Chapter 12

Ensuring Health and Safety at the

Workplace
Even as organizations of all kinds regularly permit, if not encourage,
management practices that literally sicken and kill their employees, these
same workplaces also suffer because toxic management practices and
unhealthy workplaces do not improve organizational profitability or
performance.

JEFFREY PFEFFER1

Page 317

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. LO1 Describe the major Canadian laws relating to occupational health

and safety.

1. LO2 Assess the traditional thinking with respect to occupational

health and safety issues.

1. LO3 Explain the new thinking with respect to employee rights

relating to occupational health and safety issues.

1. LO4 Outline the implications for human resource management of

safety and health responsibilities.
 1. LO5 Discuss the impact of stress on employees and the workplace.

1. LO6 Summarize the relationship between health and safety issues and
human resource management.

Even today, too many employees are injured at the workplace. Employers,
supervisors, and employees must work together to reduce on-the-job
injuries and illness:

Vernon Theriault was a miner at the Westray coal mine. On May 9,

1992, he was getting ready to go to work and begin his shift when an
explosion at the mine led to the death of 26 miners. As he reflects on
what happened at Westray, he believes that politicians have not done
enough to make workplaces safer. As Theriault notes, “The bottom
line is, the reason I went there is they said it was going to be 20, 25
years of work and you could work all the overtime you want and
(make) $60,000 to $80,000 a year. I was looking after my family and
that was No. 1 for me.”2

At the turn of the twentieth century, the thinking and attitudes of employers
and employees toward accident prevention were quite different from today.
Comments made during this period by employers illustrate this:

“I don’t have money for frills like safety.”

“Some people are just accident prone, and no matter what you do
they’ll hurt themselves some way.”

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“Ninety percent of all accidents are caused by just plain carelessness.”

“We are not in business for safety.”3

During this period, the courts used a legal expression, assumption of risk,
meaning that the worker accepted all the customary risks associated with
the occupation. Workers were instructed to protect themselves from special
hazards such as extreme heat or molten and sharp metal. Furthermore, the
attitudes of employees paralleled those of the employers. Scars and stumps
on fingers and hands were often proudly referred to as badges of honour.
The thought that safety was a matter of “luck” was frequently reflected in
such statements as “I never thought he’d get it; he was always one of the
lucky ones,” or “When your number’s up, there’s not much you can do.”

Over a four-year period in the early 1900s, records of one steel company
show that 1,600 of its 2,200 employees lost time from work because of
injury. In other words, 75 percent of this plant’s entire workforce lost time
from work because of accidents on the job.4

The early approach to safety at work used the careless worker model. It
assumed that most accidents were due to workers’ failure to be careful or to
protect themselves. Even if training was provided to make workers more
aware of the dangers in the workplace, this approach still assumed that it
was mainly the worker’s fault if an accident happened. A new approach, the
shared responsibility model, assumes that the best way to reduce accident
rates relies on the cooperation of the two main partners: the employer and
the employees (who may be represented by a union).5 Accident rates are
reduced when the following occurs:

Management is committed to safety in the workplace.

Employees are informed about accident prevention.

Consultation between the employer and employees takes place on a

regular basis (for example, by a health and safety committee).

There is a trusting relationship between the employer and staff.

Employees have actual input into the decision-making process.

In Chapter 10, one of the topics was workers’ compensation, which has as
its aim the compensation of an employee for injuries suffered on the job.
These programs have a serious defect: They are after-the-fact efforts that
attempt to compensate employees for accidents and illnesses that have
already occurred. Many early supporters of these laws had hoped that costs
would force employees to become more safety-conscious. Yet, even with
greater efforts by employers, accident rates continue to remain high. In
addition, toxins and unhealthy work environments continue to create new
health hazards.

A home building company and contractor were charged in Alberta

after a workplace accident left a father of two paralyzed from the waist
down. The employee severed his spinal cord after falling six metres
through an open stairwell at a construction site. According to a
spokesperson for Occupational Health (Alberta), “The prime employer
is always on the hook. If there’s another company directing work, they
can also be accountable.” The contractor who hired the employee (a
personal friend for several years) said that the charges were an insult.
“It was a tragic accident. If it could have been avoided, it would have
been. That is why they’re called accidents.”6
Workplace Injuries and Health
Hazards
It is estimated that about three Canadian workers die every working day from an
occupational injury or disease. However, the number of work-related injuries has
dropped dramatically since the 1980s, from about 50 per 1,000 employed workers
in 1986 to about 15 per 1,000 workers today. Every minute worked costs the
Canadian economy more than $60,000 in compensation payments to injured
workers. Workplace accidents and occupation-related illnesses cost more than $8
billion annually in compensation payments alone. The total cost is more than $19
billion a year when indirect expenses are taken into account, and this does not
include the incalculable social toll associated with workplace-related accidents.7
Parachute’s Cost of Injury Report (2015) estimates the cost of preventable
injuries to be $27 billion each year, with more than 3.5 million visits to
emergency rooms and over 60,000 disabilities. Injuries cost Canadians more than
heart disease and stroke do, and injury is the number one cause of death of
Canadians aged 1–44.8 Employers interested in calculating the direct and indirect
costs of workplace accidents and injuries can use an injury cost calculator
available from different provincial websites (see, for instance, the one at
WorkSafeBC).

Page 319

Accidents at work are caused by a complex combination of unsafe employee

behaviour and unsafe working conditions. Several factors contribute to the
complexity of managing safety in the workplace: The effects of some industrial
diseases do not show up for years; employers may “clean up” a health or safety
problem before an inspector arrives; companies may fail to monitor or disclose
health risks; or employees may fail to follow safe practices at the workplace or
engage in dangerous behaviour (such as drinking alcohol or taking drugs while on
the job).

It is also critical that organizations consider the safety of members of the public
who enter onto company property.

In November 2000, two 14-year-old children were killed during the Take
Our Kids to Work Day at the John Deere plant in Welland, Ontario. The fatal
 accident occurred when they crashed the small vehicle they were driving. An
inquest into the accident resulted in several recommendations, including the
use of an informed consent form containing health and safety messages and
requiring the signature of both the student and a parent or guardian, a
requirement that children be under adult supervision at all times, a
prohibition against student operation of a motorized vehicle, and a
mandatory orientation program for student participants that addresses health
and safety issues.9

Workplace Injuries
Data from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada provide
some perspective on the extent of workplace injury and illness in Canada. While
the number of workplace injuries has declined and then levelled off in recent
years, the direct cost of injuries (such as lost wages, first aid and medical
treatment, rehabilitation, and disability compensation) has not. Moreover,
workplace injuries result in several indirect costs (including lost production;
recruitment, selection, and training of new employees; and damage to facilities
and equipment) that are incurred by the employer.

Research on the number of time-loss injuries is provided in Figure 12-1, and

information on the number of workplace fatalities is contained in Figure 12-2.
There are approximately 775,000 occupational injury claims each year, and more
than one-third of these claims are accepted time-loss injuries warranting
compensation. In Canada in 2019, there were 160,801 lost time claims for men
and 110,948 for women; 925 workers died as a result of a workplace injury (an
average of about 2.5 workers each day of the year). In terms of workplace
fatalities, the most dangerous occupations were construction and manufacturing.
Of the 925 fatalities in 2019, most (580) involved exposure to harmful substances
or environments, followed by transportation accidents (133), contact with objects
or equipment (78), and falls (73). In terms of gender, 882 of the fatalities involved
men compared to 43 women. April 28 is the National Day of Mourning to
commemorate employees killed or injured on the job.

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Although close to 1,000 employees die annually due to their employment (based
on data from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada), a
new study suggests that the true number may be much higher. Bittle, Chen, and
Hebert argue that the true number of deaths may be 10–13 times higher when one
considers other factors such as employees not covered by workers’ compensation,
deaths as a result of commuting to work, stress-induced suicides, and
occupational diseases such as cancer.10

FIGURE
12-1

Number
of
Accepted
Time-
Loss
Injuries
(2000–
2019)

Table
Summary
:
Summary

Source: Based on data from Number of Accepted Time-Loss Injuries:

Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, “National
Work Injuries Statistics Program,” Association of Workers’
Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), National Work
Injury/Disease Statistics Program (NWISP).
FIGURE
12-2

Number
of
Fatalities
(2000–
2019)

Table
Summary
:
Summary

Source: Based on data from Number of Fatalities: Association of

Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada, “National Work Injuries
Statistics Program,” Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of
Canada (AWCBC), National Work Injury/Disease Statistics Program
(NWISP).
 Exposure to asbestos has been responsible for about one in three workplace
deaths each year since 1996. These deaths represent more fatalities than
from highway accidents, fires, and chemical exposures combined. Health
professionals believe that the long latency period associated with asbestos
(often 20–40 years) will lead to higher death rates. According to Health
Canada, “Asbestos poses potential health risks only when fibres are present
in the air people breathe. The problem is there’s no way of ensuring that all
products are always bound or enclosed. Brake pads wear down, renos stir up
dust, while pipes and tiles get sawed.”11

Fishing, construction, manufacturing, and transportation are among the most

dangerous industries when considering time-loss injury rates. Evidence from the
Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada revealed that the most
common type of injury involves traumatic injuries to muscles, tendons, ligaments,
and joints (almost 48 percent of injuries), followed by open wounds, surface
wounds, and bruises (18 percent). The most common body part injured was the
back (about 22 percent of cases), followed by hands and fingers (12 percent), legs
(9 percent), and shoulders (7 percent).

Reynold Hert, now CEO of the BC Forest Safety Council, remembers being
a sawmill manager about two decades ago and watching an operator of a
lumber-trimming machine stick his hands into the equipment to straighten
out a board. Fortunately, the man was not injured but could easily have lost
fingers, a hand, or an arm. The man said that taking risks was necessary to
avoid costly work disruptions. Hert told him to follow safety procedures and
the man had to shut down his machine 90 times during his next shift to
straighten out boards, reducing his productivity by about 33 percent. When
Hert asked an engineer and maintenance employee to examine the issue,
they found that the machine had a timing flaw, and they were able to fix the
problem. The previous year, there were 21 fatalities and approximately 7,000
injuries in the BC forest industry. Hert recognizes that some of the 4,000
employers in the industry may cut corners in order to keep bids as low as
possible. According to Hert, investing in safety training may increase short-
term costs but the contractors that don’t pay attention to safety will find it
hard to get work. “When you are staring at the spot where a person died, you
realize it is preventable.”12

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The International Labour Organization estimates that more than 2.3 million
workers die every year due to workplace accidents or work-related disease. In
addition, approximately 313 million accidents at work require employees to take
extended absences from the job, and the annual cost to the global economy is
about $3 trillion.13

Health Hazards
It is possible to combine the various health hazards into three categories:14

1. Physical agents. Exposure to physical elements such as noise, temperature,

lighting, vibrations, and radiation.

2. Biological agents/biohazards and chemicals. Exposure to such natural

organisms as parasites, bacteria, insects, viruses, and so on; exposure to
chemical compounds or other harmful toxic substances.

In Fernie, B.C., three men working at a hockey rink died due to an ammonia
leak. Ammonia, a colourless gas that is toxic if inhaled, is often used in
mechanical refrigeration systems such as those in arenas. Industry experts
reported that more inspections and stricter staffing standards are needed.
Other recommendations included training related to keeping the rink safe
and ensuring that maintenance is kept up.15

3. Ergonomically related injuries. Caused by the work environment and

including repetitive strain, stress, overexertion/fatigue, and back injuries. In
simple terms, ergonomics involves the “study of the relationship between
people and their jobs.” More specifically, ergonomics uses scientific
principles to examine the nature of the task that the employee is doing, the
equipment or machinery needed to carry out the task, and the environment in
which the task is carried out. Some ways in which ergonomics has been
applied include preventing back injuries, developing proper work positions,
organizing the work space, and managing the light at work.16

A recent study of about 7,300 employees revealed that people whose job
primarily involves standing are about twice as likely to have a heart attack or
congestive heart failure compared to those whose job largely involves
sitting. Moreover, the risk of heart disease (6.6 percent) is actually higher
than for daily smokers (5.8 percent).17
Awareness of health hazards and preparing for emerging health hazards are very
important. Consider the following example involving a letter carrier:

A letter carrier near Victoria, British Columbia, was seriously injured when
bitten by a dog. The carrier was making a delivery that required a signature
so she rang the doorbell and was bitten on her hand and arm when the dog
escaped as the homeowner opened the door.

Injuries among Canada Post employees are not uncommon, with a total
injury frequency of 10.06 percent for 2019 and a lost time injury frequency
of 4.60 percent. Both measures were improvements from the previous year.
As well, there was a reduction in injuries resulting from slips, trips, and falls
and manual material handling (the two most common injuries). More than
120,000 hours of training was provided to employees.18

In addition, some rather dangerous workplaces may not be subject to the same
scrutiny as others. For example, one observer argues that NHL rinks are unsafe
workplaces. He asks, “When will authorities responsible for occupational health
and safety turn their attention to the professional hockey rink which, after all, is a
workplace and subject to regulation?” He argues that British Columbia’s health
authorities have investigated several cases of workplace violence in recent years
but have largely ignored professional sports. He asserts that while hockey
involves some inherent risks, injury resulting from fighting, illegal use of the
stick, and head shots renders the hockey rink an unsafe workplace.19

Younger Workers and Workplace Safety

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There is growing emphasis on the health and safety of young workers. About one
in seven young workers is injured on the job, and approximately one-fourth of all
workplace injuries involve employees in the 15–29 age group. Among injured
workers who are under 25 years of age, more than 50 percent were injured during
the first six months of employment, and nearly 20 percent of the injuries and
fatalities occurred during the first month on the job. The most common injuries
affecting young workers include electrocution and machine injuries. According to
the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), a number of
younger workers are not aware of their health and safety rights and
responsibilities at the workplace.

Across the country, governments are trying to make young workers aware of
workplace safety. For instance, Alberta has followed the lead of other
provinces and introduced the Work Safe Alberta Video Contest in which
high school students submit videos addressing issues relating to safe work.
The first place prize is $2,000, with $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for
third place. The winning videos are available online
(youtube.com/user/AlbertaWorkSafe).

Many employees fail to appreciate the wide range of health and safety hazards
while performing a job. Consider, for example, a student working part-time as a
cook at a small restaurant or fast-food outlet. Potential hazards include exposure
to biological and chemical elements, ergonomic issues, and a wide variety of
safety risks, including electrical shock, cuts, burns, collisions with co-workers,
getting a limb or hair caught in a piece of equipment, and so on. For example, a
Tim Hortons employee was injured when a car passing through the drive-through
lane hit the worker, who was leaning out the window.20 The CCOHS documents
the risks associated with several jobs often performed by younger workers.

