HR News 2023
This portal provides a round-up of news on trending Canadian HR topics that are not related to legislation updates or new case law .
Updates
- 2023-12-01. Employment Stagnant Again in November
- 2023-11-28. TELUS Mental Health Index reveals workers lose 55 working days per year due to workplace conflict
- 2023-11-23. Canada Currently Needs 20,000 Truck Drivers
- 2023-11-21. KPMG Canada and Microsoft Canada launch executive training centre
- 2023-11-20. MPs, unions raise alarm over Windsor EV battery plant’s plan to bring in foreign workers
- 2023-11-20. Progress being made, but majority of Canadian employers still not offering fertility benefits
- 2023-11-17. Amazon increasingly stern about return to the office. Employees at risk for being overlooked for promotions.
- 2023-11-17. 320 new security officers hired to protect BC healthcare workers against violence associated with toxic drug crisis
- 2023-11-08. WeWork files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To close office spaces in Toronto & Vancouver
- 2023-11-07. Coast Capital giving employees a one-time wellness bonus of $1,000 in response to economic uncertainty.
- 2023-11-03. Moxies fires workers who show support for pro-Gaza march
- 2023-11-03. Unemployment rate rises in October to 5.7%: Stats Can
- 2023-10-26. How many Canadian workers have access to paid sick leave?
- 2023-10-24. 40% of Canadian employers offering higher starting salaries amid hiring challenges
- 2023-10-10. Proposed class action case filed against TD for failing to pay vacation & holiday pay on commissions and other non-salary compensation
2023-12-01. Employment Stagnant Again in November
The number of employed Canadians rose by a modest amount last month while the actual unemployment rate also went higher, sitting at 5.8%, representing a modest gain of 0.1%.
2023-11-28. TELUS Mental Health Index reveals workers lose 55 working days per year due to workplace conflict
TELUS Health's monthly TELUS Mental Health Index revealed that workers who experience conflict at work lose an average of 55 work days per year. The Index also found that among workers in Canada, 26 per cent say better support for their wellbeing is more important than an increase in salary.
2023-11-23. Canada Currently Needs 20,000 Truck Drivers
The Canada trucking industry is currently in search of at least 20,000 truck drivers, and may require tens of thousands more in the upcoming years.
The PWC report posited that one third of the current drivers are nearing retirement, and the labor gap is set to reach 30,000 in the upcoming years if recruitment does not pick up.
2023-11-21. KPMG Canada and Microsoft Canada launch executive training centre
Operational Risk Skills Development Centre provides business leaders education on cybersecurity and generative artificial intelligence.
Today, KPMG in Canada and Microsoft Canada announced the launch of the Operational Risk Skills Development Centre, a co-developed initiative. The Centre will offer free hands-on training to help businesses and governments build cybersecurity protection, navigate the opportunities and challenges of generative AI, and implement it responsibly.
2023-11-20. MPs, unions raise alarm over Windsor EV battery plant’s plan to bring in foreign workers
Plans for a flagship electric-vehicle battery plant being built in Windsor, Ont., with up to $15-billion in subsidies, have sparked concerns that scores of jobs could go to temporary foreign workers, cutting into promised employment for Canadians.
Opposition MPs suspect that large numbers of foreign workers will be brought in to construct and staff the EV factory, which is heavily subsidized by both the federal and Ontario governments.
2023-11-20. Progress being made, but majority of Canadian employers still not offering fertility benefits
A new study of almost 1,000 Canadian employers finds most (53%) do not offer fertility benefits for employees. Fertility benefits are essential because infertility affects approximately 1 in 6 Canadian couples and it comes with a heavy financial burden, leaving treatment out of reach for many.
Of the employers (47%) that do offer fertility benefits, less than 2% cover both drugs and treatment costs such as IVF procedures, sperm, eggs, and testing. Coverage for both is critical because many provinces do not offer any funding, leaving people to pay for their own health care. The study found the median lifetime coverage limit for fertility drugs is now $6,000. This amount is increasing but is still far below what is typically required to build a family.
2023-11-17. Amazon increasingly stern about return to the office. Employees at risk for being overlooked for promotions.
Amazon is growing increasingly stern with its return-to-office mandate, and it’s now saying employee promotions may be on the line.
The tech giant told employees in February that they would be expected in the office three days a week, starting in May. It then brushed aside an employee walkout in late May protesting the requirement, telling Fortune at the time, “We’re always listening and will continue to do so, but we’re happy with how the first month of having more people back in the office has been.”
Now, the company has added a new rule that promotions for employees who fail to work from the office three days a week will be blocked.
2023-11-17. 320 new security officers hired to protect BC healthcare workers against violence associated with toxic drug crisis
2023-11-08. WeWork files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. To close office spaces in Toronto & Vancouver
WeWork has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, marking a stunning fall for the office-sharing company once seen as a Wall Street darling that promised to upend the way people went to work around the world.
The 69 potential closures of the global leader in flexible work will be focused on locations that are “largely non-operational”, including two in Toronto, two in Vancouver, and one in Burnaby, CBC reported. Most of the others are located in New York.
2023-11-07. Coast Capital giving employees a one-time wellness bonus of $1,000 in response to economic uncertainty.
The bonus is geared towards helping employees grappling with the rising cost of living amid higher than normal interest rates and inflation.
2023-11-03. Moxies fires workers who show support for pro-Gaza march
The downtown Toronto restaurant fired four employees who cheered on the steps of a restaurant of their workplace to express their support for the National March for Gaza on Oct. 21.
2023-11-03. Unemployment rate rises in October to 5.7%: Stats Can
2023-10-26. How many Canadian workers have access to paid sick leave?
A lot of employees did not have access to paid sick leave (PSL) nearly three decades ago and, despite some changes, many are still left waiting for this benefit, according to a recent report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).
Roughly two-thirds of Canadian men (63.4 per cent) and women (65.1 per cent) have access to PSL in 2022. These numbers are up from 56.6 per cent and 54.8 per cent, respectively, in 1995.
2023-10-24. 40% of Canadian employers offering higher starting salaries amid hiring challenges
The majority (92 per cent) of Canadian employers say they face challenges hiring skilled talent and 40 per cent say they plan to increase starting salaries in 2024 to attract and retain highly skilled workers, according to a new survey by Robert Half Canada.
The survey, which polled more than 1,300 employers and more than 1,100 employees, found a third (35 per cent) of employers said there has been an uptick in job candidates who ask to negotiate compensation packages. Indeed, 40 per cent of employee respondents said not being offered a pay package in line with their expectations is their greatest frustration while looking for a new job.
2023-10-10. Proposed class action case filed against TD for failing to pay vacation & holiday pay on commissions and other non-salary compensation
A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against Toronto-Dominion Bank alleging that more than 1,000 TD mobile mortgage specialists across Canada did not receive their proper vacation and holiday pay.
The case alleges the bank failed to pay or properly pay its mobile mortgage specialists vacation and/or public holiday pay on their commissions, volume bonuses and other variable payments.
It alleges the money was owed, but not paid, on top of the set commissions and other non-salary compensation.