey fever captured our collective attention. 

In just a few weeks, another month-long event will capture the attention of a lot of Canadians and of most of the world.   The 2010 FIFA World Cup will start 11 June and will end on 11 July in South Africa.   As important as hockey is to the fabric of  Canadians, soccer has similar impact on the lives of people around the world.  In fact, for a lot of people, the World Cup is a more important event than the Olympics.  

A word of advice: if you are dealing with customers overseas, you’d better check the World Cup schedule before scheduling an appointment or making that all important phone call. 

A recent study, conducted during the 2010 Olympics, showed that contrary to what we might assume, the Olympics did not distract employees from their jobs.   Rather, the Olympics created comradeship and engaged employees in the workplace.  As a business owner, you might want to take advantage of the World Cup to increase employee engagement.  Here are a few suggestions:

1.            Team bonding.   Use the backdrop of the World Cup for team bonding.  Maybe schedule an outing to catch a big game or simply turn on the TV in the boardroom.  Create a World Cup bulletin board where stats will be kept.   Leverage this event and increase team cohesion and morale.

2.            Diversity.  Diversity is good for business, in fact it’s a competitive business advantage.   Where are your employees from? Where are your clients from?  Make it an occasion to learn about someone elses’s culture.   You might consider adopting teams that reflect the diversity of your employee and client bases.    

3.            Consider flex time.  You get the work done and those employees who are die-hard fans get to watch the important games without missing work.  Employees who do not care for soccer can also benefit from the flex time schedule. This is a win-win situation.

By the way, Canada last qualified for the men’s World Cup in 1986.  

Do you have suggestions on how to use the World Cup to your advantage?  We would be pleased to read them.

Our previous post on Diversity and Inclusion has been published in the May/June 2010 edition of Mingle Magazine.  You can read the original text here.  We’ll post a link to the Mingle article once it becomes available.

Our client, Sampling Technologies Incorporated (“STI”), is currently recruiting a Vice President of Finance.

STI develops viable and unique solutions for pharmacy reimbursement of prescription drug sampling, a cornerstone of pharmaceutical marketing.  STI creates a more aligned patient care model that improves efficiency and the return on investment for the pharmaceutical industry. 

Reporting to the President & CEO, the Vice President of Finance will be responsible for all functional aspects of finance, accounting, human resources, legal and administration.   The incumbent will play a significant role in the success of Sampling Technologies and will drive the overall company financial function to support growth and revenue objectives. 

The position offers an excellent remuneration package and growth opportunity!

Additional information on our job opportunity page here.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 is the National Day of Mourning.   Each year this day has been set aside to honour those workers across Canada whose lives have been lost, injured, disabled or who suffer from occupational diseases because of hazards or incidents in the workplace.

The National day of Mourning, also known as the Workers’ Memorial day, was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and was officially recognized by the federal government in 1991.  The Day of Mourning has since spread to about 80 countries around the world. 

The number of deaths in the Canadian workplace each year is astonishing!  Between 1993 and 2007, 13,106 workers lost their lives because of work-related accidents.  In 2007, there were 1,055 workplace deaths’ in addition to another 972,407 Canadian workers who were injured or become ill.  This represents nearly 3 deaths every single day. 

Work-related accidents are very expensive. The total of compensation paid to work accident victims, or their families, and of other economic costs of work-related injuries, each year are estimated at more than $12 billion. This figure does not take into account the pain and suffering of the victims and their families, which are incalculable.

The purpose of Day of Mourning is twofold- to remember and honour those lives lost or injured and to renew the commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace – to prevent further deaths, injuries and diseases from work.  Typically the Canadian flag on Parliament Hill is flown at half-mast, and workers and employees observe this day in various ways including lighting candles, donning ribbons and black armbands, and observing moments of silence.

The National Day of Mourning is as much a day to remember the dead as it is a call to protect the living.  Every employer should recognize this day.  For ideas on how to bring attention to this day in your workplace visit www.ccohs.ca/events/mourning.

Statistics Canada has released an updated report on the minimum wage in Canada. 

In 2009, roughly 796,000 people were working at or below the provincial minimum wage.  This represents 5.6% of all employees in Canada, a slight increase compared with the 5.2% recorded the previous year. The minimum wage ranged from $8.00 per hour in British Columbia to $9.50 per hour in Ontario.  The full report is availalble here.

A reminder that the minimum wage will increase  to $9.20 per hour on 1 April 2010 in Nova Scotia.