Patrick Desjardins was 17 when he was electrocuted while using a buffer to

clean the floor at Walmart in Grand Falls, New Brunswick. The buffer had
been purchased at a garage sale. Walmart was fined $120,000 after pleading
guilty to health and safety violations, including a failure to ensure that the
buffer was suitable, inspected, and well maintained and failure to take
reasonable precautions to ensure the health and safety of its employees.
According to Patrick’s father, “Walmart can earn $120,000 in 15 seconds.
It’s not enough but what is enough. As far as I’m concerned, if these
workplaces get caught … those fines should be increased big time.”21
LO1 Federal and Provincial Safety
Regulations
Each province as well as the federal jurisdiction has detailed legislation
addressing health and safety, and most employers and employees are governed by
provincial legislation. Although this chapter examines safety legislation at the
federal level, students interested in learning about the specific legislation in their
province can obtain such information by contacting the relevant provincial
government department. Provincial government websites typically contain both
the legislative provisions and detailed guides to understanding health and safety
law.

At the federal level, the Canada Labour Code (Part II) details the elements of an
industrial safety program and provides for regulations to deal with various types
of occupational safety problems. All provinces and the territories have similar
legislation. Part II of the Code establishes three fundamental employee rights:

1. The right to know about hazards in the workplace

2. The right to participate in correcting those hazards

3. The right to refuse dangerous work

As employees return to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of safety

questions emerge. Employment lawyer Sari Springer notes that employers have
the right to take a worker’s temperature (but should try to do it in a respectful and
dignified way). A key issue involves return to work refusals by employees.
Springer asserts that employers will need to consider return to work refusals on a
case-by-case, site-by-site basis.22

A key element of health and safety laws is the workplace health and safety
committee, which is usually required in every workplace with 20 or more
employees. These committees have a broad range of responsibilities. Some of the
major powers and duties of committees under federal jurisdiction include the
following:
 Meeting at least nine times a year, at regular intervals and during regular
working hours

Considering and expeditiously disposing of health and safety complaints

Participating in all of the inquiries, investigations, studies, and inspections

pertaining to employee health and safety

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Ensuring that adequate records are kept on workplace accidents, injuries, and
health hazards

Participating in the implementation of changes that might affect

occupational health and safety

Inspecting, each month, all or part of the workplace, so that every part of the
workplace is inspected at least once a year23

Some other relevant federal laws are the Hazardous Products Act, the
Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, and the Canadian Centre for
Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Part of the Hazardous Products Act and associated regulations concern hazard
classification and communication. The primary objectives of Canada’s national
hazard communication standard, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information
System (WHMIS), include hazard classification, cautionary labelling of
containers, the provision of (material) safety data sheets [(M)SDSs], and worker
education and training.24

Although WHMIS provides information on the use of hazardous materials, other

countries have different requirements, and this is problematic with global trade.
In an effort to standardize hazardous materials requirements and communications
around the globe, the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and
Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) was introduced. Consequently, in February 2015,
the Hazardous Products Regulations were amended to incorporate the GHS for
workplace chemicals (known as WHMIS 2015, see Figure 12-3). This has
resulted in harmonized criteria for hazard classification and safety data sheets.

FIGURE
12-3
WHMIS
Class and
Division
Hazard
Symbols

Table
Summary
:
Summary

© All rights reserved. Classes of WHMIS Controlled Products. Health

Canada, 2009. Adapted and reproduced with permission from the
 Minister of Health, 2021.

The Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act makes Transport Canada, a federal

government agency, responsible for handling and transporting dangerous
materials by federally regulated shipping and transportation companies. It
requires that such goods be identified, that a carrier be informed of them, and that
they be classified according to a coding system.

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety Act established a
public corporation with the following objectives:

1. to promote health and safety in the workplace in Canada and the

physical and mental health of working people in Canada;

2. to facilitate

1. consultation and cooperation among federal, provincial, and

territorial jurisdictions, and

2. participation by labour and management in the establishment and

maintenance of high standards of occupational health and safety
appropriate to the Canadian situation;

3. to assist in the development and maintenance of policies and programs

aimed at the reduction or elimination of occupational hazards; and

4. to serve as a national centre for statistics and other information relating

to occupational health and safety.25

The CCOHS is supervised by a board of governors made up of representatives of

the federal government, labour, and employers. Several hundred organizations are
now connected electronically with the centre and have access to information
relating to health and safety generally and to hazardous materials specifically.

The administration of safety programs comes mainly under provincial

jurisdiction. Each province has legislated specific programs for the various
industries and occupations within it. Across the country, provinces are following
a trend of consolidating health and safety legislation, streamlining the
enforcement of the relevant statutes by combining different agencies into one
body, and updating safety laws.26

Safety Enforcement
In the federal jurisdiction, significant changes to the Canada Labour Code as it
relates to health and safety included the removal of references to “health and
safety officers,” replaced by “the Minister.” This change made the Minister
responsible for exercising the duties historically performed by health and safety
inspectors or delegating the duties to another party. Section 141 of the Canada
Labour Code (Part II) details these powers:

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1. The Minister may, in carrying out the Minister’s duties and at any
reasonable time, enter any work place controlled by an employer and,
in respect of any work place, may:

1. conduct examinations, tests, inquiries, investigations and

inspections or direct the employer to conduct them;

2. take or remove for analysis, samples of any material or substance

or any biological, chemical or physical agent;

3. be accompanied or assisted by any person and bring any

equipment that the officer deems necessary to carry out the
Minister’s duties;

4. take or remove, for testing, material or equipment if there is no

reasonable alternative to doing so;

5. take photographs and make sketches;

6. direct the employer to ensure that any place or thing specified by

the Minister not be disturbed for a reasonable period of time
pending an examination, test, inquiry, investigation or inspection
in relation to the place or thing;

7. direct any person not to disturb any place or thing specified by the
Minister for a reasonable period pending an examination, test,
 inquiry, investigation, or inspection in relation to the place or
thing;

8. direct the employer to produce documents and information relating

to the health and safety of the employer’s employees or the safety
of the workplace and to permit the Minister to examine and make
copies or take extracts from those documents and that information;

9. direct the employer or an employee to make or provide statements,

in the form and manner that the Minister may specify, respecting
working conditions and material and equipment that affect the
health or safety of employees;

10. direct the employer or an employee or a person designated by

either of them to accompany the Minister while the Minister is in
the workplace; and

11. meet with any person in private or, at the request of the person, in
the presence of the person’s legal counsel or union
representative.27

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Provincial laws provide similar powers to safety officers under their jurisdiction
but there are often concerns about enforcement:

By July 2020, WorkSafeBC had conducted more than 12,000 work-site

inspections and issued more than 300 orders for safety violations associated
with COVID-19. The most violations were in the service, manufacturing,
trade, and construction sectors. WorkSafeBC is trying to help employers
develop and implement a COVID-19 safety plan but can fine employers for
flagrant violations or issue stop-work orders if the risk of serious illness is
present.28

Although prosecutions are often the main approach to enforcing safety violations,
there is a growing use of administrative money penalties (AMPs) in a number of
jurisdictions including Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and
Yukon. In Alberta, the introduction of administrative penalties and tickets is
leading to the levying of fines on employers and employees. Penalties can include
a fine of up to $10,000 a day for each safety violation. On-the-spot tickets to
employers, contractors, employees, and suppliers can range from $100 to $500.
Mark Hill of the Yukon Workers’ Compensation Health and Safety Board reports
that, in Yukon, “Fines have had a dramatic effect on workplace behaviour, with
the vast majority of workplaces now ensuring appropriate personal protective
equipment is worn (not long ago, this was the exception rather than the rule).”
However, safety consultant Alan Quilley disagrees when he asserts that “From
my perspective, there is nothing in human history that says we can fine ourselves
into excellence.”29

In late 2017, Ontario increased the maximum fine for companies violating
provincial safety legislation from $500,000 to $1.5 million (the first increase in
17 years). Similarly, the maximum fine for an individual or unincorporated
business was increased from $25,000 to $100,000 (the first change since 1979).
Fines generally fall short of the maximum amount but experts speculate that the
changes should result in higher fines for serious or repeat violations. Similarly,
Nova Scotia announced increases in fines (from a maximum of $5,000 to $10,000
for a first offence and from $10,000 to $50,000 for a second) and more rigorously
enforced safety measures in the construction trades. The changes are aimed at the
use of cheaper labourers rather than skilled tradespersons on some construction
projects. Duncan Williams, president of the Construction Association of Nova
Scotia, stated, “The black market is costing companies that do invest heavily in
safety, training, apprenticeship, and equipment.”30

A Nova Scotia employee fell to his death from the sixth floor of an
apartment building under construction a few years ago. The Nova Scotia
Occupational Health and Safety division laid charges against the employer,
Parkland Construction, for failing to provide adequate fall protection, fall
protection training, and a safe work plan. A company supervisor was also
charged with failing to provide fall protection and failing to take every
precaution to protect an employee’s health. While initial reports suggested
that the company could be fined up to $500,000 and the supervisor could
receive a jail term of up to two years, a provincial court judge ultimately
fined the company $70,000 but dismissed charges against the supervisor.
Included in the fine was $37,000 to the Nova Scotia Community College to
provided bursaries for students entering a program for safety officers and
professionals.31

As a general principle, an occupational health and safety inspector may enter a

business to carry out duties without notice or a warrant. When an OHS
(Occupational Health and Safety) inspector arrives at the workplace, the
employer should do the following:
 1. Be diligent—take notes on everything the inspector says and answer
questions directly without a lot of narrative.

2. Be prepared—have the documentation for due diligence in order and follow

safety procedures to the letter (as the inspector may be testing the employer
to see if the rules are actually followed).

3. Stay covered—post the safety policy inside the front door and easily visible
to the safety inspector, and choose an employee who will be designated to
deal with the inspector.32

On the other hand, there are examples where safety standards may not be
rigorously enforced:

A Manitoba construction worker died when a trench wall collapsed on him,

trapping him underground. It took rescue workers almost 20 hours to find
the employee. Blaine Duncan, a workplace safety specialist with the
Manitoba General Employees Union, expressed dissatisfaction with
workplace safety conditions relating to COVID-19, reopening of businesses,
and the reduction of field inspections by safety health officers. According to
the union, “only a handful of workplace safety officers were sent into the
field since the pandemic began, and they have been restricted to ‘drive-by’
inspections only, instead of in-person meetings.”33

Page 326

Safety enforcement issues are not restricted to Canada. By early September 2020,
more than 42,000 meat packing workers in the United States had tested positive
for COVID-19, over 200 had died, and almost 500 plants had employees with
COVID-19. However, only two plants had been charged with a total of three
safety violations and fined $29,000 (although both companies had revenues in the
billions of dollars). Workers, unions, and safety experts were outraged at the slow
pace of federal regulation and poor enforcement. According to Kim Cordova,
president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7, “these tiny fines
are nothing to meat plant owners. They give an incentive to make these workers
work faster and harder in the most unsafe working conditions imaginable.”34

In an examination of 251 cases involving convictions connected to workplace

fatalities from 2007 to 2017, a CBC analysis revealed that the median fine was
$97,500. However, the median fines differed noticeably among the provinces (the
lowest was $26,563 for British Columbia and the highest was $275,000 for
Alberta). Although every jurisdiction except Quebec permits a jail sentence, only
four provinces have put an employer representative in jail (and almost all jail
terms were for 60 days or less). Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Federation
of Labour, stated, “The fines need to be greater, they need to be a significant
deterrent, but we also need to pursue these cases through the criminal justice
system.”35
Responsibility for Health and Safety
LO2 Historical Views on Responsibility for Health
and Safety
So far, the focus in this chapter has been on the legal requirements for
maintaining a safe and healthy work environment. It should be emphasized,
however, that these must be seen as the minimum requirements for employers. A
major purpose of occupational health and safety laws is to prevent injuries from
happening.

The 2019 Canada’s Safest Employers list revealed that leading organizations
pay considerable attention to safety. GE Healthcare, based in Mississauga,
Ontario, has about 500 employees and is in the business of selling and
servicing equipment for hospitals. About 40 percent of its employees are
involved in equipment installation and servicing and thus face chemical,
radiation, and electrical hazards. Since employees are scattered across the
country, local managers are responsible for conducting safety inspections
with field representatives. In addition, GE workers are encouraged to
identify safety issues and concerns and the company acknowledges those
who report safety omissions. Also, the company has completed a major
update of its safety intranet, which is now easily accessible using
smartphones.36

Historically, it was believed that the responsibility for health and safety rested
primarily with the employer. However, this view is changing. A number of
jurisdictions have legislation requiring the establishment of joint health and safety
committees or health and safety representatives, as mentioned above. The
requirement of establishing a joint committee varies among the provinces; for
example, a committee may be required if a workplace has a minimum number of
employees (typically 10 or 20 workers). The relevant legislation will outline the
duties of the committee (such as maintaining records, conducting meetings,
inspecting the workplace, and so on) and the makeup of the committee (number
of members, employee representation on the committee, and so on).

No law, by itself, can make a workplace safe. It is far more effective—and less
costly in the long run—if the responsibility for safety becomes a concern for
everyone: top management, supervisors, and employees.

Great Lakes Greenhouse in Leamington, Ontario, is a grower of cucumbers.

A group of workers was expanding a greenhouse and one employee was
rearranging wiring and connecting wires to an electrical panel. The worker
died after receiving a shock from a wire containing 600 volts of power. Upon
inspection it was found that the company was in violation of safety
regulations for failing to lock out the power to the wires. The company
pleaded guilty and was fined $120,000 and a 25 percent victim fine
surcharge.37

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Many organizations neglect safety issues when designing orientation programs. A

comprehensive safety orientation program will address several issues, such as fire
safety, smoking at the workplace, accident procedures, personal clothing,
protective equipment, material and chemical hazards, waste disposal, safety
representatives and the safety committee, occupational health, and the safety
policy or policies in existence. It is important that employees understand the
various issues and know how to respond in a crisis situation.

Similarly, employers often fail to consider the safety issues related to shift work.
According to the Institute for Work and Health, about 30 percent of Canadians
work shift work or are on call. Shift workers may experience higher stress and
may be prone to an increase in accidents and mistakes due to such factors as
sleepiness and fatigue. One study indicated that individuals working outside of
regular daytime hours are 1.5 times more likely to be injured at work, and this
rate increases around 2.5 times if a person alternates working between day and
night shifts. In addition, shift workers may not eat properly, and those on longer
shifts may be at a greater risk of exposure to health hazards. Of particular note is
that shift workers are most at risk when they are driving home from work.38

Research from a University of Pennsylvania study revealed that chronic

disruptions in a person’s sleep cycle, often experienced by shift workers, could
lead to damaged neurons in the brain and permanent brain damage. There is also
evidence that shift workers are more likely to have a higher risk of injury at work,
and preliminary studies suggest a link with heart disease, mental health issues,
and certain types of cancer.39 A Global Corporate Challenge Insights study
reported that about one in five employees are sleep deprived. Also, 93 percent of
poor sleepers were more likely to show signs of workplace fatigue, which is a
common symptom of “excessive daytime sleepiness” (EDS). EDS, in turn, is
associated with higher rates of absenteeism and greater accident and injury rates
at work.40

A report by the CSA Group addressed the issue of workplace fatigue. The study
found that there is very little research on workplace fatigue as many organizations
fail to share details of their fatigue management strategies. In addition, there was
a recognition that the concept of fatigue is complex, there is no consistently
accepted definition of fatigue, standards and policies vary noticeably across
industries and employers, and there is a need for legislative reform designed to
protect employees.41

LO3 Recent Views on Responsibility for Health and

Safety
In today’s workplaces, health and safety are joint responsibilities by top
management, supervisors, and employees, and often have dedicated people or
groups responsible for health and safety of all employees.

Top Management

Top management must set policies and make concern for health and safety part of
the organization’s culture and strategy. This ensures that health and safety aspects
will be considered whenever business decisions are made and training programs
developed. A failure on the part of managers to pay attention to health and safety
issues is being considered seriously by the courts in Canada. Consider the
following case:

A Sudbury company, Rainbow Concrete, its owner Boris Naneff, and two
supervisors were charged with criminal negligence causing death when an
employee died at work. The employee was driving under an archway on
company property when the archway collapsed, trapping the employee
inside. Almost two years after the employee’s death, the company pled
guilty to criminal negligence causing death. The plea agreement included
dropping all 12 of the charges in return for a fine of $1,000 to the company
and $200,000 to the victim’s family over an extended period of time.
According to Ken Neumann, Canadian director of the United Steelworkers
union, “abandoning the criminal prosecution of a company’s owner in
 exchange for a $1,000 fine against the company and a gradual, $200,000
payment to the grieving family, does not provide justice to the family.”42

Some organizations, recognizing that they lack the internal expertise to address
safety issues, are now outsourcing some health and safety needs. Options for such
firms include hiring a health and safety expert on a part-time or contract basis or
seeking the assistance of a firm that specializes in health and safety. While the
cost of a health and safety consultant generally ranges from about $75 to $200 or
more per hour, companies often save three to five times the cost of the consulting
bill by reducing the number of safety incidents at the workplace.

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The City of Edmonton was fined $325,000 for the workplace death of a
tunnel foreman. During the construction of a drainage tunnel using a tunnel-
boring machine, the employee’s head became pinned between the machine
and a wall. Evidence revealed that employees did not have any formal
training on how to align or adjust the machine, and they were unaware of
hazards associated with operating the machine. The employees assisting the
foreman were not trained on hoisting or rigging procedures and the city did
not have the proper manual for the machine at the time of the incident. The
fine included a $240,000 creative sentence involving the provision of
additional training for underground municipal employees in the province and
the creation of materials for safety courses addressing hazard assessments
for tunnelling operations.43
© Image Source, all rights reserved.
 Safety gear, such as that worn by construction workers, is essential to
reducing work injuries. Should penalties be imposed for not wearing it?

The Bill C-45 amendments to the Criminal Code imposed a new duty on
individuals and organizations. Section 217.1 of the Criminal Code states this:

“Everyone who undertakes, or has the authority, to direct how another

person does or performs work or performs a task is under a legal duty to take
reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that person, or any other person,
arising from that work or task.”

The first Bill C-45 conviction involved the death of an employee in Quebec:

Transpavé, a Quebec stone-paving manufacturer, was fined $110,000 for

criminal negligence causing death after a 23-year-old employee was crushed
by a machine being used with an unplugged safety device. The employee’s
mother was disappointed with the amount of the fine, saying that she
expected the fine to be millions of dollars.44

There has been a lot of criticism about Bill C-45 (also known as the Westray
Bill) which celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2019, and many safety experts
believe that the level of enforcement has been dismal. According to Steven Hunt,
western director of the United Steelworkers union, “I don’t want to see a whole
bunch of CEOs go to jail, but one or two would be good and that is the paradigm
shift we need.” While Occupational Health and Safety only has the authority to
fine violators, police investigators and the OHS may lack the expertise to build a
proper criminal case. However, this is changing in Calgary where 28 detectives
have been trained in the investigation of serious workplace accidents and
fatalities. and relatively few cases have resulted from the legislation.45

In the R. v. Metron Construction case, six employees got on a swing stage to go

down 14 storeys. The swing, which had only two lifelines, collapsed and four of
the workers died in the fall. Subsequent investigation revealed that the swing
stage was defective and failed to meet Ontario safety standards. In addition, three
employees, including the site supervisor, had marijuana in their system. Metron
pleaded guilty to criminal negligence charges and the judge imposed a $200,000
fine. However, the Court of Appeal felt that the fine did not reflect the moral
blameworthiness and gravity of Metron’s conduct and substituted a fine of
$750,000. In addition, Metron construction project manager Vadim Kazenelson
was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in early 2016 but appealed his conviction.
However, in early 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the
trial judge.46

However, for the first time in Canada, an employer has been convicted of
manslaughter resulting from a workplace accident. In 2018, Sylvain Fournier, the
owner of an excavation company, was found responsible for the death of an
employee—Fournier was at the job site when the walls of a trench collapsed,
burying the employee. The court held that there was a significant lack of
judgment resulting from the failure to the employer to take steps to ensure that the
trench walls were properly stanched.47

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One CEO, Robert Watson of SaskPower, tendered his resignation after a report
indicated that workplace safety was not enough of a priority. SaskPower was
ordered to remove more than 100,000 smart meters that had been installed in
homes after it was found that at least eight of the meters had caught fire. The
province’s economy minister stated that “Watson took responsibility for the
problems experienced with this project. He felt it was time that there was new
leadership.” A review revealed that the meter project was rushed, no one was
responsible for the overall program, and there was insufficient attention to
customer safety.48

Supervisors

As part of their management training, supervisors must become proficient in

managing safety, which means knowing about health and safety laws and safety
regulations, training in observing safety violations, and learning communication
skills to convey the necessary information to their employees.

On her second day on the job at a British Columbia quarry, Kelsey Anne
Kristian died after a 30-ton truck she had parked began rolling and crushed
her. In 2015, about eight years after the incident, charges of criminal
negligence causing death were filed against two supervisors and the
company, Slave Lake Quarries. Kristian had never driven such a large truck
and her training only involved an oral review by her supervisor on using air
brakes. Charges against the two supervisors were stayed while the company
pleaded guilty and was fined $115,000. Kristian’s mother felt that the fine
was a slap on the wrist: “I would have loved to see someone go to jail, even
 if it was just for a year, house arrest. I would have loved to see someone
pay.”49

The ingredients of an effective safety training program include the following:

Accident investigation and analysis

Communication skills and report writing

Overview of legislative requirements

Meeting with management and objective setting

Organization and responsibility of joint health and safety committee

Team problem-solving/problem-solving techniques

Audits and inspections

Principles of occupational health and safety

Ergonomics

An issue that supervisors may have to deal with, but feel uncomfortable about,
involves an employee’s right to refuse unsafe work. It is important for the
supervisor to know the provincial legislation relating to work refusals and
recognize the importance of taking every work refusal seriously (even if the
supervisor believes that the work is safe).

Almost 90 percent of safety professionals report seeing workers not wearing

personal protective equipment (PPE) when they should have, with 29 percent
reporting that this has happened on numerous occasions. The most common
compliance challenges involving PPE relate to eye protection, hearing guards,
and respiratory protection or masks. The two most pressing workplace issues
relating to safety involve worker compliance and managing safety with fewer
workers.50

There are also examples where supervisors do not assume proper responsibility
for safety. A British Columbia mine run by Imperial Metals Corp. spilled millions
of cubic metres of waste into nearby waterways. According to a local United
Steelworkers executive, workers had warned company officials of safety issues
months before the spill. In his words, “Not everybody’s saying it, but you get
guys coming in who are saying that it’s looking dangerous.” It was not known
whether the warnings stayed with supervisors or went higher up the
organization.51

Employees

While employers are responsible for providing a safe work environment, and
supervisors are responsible for the safety of their people in the workplace,
employees are responsible for working safely. Employees must be trained to
understand safety rules and how to operate equipment safely.

Teenager Sarah Wheelan began working part-time at a deli counter of a

supermarket. Standard practice was to clean the machines after each use.
Rather than taking the machine apart and washing the blade, the practice was
to hold one’s hand to a spinning blade and clean the blade. While Wheelan
did not lose any fingers or suffer any injuries, it took her about two months
to get up the courage to confront her supervisor, concerned that she would
look stupid or unable to handle the pressure and responsibility of the job.
Her supervisor, a butcher, told her that new butchers would frequently nick
themselves or lose a finger—that was just the nature of the job. One week
later, Wheelan quit.52

It is also important that a system of enforcement be in place, understood, and

followed. If necessary, progressive discipline has to be applied for violation of
safety rules in the same way as for other rule violations.

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There is a growing, but fairly recent, recognition that employers need to consider
the needs of female employees when it comes to health and safety. For example,
safety protection gear and equipment such as tools and harnesses may not be
suitable for female employees. In addition, training programs need to be
examined—how to carry equipment, for instance, may differ depending on a
person’s height, weight, and strength.53

A 2017 study by the Trades Union Congress on personal protective equipment

revealed that 57 percent of women reported that their PPE sometimes or
significantly hampered their work and that it is extremely hard to get proper PPE
during pregnancy. Moreover, the concerns are not limited to PPE, with work
equipment (such as desks, tools, workstation heights, etc.) often designed for the
average-sized man. Examples range from improperly fitting uniforms, gloves, and
boots to police body armour.54

The Institute for Work and Health found that approximately 60 percent of health
care workers reporting higher levels of anxiety also indicated that PPE needs
were not being met. Similarly, 56 percent of respondents who stated that none of
their PPE needs were being met also reported higher levels of depression.55

Good safety performance should be recognized and rewarded by managers. On

the other side, unsatisfactory practices should be documented and corrected.
Rewarding good performance is preferable. The objective of safety incentives
should be to promote safety awareness and therefore benefit as many workers as
possible. Group awards may help to reinforce safety-consciousness through peer
pressure. In addition, the importance of safety training cannot be overemphasized:

Thirty-two miners in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, were trapped one kilometre

below ground while a fire burned at the Mosaic potash mine. The miners
stayed in “refuge stations” (chambers that can be sealed off and are equipped
with food, water, and beds) and waited to be rescued. The situation ended
with the rescue of the miners, and it was acknowledged that their safety
training had been invaluable. As one miner said, “Follow every rule you
were taught, even if they don’t make sense, and it all works out in the
end.”56

A typical Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) training session may involve a
day or more of in-class training and more than 500 slides that are communicated
to the participants. Recognizing that traditional programs were not meeting their
objectives in terms of keeping employees safe at work, some organizations are
using blended training with interactive components such as role-play simulations,
conducting a task-and-hazard analysis, and modifying training for employees
with low levels of literacy or understanding of English.

Organizations operating in foreign countries may need to provide specialized

training to workers going to such locations. To meet this requirement, progressive
employers are recognizing the importance of employee training in global hot
spots (areas of political, social, or civil unrest that are potentially dangerous).57

LO4 Implications for Human Resource Management

Human resource professionals should ensure consistent enforcement of all safety
and health rules. If one worker is allowed to violate safety rules, other workers
may follow—and if an accident results, the employer may be subject to penalties.

In the United States, Walmart was fined $2 million after a temporary

maintenance employee was trampled to death by bargain-hungry shoppers.
Although the company was not charged criminally, it implemented a new
crowd-management plan.58

Health and safety law permits an employee to refuse to work when working
conditions are perceived to be unsafe. In such instances, the employee should
report the circumstances of the matter to the supervisor or to the supervisor’s
manager and to the safety committee in the firm. In most jurisdictions, an
employee with reasonable cause to believe that the work is unsafe will not receive
any loss in pay for refusing to work.

During a pandemic, an employee may exercise the right to refuse unsafe work for
a variety of reasons, such as a case of COVID-19 at the workplace, if the
employee is in a “high risk category” such as having a pre-existing condition, or
if an employee believes that co-workers or customers are not obeying proper
safety standards. In deciding a work refusal, the employer must consider a host of
factors such as the nature of the work, employee characteristics,
recommendations from public health, and government orders. If possible, an
employer should allow an employee who is refusing to work because of a
COVID-19 concern to work from home. If this is not possible, the employee is
required to return to work if the workplace is deemed safe after an
investigation.59

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From March to June 2020, there were 278 work refusals in Ontario related to
COVID-19 and all but one were refused as health inspectors held that employee
health and safety were not at risk. According to employment lawyer Stephen
Wolpert, “one of the challenges is that employees are operating on their own
subjective fears that aren’t always supported by science.” Lawyer Stuart Rudner
makes it clear that the employee doesn’t get to decide if the workplace is safe and
an employee whose right to refuse claim is denied has very little recourse. If the
parties cannot work out an alternative solution, the employee must go to work or
risk dismissal.60
In Ontario, safety training is mandatory. All supervisors and employees covered
by the OHSA are required to complete a one-hour training program that is
designed to inform the parties of their rights and responsibilities in creating a
culture of safety. As noted by Rob Ellis of MySafeWork, “Most Canadians still
don’t understand that they have the right to say no to unsafe work, and I find it
shocking that most Canadians still fear putting up their hand and reporting unsafe
work.”61

When charged with a health and safety offence, a company’s best defence is “due
diligence,” which means that the company took all reasonable steps to avoid the
particular event. In examining the organization’s behaviour, the court considers
several factors, including the magnitude of the risks involved and the nature of
the potential harm, with a focus on the part of the safety program designed to
prevent the accident in question. An effective safety program only helps establish
due diligence—preparing a defence based on due diligence begins well before an
accident ever happens.62

Health and Safety Audit

With increased attention on health and safety, more and more organizations are
having a health and safety audit conducted. Some of these audits are voluntary
and others are as a result of being targeted by government health and safety
officials. While health and safety audits vary, they may include a review of the
employer’s occupational health and safety documentation (such as training
records, manuals, etc.), a tour of the workplace, and interviews (and/or surveys)
of front-line employees, supervisors, and senior management. Of course, some
employers may decide to take the risk and not comply with health and safety
standards.

However, failing to comply may be a risky proposition:

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) found that 254 incidents
involving Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, and
Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA—the railway company
involved in the Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, derailment that killed 47 people)
were not reported over a seven-year period. The TSB has made it clear that
the railroads are expected to comply with the regulations, and a
spokesperson for Canadian National stated that “CN will continue to focus
on every safety incident as a leading indicator of potentially more serious
accidents.”
 Following up on the case, in January 2018, three rank-and-file MMA
employees were acquitted of charges of criminal negligence causing death.
However, six former employees pleaded guilty to failing to test the train’s
handbrakes. One employee was sentenced to six months of community
service and the others were fined $50,000 (the maximum fine permitted).63

Consequently, a growing number of employers are being more proactive; rather

than waiting for a provincial audit, they are either conducting internal audits or
hiring consultants to assess the health and safety system. A number of provinces,
such as Nova Scotia, provide detailed information on how to establish and
evaluate a health and safety system.64

Safety Climate

According to an HR manager for a Calgary road-building company, “Safety

is all about the way you run your business. Wherever you see poor safety
there is always a poor-run company. The unfortunate aspect is that the
ownership isn’t even aware that it is poorly run. If a company has a poor
attitude toward safety, it makes us wonder if that attitude is indicative of
other aspects of their business.”65

Why should employers and human resource professionals be concerned with

safety climate? There is growing evidence that safety climate is an important
factor affecting safety knowledge and motivation. Neal and Griffin, two leading
scholars specializing in workplace safety, have developed a framework for
conceptualizing safety climate (perceptions about the value of safety in an
organization) and safety behaviour.66 They assert that safety climate is an
important factor affecting safety knowledge and motivation, which in turn
impacts safety behaviour (see Figure 12-4).

FIGURE 12-4

A Framework
for
Conceptualizin
g Safety
Climate and
Safety
Behaviour
 Table
Summary:
Summary

SOURCE: Andrew Neal and Mark Griffin (2004), “Safety Climate and
Safety at Work,” in Julian Barling and Michael Frone (Eds.), The
Psychology of Workplace Safety, Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association, p. 17.

More than a decade ago, and faced with one of the worst injury rates in the
country, Saskatchewan introduced a new educational campaign called
“Mission Zero” in an effort to reduce workplace deaths and injuries. The
chair of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) noted that
safety requires that employers and employees work together with the same
goal of a safe work environment and asserted that safety is “an attitude
thing” with a culture where safety is out front. The program is still going
strong—according to Donna Kane, former VP of HR and team support at
WCB, “We believe every injury is preventable and that’s why Mission Zero
is core to everything we do.” 67

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Neal and Griffin outline eight dimensions of a safety climate. Organizational

level dimensions include the following:
 Management commitment to safety. Does management place a high priority
on safety and communicate and act on safety issues effectively?

Human resource management practices. To what extent are the HRM

practices of the organization perceived to enhance safety?

Safety systems. To what extent are hazard management systems, incident

investigation, and safety policies and procedures perceived to be effective
and of high quality?

Local work group dimensions include the following:

Supervisor support for safety. Do supervisors place a high priority on safety

and responding to safety issues?

Internal group processes. Is there communication and support for safety

issues within the group?

Boundary management. What is the quality of communication between the

group and other stakeholders?

Risk. Are the work tasks perceived to be hazardous, dangerous, or unsafe?

Work pressure. Is workload perceived to exceed the employee’s capacity to

perform the work safely?

The importance of top management commitment is critical:

A report to the House of Commons described the “culture of fear” at

Canadian National Railway (CN). CN received a score of 1 out of 5 when
evaluated on its efforts to implement the safety management standards
introduced as an update to the Railway Safety Act. Railway workers
described how difficult it was to develop a safety culture when they were
working in a culture of fear in which they feared reprisals and disciplinary
action if they voiced concerns relating to safety. There was evidence that
safety management systems were getting little more than lip service, thus
increasing the risk of train derailments and other accidents. According to one
former employee, “We had it drummed into our heads [that] if trains aren’t
running on time, somebody would want to know why and it could mean our
jobs.”68
Downsizing and Safety

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Another issue that is beginning to attract attention is the relationship between

downsizing and employee safety. This is particularly relevant in light of the
number of downsizings announced in recent years. The research evidence
suggests that downsizing creates job insecurity, which is strongly associated with
low levels of job satisfaction. Low job satisfaction, in turn, is related to safety
motivation (the motivation to perform a job in a safe manner) and safety
knowledge (an understanding of safe operating procedures). When safety
motivation is low, employees are less likely to comply with safety procedures and
carry out their work in a safe manner (what is known as safety compliance).
Finally, lower levels of safety compliance are associated with more workplace
accidents. It is suggested that during a downsizing, employees concerned with
keeping their jobs view productivity as more important than safety. However, in
downsizings in which employees perceived that the safety climate was positive
and the organization viewed safety as very important, the negative outcomes
associated with job insecurity were not seen.69

Spotlight on ETHICS

A Question of Safety

Consider the following situation and make a note of your answer on a separate
sheet of paper.

You are a supervisor at a local dairy. Your job involves supervising employees
who work in the dairy, while another individual is responsible for supervising the
employees who deliver milk to various stores. In the past six months, the labour
market has been fairly tight and your company has been having problems
attracting and retaining good delivery people.

Two weeks ago, the human resource management department hired a new milk
delivery employee named Lucy Lynn. Lucy’s job involves driving a milk van and
making deliveries to grocery stores. By all accounts, Lucy is a very competent
and reliable employee, and the human resource professional who hired her did so
without any hesitation. Lucy is also the mother of one of your best friends. Lucy,
who is 54 years of age, was recently downsized from her job as a delivery person
at a large courier company.
Two days ago, you were invited to dinner at Lucy’s house. Lucy commented on
how much she was enjoying her new job and how grateful she was to obtain
employment so quickly. Lucy had recently gone through a messy divorce, and
you were aware that she was having some financial problems.

Just after dinner, you went out to the kitchen and found Lucy sitting on a chair
with her head resting on the kitchen table. When you asked whether she was
okay, she replied that “Everything is fine. It’s just that over the last few months, I
have been getting really bad headaches and have had three or four dizzy spells.
When my head starts whirling, I just need to sit down and put my head between
my knees. It’s no big deal—the dizziness passes in a few minutes. I’m telling you
this in confidence. Please don’t tell anyone at work. I can’t afford to lose my job.”

What are you going to do? Complicating the decision is that you know the
company asks individuals who will be driving company vehicles to provide a
detailed medical history. The questions include whether the individual has
experienced dizzy spells and severe headaches. After completing the form,
individuals are required to sign that they have answered the questions honestly
and to the best of their ability.
LO5 Workplace Stress
The term stress management is now part of the regular vocabulary of managers
and employees, but what is “workplace stress”? Workplace stress is “the harmful
physical and emotional responses that can happen when there is a conflict between
job demands of the employee and the amount of control the employee has over
meeting those demands.”70 Although high levels of stress are usually associated
with poorer job performance, not all stress is harmful. Moderate levels of stress
may actually increase workplace performance.

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A ComPsych survey indicated that 61 percent of employees have high levels of

stress, with extreme fatigue/feeling out of control; 34 percent report having
constant but manageable stress; and 5 percent indicate having low stress levels. In
terms of the impact of stress, 37 percent of employees report losing one hour or
more a day in productivity due to stress. Also, 53 percent miss one to two days a
year due to stress, 27 percent miss three to six days, and 20 percent miss more
than six days. About 47 percent of employees come to work one to four days a
year when they are too stressed to be effective and 28 percent do this five or more
days annually. When asked the primary cause of workplace stress, the most
common responses were workload (39 percent), people issues (36 percent),
juggling work with personal life (21 percent), and lack of job security (7
percent).71

Similarly, a study of more than 7,300 employees by Globe Careers/Howatt HR

Consulting revealed that about six out of 10 people felt stressed and on edge.
Respondents were placed in one of five categories (Calm to Losing It) based on
their scores on a Quality of Life scale. In the Calm group, 26 percent were senior
managers or executives, and 96 percent said they put 80 percent or more effort
into their job each day, 2 percent indicated suffering from a mental health issue,
and 16 percent reported calling in sick more than four days a year. For the Losing
It group, only 9 percent were senior managers or executives, 52 percent said they
put 80 percent or more effort into their job every day, 4 percent responded that
they suffered from a mental health issue, and 48 percent stated that they called in
sick more than four days a year. The Losing It group were more likely to report
not being a good fit for their job, that the work culture was not positive, that they
had trouble sleeping, that they suffered from headaches, that they did not receive
adequate performance feedback, and that they would leave the organization if they
could.72

It is estimated that stress-related absences cost the Canadian economy more than
$4.5 billion a year, have increased more than threefold since 1995, and average
about 20 days in length. Health Canada suggests that each dollar invested in the
prevention of stress is worth about $3.40 in future savings.73

What are the costs of stress at the workplace? In Dying for a Paycheck, Pfeffer
(2018) observes that job stress costs employers in the United States in excess of
$300 billion a year and is responsible for about 120,000 deaths. In China,
estimates are that a million employees a year may be dying due to overwork.74

Is stress associated with quitting a job? A recent Monster Canada report reveals
that about 25 percent of Canadians have quit a job, while a further 17 percent
considered it because of stress. Women were more likely than men to quit for
stress-related reasons (28 percent compared to 22 percent). Employees earning
less than $40,000 a year were most likely to leave a job due to stress (38 percent),
while 27 percent of workers earning between $40,000 and $59,000 reported
quitting due to stress. The two most important stress factors were workload and
office politics.75

COVID-19 is also having an impact on employee quit behaviour. A 2020 Hays

Canada report revealed that almost one in two employees (49 percent) are ready to
quit their jobs with COVID-19 stress, isolation from working at home, and heavier
workloads as a result of job cuts playing an important part in the decision. This
rate is 25 percent higher than from the 2019 survey. Also, 43 percent of workers
perceived that their organization has taken no measures to support employee well-
being during COVID-19.76

The actual experience or the perceived threat of a corporate takeover, merger,

downsizing, or plant closing, all of which could put large numbers of employees
out of jobs, can lead to a variety of symptoms of stress that can harm employees’
job performance. These symptoms involve both mental health and physical health.
Persons who are stressed may become nervous, easily provoked to anger, and
chronically worried about things.

There is a growing body of research indicating that stress may be associated with
cardiovascular disease (in particular, among employees in psychologically
demanding jobs that allow workers little control over the work process),
musculoskeletal disorders (such as back injuries), psychological disorders (for
example, depression and burnout), workplace injuries, suicide, cancer, ulcers, and
impaired immune functions.77 In addition, employer immunity from lawsuits as a
result of contributing to the workers’ compensation system is being eroded as
more courts allow employees to sue their employers for stress resulting from a
poisoned work environment.

Although there has been a lot of effort aimed at protecting employees from
physical harm at work, experts are now calling for greater attention to
psychological safety at work. According to Lorne Zon, former CEO of the
Canadian Mental Health Association (Ontario Division), “We expect
psychological safety in our schools and communities, and we should be able to
count on it in the workplace. If employees don’t feel safe speaking to their
managers or co-workers, because they are afraid of recrimination, the workplace is
not psychologically safe and productivity will be affected.”78

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In 2013, the National Standard on Psychological Health and Safety in the

Workplace was published. The purposes of the National Standard are to identify
and eliminate hazards in the workplace that pose a risk of psychological harm to a
worker and assess and control the risks associated with hazards that cannot be
eliminated, implement structures and practices that support and promote
psychological health and safety in the workplace, and foster a culture that
promotes psychological health and safety in the workplace.79

Causes of Stress at Work

A model of job stress has been developed by the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health in the United States.80 According to the model,
exposure to stressful working conditions (called “job stressors”) can directly
influence the health and safety of employees. However, the model also recognizes
that individual and situational factors can intervene to strengthen or weaken the
relationship between stressful job conditions and the risk of injury or illness.
Examples of individual and situational factors include one’s outlook or attitude,
the presence of a support network of co-workers or friends, and the balance
between work and family life. Although major distress can occur from only one
stressor, usually stressors combine to affect an employee in a variety of ways until
distress develops.
While almost any job condition may cause stress (depending upon an employee’s
reaction to it), there are, however, a number of job conditions that frequently cause
stress for employees. Some of the major causes of workplace stress are outlined in
Figure 12-5. If you are interested in measuring workplace stress, the Occupational
Health Clinics for Ontario Workers has an app based on the Copenhagen
Psychosocial Questionnaire (see ohcow.on.ca/measure-workplace-stress.html to
download the app).

FIGURE 12-5

Causes of Workplace Stress

Table Summary: Summary

Working Conditions Management Practices

Workload Unrealistic
demands/pressure
Understaffing Conflicting roles
Effort–reward
Hours of work/shift work/travel imbalance
Lack of
Physical environment (noise, air support/appreciation
quality, etc.) Lack of autonomy
Poor communication
Unfair treatment
Type/Nature of Job
Threatening work
Dealing with others (i.e., clients/co- environment
workers)

Level of responsibility/job demands Financial/Compensation

Issues
Unpredictability/unexpected
challenges and issues Pay/benefits

Life Events Job insecurity

Work–life balance

Family/personal issues

Unexpected life events/illness

 SOURCE: Adapted from K. Bhui, S. Dinos, M. Galant-
Miecznikowska,B. de Jongh, and S. Stansfeld, (2016), “Perceptions of
Work Stress Causes and Effective Interventions in Employees Working
in Public, Private, and Non-governmental Organisations: A Qualitative
Study,” BJPsych Bulletin, Vol. 40, pp. 318–325.

It is also possible to distinguish between acute stressors, which occur infrequently

but are extremely stressful events (such as a major organizational change), and
chronic stressors, which are the ongoing, daily problems and hassles that occur at
work. While many wellness programs are aimed at chronic stress, organizations
regularly ignore the impacts on employees associated with major organizational
changes.

With many employers cutting back on staff, employees are being told to work
smarter, but there is evidence that many are not able to face the added
pressure. One study found that as people work longer hours, their risk of
injury and illness goes up. This includes workplace accidents, depression,
hypertension, stress, cardiovascular disease, and chronic infections.81

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Evidence from Statistics Canada revealed that more than one in four workers
(about 3.7 million working adults) reported life as being “highly stressed.” For
highly stressed individuals, the main source of stress was, in fact, work (63
percent), followed by finances (12 percent), time (12 percent), and family issues (8
percent). Respondents with poorer physical and mental health were more likely to
be highly stressed. Workers who were mainly stressed about work tended to be
well educated and have white-collar jobs; workers anxious about finances had
lower incomes and less skilled jobs; and women were more likely to be stressed
about family matters.82

A survey of Canadian employers and employees by Morneau Shepell found that

35 percent of employees reported being more stressed from work and 36 percent
due to personal issues compared to five years ago. Two-thirds of employees with
mental health issues believed that their career options would be limited if the
organization was aware of their mental health issue (which was down from 77
percent from five years ago).83
What are the most stressful jobs? A 2019 CareerCast study revealed that the most
stressful jobs are enlisted military personnel, firefighter, airline pilot, police
officer, and event coordinator. The least stressful jobs included diagnostic medical
sonographer, compliance officer, hair stylist, audiologist, and university
professor.84

Poor supervision can cause stress. For example, the following stressful conditions
are mostly created by poor supervision: an insecure workplace climate, lack of
performance feedback, and inadequate authority to match one’s responsibilities.
Workers frequently complain in private about “bad bosses.”

A study of workers in Finland revealed that a bad boss may be hazardous to

employee health. Employees who perceived that they were being treated
fairly at work by their supervisors had a 30 percent lower risk of coronary
heart disease compared with co-workers who did not believe that their
supervisors treated them fairly. Research from Sweden also revealed that
employees working for a toxic boss were 60 percent more likely to have a
heart attack, stroke, or other life-threatening cardiac condition.85

A general and widely recognized cause of stress is change of any type because it
requires adaptation by employees. Change tends to be especially stressful when it
is major, unusual, or frequent. One particular type of change that dominated the
1990s and is becoming more common since the global financial crisis is
organizational downsizing. In many organizations, the “survivors” of workplace
change are being asked to work longer hours and do more with limited resources.
Working in such an environment may increase both employee stress and the
probability of having an accident.

Evidence from the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and
Mental Health indicates that about 18–25 percent of American and Canadian
workers suffer from depression, and employers are losing billions of dollars due to
lost productivity and a lower capacity to compete. In order to build a healthy
workplace, CEOs must value a psychologically healthy and safe workplace and be
willing to walk the talk.86

Burnout
Burnout is a condition of mental, emotional, and sometimes physical exhaustion
that results from substantial and prolonged stress. It can occur for any type of
employee, whether one is a professional employee, secretary, or labourer. There is
growing concern over what has become known as presenteeism, which describes
an employee who is able to come to work but is inhibited from achieving optimal
levels of productivity due to ongoing health issues.87 One employee described a
burned-out associate in the following way: “His body is here today, but his mind
stayed home.”
Tom Grill/Photographer's Choice RF/Getty images
 Too much stress on the job can lead to employee burnout. What
measures can an employer take to reduce stress? Can stress be avoided?

Page 337

With respect to burnout, the human resource department’s role is a proactive one
to help employees prevent burnout before it occurs. For example, the human
resource department can train supervisors to recognize stress and rearrange work
assignments to reduce it. Jobs may be redesigned, staff conflicts resolved,
counselling provided, and temporary leaves arranged. Weeks or months of rest,
reassignment, or treatment may be required before recovery occurs. Some
emotional or health damage can be permanent. International evidence suggests
that health issues are a global concern:

The Global Wellness Institute notes that many of the world’s 3.2 billion
workers are unwell, with 45 percent employed in low-skill or manual jobs
and 77 percent in part-time, temporary, vulnerable, or unpaid jobs. Moreover,
38 percent suffer from excessive pressure on the job, and 24 percent are
actively disengaged from work. It is estimated that the economic burden of
unwell workers is in the range of 10–15 percent of global economic output.
For the United States alone, the costs of unwellness are estimated at $2.2
trillion a year (about 12 percent of GDP), with the cost breakdown arising
from chronic disease ($1,100 billion), work-related injuries and illnesses
($250 billion), work-related stress ($300 billion), and disengagement at work
($550 billion).88

Stress and Job Performance

Stress can be either helpful or harmful to job performance. When there is no
stress, job challenges are absent and performance tends to be low. As stress
increases, performance tends to increase because stress helps a person call up
resources to meet job requirements. It is a healthy stimulus to encourage
employees to respond to challenges. Eventually it reaches a plateau
that approximately represents a person’s top day-to-day performance capability. At
this point, additional stress tends to produce no more improvement. Finally, if
stress becomes too great, performance begins to decline because stress interferes
with it. An employee loses the ability to cope, becomes unable to make decisions,
and is erratic in behaviour.
There are several solutions to the problem of workplace stress. Curative solutions
try to correct the outcome of stress, while preventive solutions attempt to change
the cause of stress. In terms of curative measures, some employers give employees
the opportunity to relax through such activities as aerobic exercises, yoga, and
meditation. Some companies have counselling professionals on staff, employ an
external consulting service that provides assistance in diagnosing the causes of
stress and developing ways to cope with it, and are looking at or using video
counselling as a means of helping employees. While video counselling is at times
the only option for employees in remote locations, it also gives employees more
flexibility in scheduling counselling sessions. However, it is important for the
counselling platform to meet privacy requirements (such as PIPEDA), have
appropriate technology support, and allow for multiple participants.89

With regard to preventive measures, there are different approaches to dealing with
stress at the workplace. First, organizations can establish stress management
training sessions and EAP assistance to help workers deal with stress. Second,
some organizations are looking at improving working conditions in order to
reduce stress at work—the employer needs to identify stressful situations and
design strategies to reduce or eliminate the stressors. In managing stress, it may be
necessary to bring in outside experts.

Management should look at the structure of the organization and the design of
jobs. Several Canadian organizations have developed programs that provide
workers with more diversified tasks, greater control over decisions that affect their
work, and a chance for wider participation in the overall production process.
Figure 12-6 shows some of the specific actions that the human resource
department should take to reduce employee stress and burnout.

FIGURE 12-6

Actions to Reduce Stress

Table Summary: Summary

Ensure that an employee’s workload is compatible with the

individual’s capabilities and resources.

Design jobs to provide meaningful opportunities for employees to

use their skills.

Clearly define employee roles and responsibilities.

 Provide workers with the opportunity to participate in decision
making.

Improve the communications process.

Increase opportunities for social interaction among employees.

Develop appropriate work schedules.

Train managers and employees to be sensitive to the symptoms of

stress.

Establish a stress management policy.

SOURCE: National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, Stress

at Work.

Spotlight on HRM

Safety Issues in Planning for a Pandemic or Emergency

What are some of the key safety issues in preparing for a pandemic? While some
organizations may have a pandemic policy, others will need to develop one.
Human resource professionals have an important role to play in pandemic
planning and workplace safety. While the suggestions outlined below reference
COVID-19, the principles can be applied to other pandemics and other
catastrophic events (such as severe weather conditions). Some of the major
considerations include the following.

1. Rely on Credible and Trusted Information

During an emergency, rumours, misinformation, and unsubstantiated claims can

increase fear and uncertainty. Although our understanding of the pandemic is
ongoing, relying on the latest credible information is critical. For example, the
World Health Organization has “myth-busting infographics” that can be made
available to employees.

2. Take Action to Prepare for a Pandemic

Ideally, an employer already has a pandemic plan but some organizations may lack
such a plan or the plan is in need of revision. Here are some of the key
considerations:

Have a plan addressing employee absences.

Establish flexible attendance and sick leave policies.

Identify key job functions and positions and cross-train staff to fill in if
necessary.

Monitor and track COVID-19 worker absences to aid in predicting daily

absenteeism rates.
Have a designated space for people who get sick at work and can’t leave right
away.
Have social distance plans to keep employees a safe distance apart.
Have clear direction on such issues as screening, physical distancing and
barriers, good ventilation, frequent cleaning and disinfection of surfaces, and
PPE (personal protective equipment).
Ensure that employee support services (such as EAPs) are available by video
conferencing or telephone.
Examine the impact of local pandemic restrictions (such as school closures or
reduced business hours) on your employees and workplace.
Provide guidelines on employee travel.

3. Establish Communications Guidelines

Clarify how the organization will communicate with employees concerning
workplace issues, closures, and other important information. Also be aware that
employees working from home may not have proper contact information for co-
workers.

4. Develop or Review Your Telework Policy

Be sure to update or develop a telework policy. Key issues include IT system

capacity, availability of equipment, secure connections, and accommodation of
employees.

5. Educate Employees on Hazard Protection

Beyond communicating the facts from trusted sources, safety professionals can
help educate employees about effective prevention measures. It is also useful to
explain standard practices that apply during COVID-19 as well as during the flu
season. It is critical that employers have a sufficient supply of PPE and inform
employees of safety procedures and protocols. Employees should also be aware of
the right to refuse unsafe work and the process to follow if they feel unsafe.

6. Understand the Hierarchy of Controls

The hierarchy of controls (see Figure 12-7) applies to all workplace hazards (not
just COVID-19). Start by considering the most effective controls (such as
elimination), but recognize that elimination may be impossible and thus there will
be a need to use other controls.

FIGURE 12-7

Hierarchy of Controls

Table Summary: Summary

7. Consider Global Operations and Travel

Employers with international operations have to be aware of different national

government laws and regulations as well as local restrictions and practices. Also
make sure that employees who are travelling are aware of the various safety
protocols (such as what to do if feeling sick and needing to self-isolate).

8. Regularly Evaluate and Update the Plan

Ongoing evaluation and updating of the plan is essential as conditions and our
understanding of the pandemic change.

SOURCE: Adapted from the American Society of Safety Professionals, The

Safety Professional’s Role in Planning for a Pandemic, asp.org, March 2, 2020 and
Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Develop Your
COVID-19 Workplace Safety Plan, November 19, 2020.

The Stress Audit

Human resource managers must be sensitive to the many possible sources and
causes of stress at the workplace. It is possible to evaluate the extent of
dysfunctional stress by performing a stress audit, which assists in identifying the
causes of stress.90 The stress audit asks the following questions:

Do any individuals demonstrate physiological symptoms?

Is job satisfaction low, or are job tension, turnover, absenteeism, strikes, or

accident proneness high?

Does the organization’s design contribute to the symptoms described?

Do interpersonal relations contribute to the symptoms described?

Do career-development variables contribute to the symptoms described?

What effects do personality, sociocultural influences, and the nonwork

environment have on the relationship between the stressors—individual
careers, interpersonal relations, and organizational design—and stress?

Page 338 Page 339

Mental Health
It is estimated that mental health problems and illnesses cost the Canadian
economy more than $50 billion a year directly and $6 billion annually for lost
productivity resulting from related absenteeism. Approximately 6.7 million
Canadians have a mental health problem or illness, about half a million Canadians
are absent in any given week as a result of mental health issues, and around 30
percent of disability claims and 70 percent of disability costs are attributable to
mental illness.91 According to the Conference Board of Canada, one in five
Canadians will have a mental health issue in their lifetime with 11 percent of men
and 16 percent of women experiencing a major depression. At any given time,
about 4 percent of Canadian workers are experiencing a depression. In addition,
more than 1.2 million Canadians with depression could be employed if given
optimal treatment and the increased productivity would add more than $32 billion
to the economy.92

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A 2018 study by Ipsos found that 35 percent of Canadians indicated that mental
health disrupted their lives in the past year. About 27 percent of Canadians (22
percent of men and 33 percent of women) reported having being diagnosed with a
mental health condition or mental illness. Based on a “mental health index,” 42
percent of Canadians are at a high risk for mental illness. Moreover, 21 percent of
respondents reported taking medication to help with their mental health and about
500,000 Canadians miss work every week because of mental health concerns.93

A 2020 Ipsos survey found that a substantial percentage of working Canadians

were fairly positive (good or excellent rating) about their overall well-being (64
percent), opinion of their employer (63 percent), mental health (62 percent), job
satisfaction (62 percent), and physical health (59 percent). Not surprisingly since
the survey was conducted during the pandemic, scores on the mental health
measure were down four points from 2019. There has been a noticeable increase
in the use of virtual care to address mental health issues, with 67 percent of
participants reporting that they would be likely to use virtual care to access a
mental health professional (up from 50 percent in 2019) or for video/phone
counselling relating to a mental health challenge (60 percent as compared to 45
percent in 2019).94

In order to get a more complete picture of mental health in the workplace, it is

important to also consider the influence of life at home. A study of almost 2,000
employees from 63 organizations reveals that mental health in an organization
does not exist in a vacuum. Fewer mental health problems were associated with
living with a partner, living in households with young children, living with higher
household incomes, living with fewer work–family conflicts, and living with
greater access to social network support away from work. In addition, work-
related factors (including support for employees, higher use of skills, job security,
and meeting expectations of job recognition) were also related with fewer mental
health issues.95

HR professionals may need to develop a greater understanding of mental illness

issues and diagnoses. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM), which is considered to be the authoritative source for the diagnosis of
mental illness, had its first major revision in nearly 20 years. Major changes
included new diagnostic criteria, greater attention to culture and gender, and a
developmental focus. The DSM is used by several parties, including arbitrators,
employers and HR professionals, workers’ compensation decision-makers, and
mental health professionals.96 Consider the following arbitration case:

A 38-year-old labourer at a Toronto dairy manufacturing plant was diagnosed

with severe mental health conditions. The employee’s behaviour became
quite erratic and the employer ultimately terminated the worker because of
 the safety risk. An arbitrator ruled that the employer had examined
accommodation to the point of undue hardship and concluded that the
employee should not be reinstated to active duty. However, the company was
ordered to reinstate the employee for three months without compensation
solely for the purpose of allowing the employee to apply for long-term
disability benefits.97

Some jurisdictions, such as Saskatchewan, have amended their Workers’

Compensation Act and stated that all forms of psychological injuries will be
presumed to be work-related. The change was in response to data indicating that
about half of the claims for psychological injury were being declined because the
employee was unable to establish a link to employment or establish the nature of
the injury. Employers expressed concern with the legislation because
psychological injury is not defined, because an organization having a large number
of claims could have a higher premium for workers’ compensation, and because
bogus or frivolous claims could drain employer resources.98

Fitness and Employee Wellness Programs

Fitness, wellness, and lifestyle programs have become quite popular in
organizations and have been shown to have a positive impact on reducing stress
and absenteeism and increasing productivity. However, The Personal’s wellness
survey of Canadians revealed that about one-quarter of Canadians report not being
in good physical health, 20 percent don’t eat fresh produce regularly, 30 percent
don’t watch portion sizes, 23 percent overeat to feel better, and 44 percent make
financial trade-offs to pay their grocery bill.99

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Many employees want access to health promotion programs in the workplace, and
the National Wellness Survey Report for 2013 indicates that more than 90 percent
of Canadian organizations with 50 or more employees and almost 60 percent of
smaller employers offer at least one type of wellness initiative. The most common
wellness initiatives were flexible work programs (49 percent), first aid/CPR
courses (36 percent), staff appreciation events (28 percent), time off in lieu of
overtime (27 percent), involvement of employees in work scheduling (27 percent),
and flu shot programs (24 percent). However, 87 percent of employers do not
measure the health status of employees and 75 percent are not confident that they
have the knowledge or support to effectively address employee mental health
needs. About 47 percent of employers are using incentive programs to encourage
participation in wellness initiatives. The biggest barriers to adopting wellness
initiatives were lack of budget (28 percent), lack of staffing (21 percent), lack of
ability to quantify benefits (19 percent), little knowledge of wellness (19 percent),
and lack of conviction of cost savings (18 percent).100

According to the Conference Board of Canada, only 32 percent of employers had

a formal wellness strategy, while just under one-half (48 percent) were relying on
informal strategies and 20 percent had no wellness strategy.101

Starting in 2011, the safest employers in Canada have been recognized at the
Canada’s Safest Employer Awards ceremony. In addition to awards in 10
industries, there is also a wellness and psychological safety award and, beginning
in 2015, a young worker safety and best health and safety culture award. In 2019,
Niagara Casinos won awards for wellness and psychological safety. Seven years
ago, the company (which has about 4,300 employees with an average age of about
50) overhauled its wellness program. Among the initiatives were healthy
alternatives in the cafeterias, wellness centres at each location, and resilience
training for casino dealers. The casino recently introduced a new digital wellness
app, Praktice Health, which challenged employees to watch everything they do
from diet to exercise to mindfulness. The results of the employees’ efforts went
into a social feed visible to workers. Future objectives include a focus on fatigue
and sleep hygiene, with particular attention to employees who are on shift
work.102

An Aon Hewitt survey of Canadian employers indicated that about 92 percent of

employers believe that an integrated approach to managing health is essential but
only 20 percent see their programs as in the top ranges of integration. Among the
most common wellness initiatives were employee assistance programs (93
percent), lunch and learns (59 percent), health spending accounts (55 percent),
newsletters (45 percent), and fitness memberships (42 percent). About 39 percent
had online fitness classes and 23 percent had a smoking cessation program.103

Is an employer allowed to restrict job applicants to non-smokers? Consider the

following example:

U-Haul International, as part of a plan to promote a healthier workplace

culture, has stated that in more than 20 U.S. states it will no longer interview
people who use nicotine, e-cigarettes and vaping products. According to
Toronto employment lawyer Lior Samfiru, “the reality is that an employer,
like U-Haul, can do what it wants as long as there is no law prohibiting it
from taking action.” While many Canadian employers do not have a policy
 refusing to hire smokers, Samfiru notes that a human rights challenge could
affect employer actions if a tribunal were to rule that nicotine addiction is a
disability.104

The average annual cost to an employer for each smoker is estimated by the
Conference Board of Canada to be $4,256. Part of the cost is related to
absenteeism with smokers, on average, taking more than two extra sick days a
year than non-smokers. In addition, unsanctioned smoke breaks result in a loss of
$3,842 per employee. Further, smokers and those who recently quit smoking are
2.3 times more likely to be off work for three months or more a year due to
chronic health issues.105

How effective are wellness programs? While most evaluations have come from
large American corporations with comprehensive programs, the evidence indicates
that such programs do the following:

Improve employee health

Decrease health care costs

Improve employee satisfaction

Decrease absenteeism and turnover

Improve corporate image

Reduce disability claims

A review of 73 published studies revealed an average savings-to-cost ratio of

$3.50 to $1.00 due to reduced absenteeism and health care costs. A meta-analysis
of 43 studies indicated an average reduction of 28 percent in sick leave
absenteeism and a 30 percent reduction in workers’ compensation and disability
management claims associated with health promotion.106 Specific programs also
show significant benefits:

A British Columbia initiative called UPnGO is a workplace wellness program

being tried out at five major companies. It is estimated that only 20 percent of
Canadians get the recommended 2.5 hours per week of moderate to vigorous
physical activity. Employees in the UPnGO program complete an initial
assessment and are then given an individual step goal. The goals of the
program include trying to improve on traditional participation rates in fitness
 programs and to specifically target employees who are less physically active
and sedentary.107

Shutterstock/Lee Torrens

More and more companies are promoting health by providing health

programs. Would the money be better spent by paying bonuses that
serve to motivate employees?

Page 342

Some employers are being creative in trying to help workers get healthier:

One approach involves imitating digital games and having employees track
health performance online. In many instances, employees form teams and
monitor their results. There is some concern that employees may feel
manipulated or pressured by co-workers to help the team win. In one
organization, employees posted messages criticizing co-workers who were
dragging the team down.

There is some recent evidence that positive results from employee wellness
programs are associated with the involvement of organizational leadership and the
provision of stress management initiatives. The most effective wellness programs
include wellness competitions (83 percent), counselling on nutrition (63 percent),
fitness programs (60 percent), wellness seminars and health fairs (53 percent), and
health screening (52 percent).108

However, Pfeffer argues that, rather than focusing on wellness programs,

organizations need to turn their attention to practices that have a major impact on
employee health, such as long hours, toxic workplaces, job insecurity, and layoffs.
He asserts that wellness programs rarely meet objectives because they are
designed to mediate rather than prevent harmful workplace conditions.109

Although labour unions have been strong supporters of health and safety
initiatives, organized labour has not always been an advocate of wellness
programs: Unions are often skeptical about employer motivations behind wellness
programs and there is a concern that employee information may be collected and
tracked to be used in attendance management.
Other Contemporary Safety Issues
Workplace Violence and Security
The events of September 11, 2001, increased employer and employee
awareness of workplace security issues. This has led to a reassessment of
security policies used to make workplaces safe. In addition to terror
concerns, other issues include preparations for a disaster (such as an
earthquake or flood) and access to workplace property by an intruder:

While schools are generally well prepared for a lockdown, many

employers are not. However, the attack at the National War Memorial
and subsequent firing of shots on Parliament Hill in October 2014 have
made employers more aware of the importance of having a lockdown
procedure. According to Ann Wyganowski, director of the Toronto
Disaster Recovery Information Exchange, “Employers should conduct
a proper internal and external assessment ahead of time. Training is
also important. You need to do the drills.”110

A number of organizations have developed emergency plans (such as

evacuation of buildings), implemented training programs associated with
security issues, assessed the work site for hazards and security
shortcomings, and established safety competencies for managers and
supervisors. However, not all employees feel secure at work:

Letter carriers in Montreal have been subject to more than a dozen

attacks by assailants seeking keys to mailboxes to steal credit cards,
passports, and other documents. The keys provide access to grey
boxes, community mailboxes, and apartments. While there are
allegations of thousands of thefts from community mailboxes, Canada
Post says it doesn’t have data on such thefts. According to Canadian
Union of Postal Workers president Mike Palacek, “We’ve been asking
for this information for years and Canada Post refuses to release it. We
 all realize community mailboxes are a problem and far less secure than
door-to-door delivery.”111

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Some firms have taken proactive measures to increase security for

employees:

During the global financial crisis, TD Bank became concerned about

robberies. Consequently, it trained 33,000 employees in robbery
prevention. A training needs assessment was completed and the
company also partnered with the RCMP and an armed robbery
prevention association with the goal of making the training as realistic
as possible. The training included elearning, instructor-led discussions,
role-plays, informal discussions, and ongoing coaching. The bank has
seen several benefits from the training, including a reduction in
robberies, increased safety to employees and customers, and a positive
return on investment.112

There is growing concern over workplace security and violence, and new
federal and provincial legislation is requiring the development of anti-
violence policies. About one-fifth of violent incidents occur at the
workplace and often result in workplace injuries and time away from work
for victims. In attempting to reduce workplace violence, it is necessary to
consider (1) environmental strategies (which focus on physical environment
such as lighting, bulletproof glass, security systems, and so on), (2)
behavioural interventions (which address such issues as employee training
relating to workplace violence and conflict), and (3) organizational
interventions (such as policies and work practices aimed at having a safe
workplace).113

A scan of media reports indicates that workplace violence is not a rare

event. In this era of restructuring and rapid technological change, there have
been a number of accounts of terminated employees returning to the
workplace and injuring or killing other employees. For example, Chuang
“Ray” Li, a computer programmer at Ceridian Canada in Toronto, allegedly
stabbed four of his former co-workers after being fired and faced several
charges, including attempted murder. However, although an Ontario court
ruled that Li was not criminally responsible for his actions by reason of
mental disorder, jurisdictions across the country have developed legislation
to address the issue of workplace violence.114 Consider the experiences of
health care workers:

A recent study of nurses found that over 60 percent experienced a

serious problem with violence over a one-year period and two-thirds
contemplated quitting their job as a result. Lost-time claims rose by
almost 66 percent over a nine-year period. A 2020 study revealed that
more than 36 percent of nurses screened positive for major depressive
disorder and one in three stated that they had suicidal thoughts.
Moreover, over 46 percent reported being physically assaulted 11 or
more times.115

Evidence from the United States indicates that about 9 percent of workplace
deaths were homicides, with four-fifths of the deaths resulting from
gunshots. Workplace violence is the second-highest cause of workplace
death for women (behind traffic accidents), with 22 percent of the fatal
workplace injuries to women resulting from homicide. In terms of deaths
per 100,000 workers, U.S. evidence indicates that the highest-risk jobs (in
order of risk of death) include taxi driver, law enforcement officer, hotel
clerk, gas station attendant and security guard, liquor store worker, detective
or protective service worker, and jewellery store worker. The jobs with the
greatest risk of workplace violence are police officer, security guard, taxi
driver, prison guard, bartender, mental health professional, gas station
attendant, and convenience or liquor store clerk.116 Measures aimed at
preventing or reducing the incidence of workplace violence include an anti-
violence/zero-tolerance policy, self-defence training, and safety and security
measures.

Data from the United States show that about 2 million workers are victims
of workplace violence, three-quarters of the assaults occur in health care, 44
percent of teachers have been victims of assaults at work, 43 percent of
workplace violence acts occur among co-workers, 27 percent of mass
shootings have occurred at work, and co-workers commit more than 20
percent of assaults that result in homicide at work.117
Two-thirds of workplace homicides are committed by a person not close to
the employee, and robberies make up about 85 percent of workplace
violence deaths. It is estimated that $3 or more is saved for every dollar
invested in workplace safety.118

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With the growth of the Internet and social media, one of the most recent
threats at the workplace involves “cyberstalking,” which is the use of
electronic communications to harass or threaten another individual. About
2.5 million Canadians experienced cyberstalking (8 percent of women and 6
percent of men), with higher rates for women and men in the 15–24 age
group. Women who had witnessed or experienced abuse during childhood
were more likely to report cyberstalking. Individuals who rated their mental
health as very good or excellent were less likely to report being
cyberstalked.119 Although one might expect that careful selection of new
hires might be an important step in reducing workplace violence, one study
places more attention on situational factors and poor management:

According to Julian Barling, co-author of a study entitled Supervisor-

Targeted Aggression, “In trying to understand why people behave
aggressively in the workplace, we should give primary responsibility
to situational rather than personal considerations.” Barling believes
that, in creating a healthy work environment where workers are treated
fairly, quality supervision is important in reducing workplace violence.
Moreover, when an act of workplace violence does occur, he suggests
looking inside the workplace for a potential cause rather than assuming
that the worker has a psychological problem.120

In workplace violence lawsuits, courts in the United States are placing a

much heavier onus on employers to take reasonable care in making sure
that the workplace is safe. Factors considered by the courts include the
crime rate in the neighbourhood, the security measures in place at the
business, the lighting of the buildings and grounds, the architectural design
of the buildings, and recommendations from security consultants.
It is estimated that workplace violence costs well over $8 billion a year,
with costs including medical care, disability and workers’ compensation,
higher insurance rates, negative public relations and company image,
consulting fees, greater security measures, and lower morale and
productivity. Experts point out that, under Bill C-45, employers and
executives may be criminally liable for failing to take reasonable steps to
prevent workplace violence and accidents. Proactive suggestions include
careful employee selection, development of a comprehensive policy on
workplace violence, employee training, assessment of the likelihood of
workplace violence, and rigorous security standards.

Jamie Pasieka, who worked at a Loblaw warehouse in Edmonton,

stopped at a military surplus store on his way to work, purchased two
large knives, and allegedly attacked several co-workers, leaving two
dead and four injured. According to Glenn French of the Canadian
Initiative on Workplace Violence, an incident of workplace violence is
very complex because “there is an environmental impact, there’s
witness and bystander impact, and, of course, there’s the impact on the
individual (victim) and the individual’s family.”121

Workplace bullying can cause mental health problems, yet many employers
are not aware of national standards aimed at protecting the psychological
health of employees. Consultant Valerie Cade notes that there is no well-
established definition of bullying, but her definition is this: “Workplace
bullying is deliberate, disrespectful, and repeated behaviour toward
someone or many people, for the bully’s gain.” According to Cade, envy is
at the root of all bullying, and nice, effective people are frequently targeted.
The bully’s goal is to take something away from the victim (such as praise
from somebody or relationships at work).122

Another issue that is gaining more attention is the link between domestic
violence and other facets of an employee’s life, including life at work. A
study by Western University and the Canadian Labour Congress revealed
that about one in three respondents said that they had experienced a
domestic violence incident during their lives (17 percent of men, 38 percent
of women, and 65 percent of participants in the transgender/other category).
Prevalence of domestic violence was particularly high for respondents with
disabilities, Indigenous respondents, and individuals indicating that their
sexual orientation was not heterosexual. Almost 54 percent of participants
who reported experiencing domestic violence said that at least one abusive
act occurred at or close to their workplace, 38 percent reported that
domestic violence affected their ability to get to work, and just under 9
percent reported losing a job because of domestic violence. The most
common abuse acts at or near the workplace included abusive phone calls
or text messages (41 percent), stalking or harassment near the workplace
(21 percent), and the abuser coming to the workplace (18 percent).123

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)

Sick building syndrome is used to describe situations in which employees
experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to the
length of time spent in a building but no specific illness or cause can be
identified. However, the term building-related illness is used when
symptoms of diagnosable illness are identified and are attributable directly
to airborne contaminants in a building.124

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People spend up to 90 percent of their lives indoors, and a growing number

report becoming sick while working in a particular building. Symptoms
range from headaches to dizziness; to nausea; to eye, ear, or throat
irritation; and to allergic reactions. Sick building syndrome may be caused
by major combustion pollutants (caused, for instance, by malfunctioning
heating systems), biological air pollutants (such as mites, mould, and
dander), volatile organic compounds (including pesticides, solvents, and
cleaners), and heavy metals (such as lead). Human resource professionals
should take proactive steps to prevent sick building syndrome.125 However,
sick building syndrome is not always easy to detect:

The Alberta Court of Appeal building has been abandoned since 2001.
Following renovations to the building, there were numerous
complaints from lawyers, judges, and other workers of watery eyes,
fatigue, and irritated lungs. It took a considerable time to figure out the
problem, but eventually it was determined that air quality was the
 problem—the new, airtight building trapped moisture inside the walls,
leading to the growth of toxic mould. It is estimated that about 4
percent of the population react to mould spores and that 30–50 percent
of new or refurbished buildings cause sick building syndrome.126

Although not sick building syndrome. a key addition to many businesses

(such as restaurants, retail stores, offices, and gyms) during the pandemic is
plexiglass shields. However, there has been little research examining the
effectiveness of plexiglass. Moreover, new guidelines from the World
Health Organization state that the coronavirus can spread through aerosols
(which are tiny particles that float through the air and remain for extended
periods of time). There has been a new focus on improving ventilation
systems in an effort to make workplaces safer.127

Ergonomics
An area of health and safety that is attracting more attention is ergonomics
(also known as human factors engineering). As discussed in Chapter 2,
ergonomics focuses on the interaction between employees and their total
working environment.128 An ergonomics program seeks to ensure that the
physical and behavioural characteristics of the employee are compatible
with the work system (including methods of work, machines and
equipment, the work environment, and the workplace or work station
layout).129

While a number of organizations wait until employees complain about the

work system or sustain an injury, proactive employers aim to ensure that the
work system is compatible with employees; recent research indicates that it
is important to incorporate wellness initiatives into ergonomic and safety
programs.130 Consultants specializing in ergonomics can assist
organizations in the design and implementation of the work system.

Two common types of injuries that may be reduced by the application of

ergonomic principles are (1) overexertion and lower back injury and (2)
repetitive-strain injury (RSI), which may include cumulative trauma
disorder (CTD), overuse syndrome (OS), and musculoskeletal injury (MSI).
Repetitive-strain injuries are caused by repeated actions resulting in muscle
or skeletal strain.

According to Statistics Canada, about 15 percent of Canadians (4.5 million

individuals) are affected by RSIs, which are the most frequent type of lost-
time injury and the largest source of lost-time injury costs in the country.131

The treatment of repetitive-strain injuries is complex and varied. Some of

the approaches used include physical treatments (such as physiotherapy or
chiropractic treatments), postural treatments (often aimed at correcting bad
habits relating to posture), relaxation (such as meditation), exercise and
stretching, acupuncture, and cognitive behavioural therapy (with a focus on
coping with pain).132 A properly designed work station can play a major
role in reducing workplace injuries. The key factors in designing an
ergonomically sound work station relate to the layout of the work station,
the characteristics of control and display panels, seating arrangements at the
work station, and lighting quality and quantity.133 While a number of
organizations have moved to an open-office concept, workers complain
about such things as reduced privacy and noise spillover.
LO6 Occupational Health and
Safety Strategy
It must be continually stressed that top management’s involvement in
setting health and safety policies is essential. If top management does not
assume a leadership role, it sets an example by its inaction, and middle
managers, first-line supervisors, and employees will behave accordingly.
Part of an effective occupational health and safety strategy is to clearly
assign responsibilities for plant safety and health programs to ensure that
the company’s policies are carried out. An occupational health and safety
committee with enforcement authority is a very helpful aid to implementing
health and safety policies. Such a committee should be made up of
representatives of management and employees, ideally with balanced
representation. This increases the probability that the committee’s decisions
are accepted as fair by the employees.

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It is important to have a control process in place. Causes of accidents

should be identified and either eliminated or controlled to prevent
recurrence. The HR group should use its information system to monitor for
patterns of accidents or health problems that may be otherwise overlooked.
An effective training program is another critical part of a good occupational
health and safety program. Moreover, a number of organizations are hiring
occupational health and safety specialists to design and administer
comprehensive workplace health and safety programs. Finally, management
should continually encourage safety awareness on the part of supervisors
and employees.
SUMMARY

Occupational health and safety has become an important aspect of

organizations and will have an even higher priority for human resource
managers in the future. The federal and provincial governments have
created a variety of laws that require the attention of human resource
professionals. Most occupational health and safety acts now require the
establishment of safety committees in companies with 20 or more
employees.

The Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) is a

comprehensive plan that requires suppliers to provide detailed information
about any danger their material may pose, but it also asks the user to make
sure that the information is available and that employees are trained to
understand it.

Accident prevention is a major concern, but human resource managers

should not forget to look at the psychological aspect of the work
environment. Stress-related losses—absenteeism, turnover, low
productivity, accidents, and so on—cost Canada billions of dollars each
year. Preventive programs such as employee assistance programs,
professional counselling, time management, and fitness programs can go a
long way to reducing stress-related costs.
TERMS FOR REVIEW

assumption of risk

burnout

careless worker model

shared responsibility model

stressors

Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)

workplace health and safety committee

REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Explain the legal term assumption of risk.

2. What factors affect occupational accidents?

3. What responsibilities do joint occupational health and safety

committees have?

4. Explain the requirements of the Workplace Hazardous Materials

Information System (WHMIS).
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SHORT CASE 12-1: Safety at Petro-Plus Quick Stop

Camilla Conrad has been employed for just over four years as a server at
the Petro-Plus Quick Stop (PPQS) restaurant in Kentville, Nova Scotia.
PPQS gets extremely busy at times and is popular with local residents, work
crews, and truck drivers looking for a place to stop and get a meal. Camilla
is 23 years of age and single. She typically works 35–40 hours a week
(depending on scheduling requirements). PPQS does not have a formal
performance appraisal system but co-workers and her supervisor say that
Camilla is a “solid performer” who gets along well with both customers and
staff, is dependable, and is willing to help others.

The present case arises out of an incident that occurred just before the start
of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Camilla had been away on
vacation for two weeks and returned to work in late August. When she left
on vacation, she told people at the restaurant that she was going to be in
New Brunswick visiting her mother. It turns out she actually drove to
Quebec City to see an old friend. Camilla was stopped at the Nova Scotia
border and lied to the Nova Scotia border officials that she had only been in
New Brunswick. Since the Atlantic Canada bubble was in effect, the
officers told her there was no need to self-quarantine for 14 days (which she
would have been required to do as she had been in Quebec).

On her first day back on the job, Camilla was chatting with a couple of her
co-workers. She told them that she had actually been in Quebec but wanted
to get back to work rather than spending 14 days in self-quarantine because
she couldn’t afford to go without pay for the two weeks. Some customers
overhead what Camilla had said and reported this information to
management.

The owners of PPQS were very upset. In an effort to keep their business
open during COVID-19, they had taken several measures to meet and
exceed public health requirements including installing plexiglass barriers
between booths, improving the airflow inside, sanitizing surfaces, and
enforcing strict physical distancing guidelines.
DISCUSSION QUESTION

1. You are in charge of HR for the restaurant. What action (if any) would
you take in this case? Be sure to justify your response.
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CASE STUDY

Perth Metro Transit

Bonita Cousins is a 38-year-old bus driver with Perth Metro Transit (PMT).
She has been with PMT for 15 years, is a good performer (her performance
ratings have been between 4.0 and 4.2 on a five-point scale over the past
five years), and is well liked by both co-workers and her supervisor. She has
only one previous disciplinary offence—a written warning two years ago
for being 18 minutes late.

Last Friday, Bonita was driving her bus on her route on the outskirts of
Perth. There were 24 passengers on the bus, and as she drove along Kings
Park Road, she observed a woman in her early twenties being attacked by a
man in his late twenties. She immediately pulled the bus over to the side of
the road, jumped out, and ran to assist the woman. The incident occurred
about 50 metres from where the bus was parked. The assailant, upon seeing
Cousins approaching, ran away into the park. Cousins accompanied the
woman back to the bus, called the police for assistance, and contacted her
supervisor.

In discussing the incident with her supervisor, Cousins admitted that the bus
was idling and that the passenger doors were left open while she was in the
park.
According to three passengers, an eight-year-old boy sitting three rows
from the front of the bus got up and sat in the bus driver’s seat while
Cousins was away from the bus. The boy’s mother was sending a text
message when the boy went to the driver’s seat. The mother was quickly
informed of the situation by other passengers, and she got up and brought
her son back to their seat. The evidence is clear that the boy did not touch
the gear shift or gas/brake pedals but merely sat in the bus driver’s seat for a
short period of time.

Bus drivers receive yearly training on safety issues (including proper

procedures to follow in the event a driver has to leave the bus). The
employee handbook states that “a bus driver should never leave the bus
unattended. If you need to leave the bus, make sure that the engine is turned
off, you remove the key, you have passengers get off the bus, and you lock
the bus. Failure to follow such procedures constitutes a serious breach of
the employment contract, and dismissal is an appropriate remedy.”

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Is there just cause to dismiss Bonita? Explain your answer.

2. Would your response to Question 1 be different if Bonita had left the

bus unattended to rescue a cat stuck in a tree? An elderly person
crossing the road? Justify your response.

3. What can PMT do to improve its safety practices and policies?

Chapter 13

The Union–Management
Framework
HRM focuses on the shared interests of workers and managers in the
success of their enterprise. Conflict is de-emphasized in favour of “win–
win” scenarios where problems are solved or put aside to fulfill
organizational objectives. By contrast, industrial relations assumes conflict
is inherent in the employment relationship.

DAPHNE GOTTLIEB TARAS, ALLEN PONAK, AND MORLEY

GUNDERSON1

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. LO1 Discuss the major reasons why workers join unions.

1. LO2 Describe the structure of Canadian unions.

1. LO3 Summarize the core legal principles relating to collective

bargaining.

1. LO4 Explain how a union organizing campaign is carried out.

 1. LO5 Outline the key steps in negotiating a union contract.

1. LO6 List common techniques to resolve disputes.

1. LO7 Describe how unions affect the human resource management

environment.

1. LO8 Suggest ways to build union–management cooperation.

Workers may join together and form a union—an organization with the
legal authority to represent workers, negotiate the terms and conditions of
employment with the employer, and administer the collective agreement.

Many successful companies have one or more unions among their

employees. While unionized organizations are often lumped together, there
is growing evidence that the quality of the relationship between an
employer and a union is a major factor in predicting firm performance. Still,
the presence of a union places limits on the role of human resource
management, and many managers find these new limitations hard to accept:

CUPE Local 118 in Saint John, New Brunswick, had a clause in its
contract with the city that guaranteed a minimum number of full-time
outside employees. The clause, which was introduced in the early
1980s, had been renewed several times to avoid damaging union–
management relations and labour unrest. Terry Totten, former city
manager, believed that the clause was fundamentally wrong and
impaired the ability of the city to save money by contracting out
services. Union officials reported that the clause had been introduced
to stop corruption, poor-quality work, and kickback schemes with
outside contractors, and they believed that the clause benefited both
employees and taxpayers. In June 2020, the city ratified a new five-
year deal with the union that permitted a minimum staffing level of
235 positions but allowed for the reduction of up to 43 positions using
attrition. According to city councilor David Merrithew, “I asked staff if
 we could negotiate something like contracting out of our garbage. We
need more flexibility to do something like that. No one can tell me that
we wouldn’t be better off without a minimum manning clause.”2

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As shown in Figure 13-1, the industrial relations and human resource

perspectives on workplace conflict are somewhat different.

FIGURE 13-1

Industrial Relations and Human Resource Perspectives on

Workplace Conflict

Table Summary: Summary

Industrial Relations Perspective

1. Conflict stems from an employer–employee power

imbalance.

2. Conflict between labour and management is enduring.

3. Correcting the power imbalance between labour and

management often requires institutional intervention in the
forms of union representation and legislation.

4. Conflict can be constructive even when the conflict is

addressed in an adversarial, non–problem-solving fashion.

Human Resource Perspective

1. Conflict stems from poor management.

2. Conflict can be partially reduced by organizational and

workplace innovations that build an employer–employee
unity of interests.
 3. Conflict can further be reduced by cooperative, mutual
gains–oriented problem-solving techniques.

4. As a result of improved management, conflict will fade

from the employment relationship.

SOURCE: Adapted from D. Lewin (2001), “IR and HR

Perspectives on Workplace Conflict: What Can Each Learn From
the Other?” Human Resource Management Review, 11, pp. 453–
85.
LO1 Why Employees Seek Union
Representation
Unions do not just happen. They are frequently caused by some management
action or inaction that workers perceive as unfair. For example, in a 6:1 decision,
the Supreme Court of Canada held that the RCMP’s internal system for
negotiating workplace issues was grossly unfair and gave Mounties the right to
join a union.3 In 2019, the RCMP voted to certify the National Police Federation
(NPF) as its bargaining agent. It is expected that policing costs will rise in those
municipalities using RCMP services with the negotiation of the collective
agreement.4 Once a union is organized, it becomes the employees’ bargaining
agent and the employer is legally obligated to meet with the union and bargain a
labour contract called a collective agreement. The collective agreement, which is
known as the “rule book” by some managers and union officials, addresses a
variety of issues, such as wages and benefits, hours of work, and working
conditions, as well as related issues including grievance procedures, safety
standards, probationary periods, and work assignments. The collective agreement
is usually negotiated between the local union’s bargaining committee and the
human resource or industrial relations department.

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The collective agreement places restrictions on management’s rights in managing

the workplace. When a new collective agreement is negotiated, it is important that
supervisors and managers dealing with unionized employees be made aware of
the terms of the agreement and provided with training regarding the interpretation
and application of the new agreement. All too often, a union grievance arises
because the supervisor did not understand the terms of the collective agreement.

Causes of Unionization
Why do employees join unions? The reasons for joining a union vary from person
to person, and there is no single force that motivates people to join unions.
Instead, perceptions are shaped by a variety of reasons. The union push
explanation asserts that some employees are pushed or forced into joining a union
because of employer treatment of the workforce, peer pressure by co-workers to
join a union, or collective agreement provisions requiring an employee to join if
they want the job in question. The union pull explanation states that employees
are pulled into the union because of the benefits of union representation (such as
higher wages, greater benefits, job security, and grievance representation).
Consider the comments of one union organizer:

“Without a union an employer can fire you whenever they feel like it. If
you’re visibly queer or trans, that unemployment period is likely to be much
longer.”5

When considering union joining, it is important to distinguish between the desire

for union representation and the opportunity to join a union. Three factors—job
dissatisfaction, individual attitudes toward unions in general, and perceived union
instrumentality (beliefs about what unions can do for an employee)—appear to be
most important in an individual’s decision to join a union.6

Reasons for not joining a union are equally diverse. Workers who want to become
managers may believe union membership damages their chances for promotion.
Other employees view unions as “just another boss” that leads to extra costs, such
as union dues or lost wages from strikes. Likewise, past experiences or isolated
stories of union wrongdoing may cause some people to form a negative opinion
of collective action. Also, employer policies and supervisory treatment may be
fair, and, consequently, employees are not motivated to join a union.

As the following example shows, people within a community may have vastly
differing views concerning unionization:

In the small town of Brooks, Alberta, a strike shut down the Lakeside
Packers slaughterhouse. Management was determined to open the plant
(which employed about one-quarter of the town’s population) during the
dispute, which divided the town. While some citizens strongly supported the
employees and their union, others were concerned that the strike would hurt
other businesses in the community and leave lasting divisions among the
town’s residents. Striking workers were very upset—despite an Alberta
Labour Relations Board order that banned strikers from doing more than
delaying vehicles seeking to enter the plant, workers were committed to
restricting access to the facility. As one worker stated, “If they kill us, they
can go in. This is modern slavery for me.”7
 © Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Having a union means strikes and walkouts. Are unions necessary in

today’s organizational environment, with labour and pay equity laws
safeguarding workers?

Canadians’ Views Toward Unions

A survey by Leger of 1,400 Canadian adults examined their attitudes toward
unions. While the survey provides important information, the results are
aggregated and important differences may exist among workers based on
demographic characteristics. For a few of the questions, responses from a Nanos
survey are presented. Some of the major findings with regard to attitudes toward
work and employers are reported below:

Among Canadians who are not unionized, 19 percent reported that they were
very or somewhat interested in being unionized, 2 percent didn’t know or
refused to respond, and 79 percent did not want to be unionized.

Among current union members, 71 percent would prefer to be unionized.

Among formerly unionized workers, 46 percent would prefer to be
unionized.
 Among respondents, 71 percent of current union members believed that
unions are as relevant today as they have ever been. Support for this
statement dropped to 46 percent for former union members and 42 percent
for respondents who had never been in a union.

When forming a union in or removing a union from the workplace, 86

percent of current union employees and 83 percent of nonunion employees
believe that a secret ballot vote should be required.8

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A CAUT Harris-Decima poll conducted at about the same time revealed that
about 70 percent of participants agreed that unions are still needed, about 42
percent indicated that they would never join a union, 40 percent supported the
position that governments should have the right to impose contracts on public
sector unions, and about 44 percent felt that public sector unions should not have
the right to strike.9

Employer Views Toward Unions

A Canadian HR Reporter survey of human resource professionals examined their
views toward unions. The study revealed several important trends:

Of participants, 27 percent thought the union had the upper hand in

bargaining, while 52 percent did not.

52 percent believed that economic conditions had pitted unionized workers

against management.

42 percent reported that the number of grievances had increased over the
previous three years, 44 percent indicated no change, and 13 percent
believed there had been a decrease.

62 percent perceived that there was a growing trend for employers and
unions to work together to find solutions to problems.

19 percent of respondents believed that unions had had a large financial

impact on the employer, while 57 percent indicated that the financial impact
of unions had been small.
 36 percent of participants thought that the employer’s relationship with the
union would get worse over the next five years, 39 percent believed that it
would stay about the same, and 24 percent thought that it would improve.10

The bitter labour disputes of the past few years have attracted considerable media
and public attention. Some commentators argue that unions are fighting to
survive. Ken Georgetti, former president of the Canadian Labour Congress,
stated, “There used to be a time when we had great respect from the public. But
we’ve lost that. There’s this notion that unions are just out for themselves and not
for society. You get that label hung on you, and you have to work to get rid of
it.”11 It is argued that unions must engage the new workforce if they are to
survive. While strikes and threats of strikes have been common in the past, Jim
Stanford, formerly an economist with Unifor and now with the Centre for the
Future of Work, observed that “the confrontations are overwhelmingly driven by
the employers’ side. Almost all of the strikes and conflicts have been defensive
from the perspective of the union. They’re trying to hang on to what they have.”12
LO2 Labour Unions: Goals and
Structure
Labour unions alter the work environment. Their presence changes the
relationship between employees and the organization, and the human resource
department’s involvement in union-related issues is not always well received by
lower levels of management, who believe that their ability to make workplace
decisions has been eroded.

Unions have a major effect on the work environment, but in many other ways the
environment remains unchanged. Supervisors and managers retain their primary
responsibility for employee performance. Profit objectives and budgetary goals
are often not shared with the union (although this is changing in some
organizations). As well, unions do not reduce the need for effective human
resource policies and procedures. To understand how and why unions influence
human resource management, it is necessary to examine their goals and structure.
At times, the interests of the parties are clearly in conflict:

In early February 2021, the United Food and Commercial Workers called for
the shutdown of the Olymel meat processing plant in Red Deer, Alberta,
following the death of a man linked to a COVID-19 outbreak. According to
the union, with a death and large outbreak, the employer or government
needed to ensure some type of lockdown. The union was calling for
meetings with employees to find out what was happening in terms of health
and safety. Just over a week later, the plant was temporarily closed. In the
words of the local union president, “It’s been a fight in order to get Olymel
to come to their senses. The world needs to see that this disease is an
occupational disease. There’s 1,800 workers working side-by-side and it’s a
very troubling situation.”13

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Union Goals and Philosophy

A union’s objectives are influenced internally by the wishes of its members, the
aspirations of its leaders, and the financial and membership strength of the union.
Like other organizations, unions are open social systems that are also affected by
their external environment: the financial condition of the employer, the gains of
other unions, inflation and unemployment rates, and government policies all
influence the union’s objectives.

Yet among all these internal and external considerations, there exists a common
core of widely agreed-upon objectives. Writing more than 100 years ago, one
prominent labour leader stated that the mission for the labour movement was to
protect workers, increase their pay, improve their working conditions, and help
workers in general.14 This approach has become known as business unionism,
primarily because it recognizes that a union can survive only if it delivers a
needed service to its members in a businesslike manner. But some unions have
chosen to address broader social issues of politics and economics when such
concerns are in the best interests of their members. This second kind of union,
social (or reform) unionism, tries to influence the economic and social policies of
government at all levels—municipal, provincial, and federal.15 In practice, union
leaders pursue the objectives of social unionism by speaking out for or against
government programs. For example, many union leaders oppose substantial
government intervention into collective bargaining because it takes away or limits
the right of the union to engage in free collective bargaining with management.

A number of unions have developed programs to help members deal with issues
at the workplace. Consider, for example, Unifor’s Women’s Advocate program:

The program is aimed at providing trained workplace

advocates/representatives to help women (and men) deal with such issues as
partner abuse and workplace harassment by making workers aware of
community resources and workplace supports. According to Julie White,
former director of Unifor’s Women’s Department, “It’s really important we
have that management support person to go through because, ultimately, if a
woman needs time off work, it’s not the union that can authorize that, it’s the
management support system.” According to Jerry Dias, Unifor national
president, “We can make significant gains for the women in our workplaces
by making women’s issues a priority at the bargaining table. The Women’s
Advocate Program’s specially trained, easy to contact workplace
representatives have been instrumental in creating healthier workplaces and
safer communities. They work closely with management ensuring strong
cooperation to achieve this goal.”16
Human resource management is influenced by both business and social unionism
goals. The growth of benefits discussed in Chapter 10 has resulted partly from
union pressure. Even nonunionized employers have added many benefits in order
to remain competitive in the labour market or to forestall unionization among
their employees.

Union Structure and Functions

It has been argued that employees lost direct contact with business owners as
organizations grew larger, so unions emerged to help workers influence
workplace decisions.17 Through unions, workers were able to exert control over
their jobs and their work environment.18 Then, when attempts were made by
employers to cut wages or employment, the employees relied on unions to resist
these actions.19 The most important levels of union structure are local unions,
national and international unions, and labour congresses.

Local Unions

For most union members and industrial relations practitioners, the local union, or
local, is the most important part of the union structure. Locals provide the
members, the revenue, and the power of the entire union movement. Historically,
the two major types of unions were craft and industrial unions. A craft union is
composed of workers who possess the same skills or trades; for example, all the
carpenters who work in the same geographical area. An industrial union includes
the unskilled and semiskilled workers at a particular location. When an employer
has several locations that are unionized, employees at each location are usually
represented by a different local union. An example would be the United Food and
Commercial Workers.

Page 354

Figure 13-2 shows the structure of a typical local. The union steward is usually
elected by the workers and helps them present their problems to management. If
the steward of an industrial union cannot help the employee, the problem is given
to the grievance committee, which takes the issue to higher levels of management
or to the human resource department. In craft unions, the steward, who is also
called the representative, usually takes the issue directly to the business agent,
who is often a full-time employee of the union.
FIGURE
13-2

Structure
of a
Typical
Local
Union

Table
Summary
:
Summary

Based on Human Resources and Social Development Canada (2003),

“Structure of a Typical Union,” Public Works and Government Services
Canada.
National and International Unions

Many local unions are part of a larger union, which may be a national union, such
as Unifor or the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or an international union,
such as the United Steelworkers or the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
National unions are based in Canada, while international unions have their
headquarters outside the country (typically in the United States).

National and international unions exist to organize and help local unions. They
also pursue social objectives of interest to their members and frequently maintain
a staff that assists the local unions with negotiations, grievance handling, and
expert advice. Some national and international unions leave many key decisions
(including bargaining a collective agreement) with their local unions. In other
relationships, the national or international union plays a very active role in local
union affairs. Figure 13-3 shows the membership of the largest unions in Canada.
Note that the two largest unions represent public sector employees.

FIGURE 13-3

Membership in Canada’s Largest Unions (2019)

Table Summary: Summary

Union Membership (000s)
Canadian Union of Public Employees 680
National Union of Public and General Employees 390
Unifor 315
United Food and Commercial Workers Canada 250
United Steelworkers of America 225
Public Service Alliance of Canada 180
Teamsters Canada 125
Social Affairs Federation 110

Based on R. Hebdon, T. Brown and S. Walsworth (2021). Industrial

Relations in Canada (4th ed.), Toronto, Nelson. Also see the web pages
of the unions mentioned above.

Page 355
Canadian Labour Congress

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) represents many unions in Canada and
has about 3.3 million members. The past president, Hassan Yussuff, was elected
in 2014 and had planned to retire in 2020 but stayed on when the CLC’s triennial
convention was cancelled due to COVID-19. At the June 2021 convention, Bea
Bruske from the United Food and Commercial Workers was elected
president. Women have held high-ranking positions within Canadian labour. For
instance, Grace Hartman was elected as the national president of CUPE in 1985,
the first woman to lead a major union in North America. Shirley Carr was the first
woman to lead the CLC, with her election win in 1986, and in 2019, Jan Simpson
became the first Black woman to lead a national union (the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers).20

The CLC has five main functions: (1) representing Canada at the International
Labour Organization, (2) influencing public policy at the federal level, (3)
enforcing the code of ethics set out in its constitution, (4) providing services (such
as research and education) for its member unions, and (5) resolving jurisdictional
disputes among its member unions.

While the Canadian Labour Congress is the largest labour federation, it is not the
only one. In addition to other federations at the national level, there are also
federations operating at the provincial and municipal or regional levels (for
instance, the Quebec Federation of Labour and the Ottawa and District Labour
Council).
Trends in Union Membership
Union Growth and Decline
In 2020, about 4.77 million workers were covered by collective agreements
(union coverage rate of 31.3 percent). In terms of industry sector, education
was the most highly unionized, at 75 percent, followed closely by public
administration (74 percent), utilities (66 percent), and health care and social
assistance (56 percent). The lowest rates of unionization were in the
agricultural (3.3 percent); scientific, professional, and technical services
(4.3 percent); and accommodation/food services sectors (4.6 percent).21

Major changes in the Canadian economy, ranging from demographic shifts

to new technology and work restructuring, are influencing the roles of
unions in the workplace and introducing new opportunities and challenges.
Democratic rights are being eroded in favour of individual needs, resulting
in a growing number of “duty of fair representation” complaints. Other
major challenges include a decline in union representation of Millennials,
robots and artificial intelligence changing many traditional jobs but
introducing opportunities in fields that didn’t exist 20 years ago, and greater
focus on work–life balance and a movement to more remote work (further
strengthened by the COVID-19 pandemic).22

However, unions are placing greater emphasis on organizing service and

essential employees:

A “Unions Are Essential” campaign by the Service Employees

International Union (SEIU) is aimed at organizing essential workers.
With COVID-19, thousands of essential workers have been laid off
without any callback guarantees and the pandemic has also led to
health and safety concerns. However, there has been some union
organizing and certification success during the pandemic and a push by
the SEIU to focus on organizing and protecting essential workers.23
 In addition, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union
continues to focus on representing employees at large food retailers
(like Loblaws and Sobeys). During one organizing campaign, Sobeys
sent a letter to employees indicating that the union merely wanted their
dues money and emphasized the good and open relationship the
company has with employees. Loblaws executives indicated that they
would welcome greater unionization in the retail food sector to remove
the competitive disadvantage of paying 35 percent higher wage
payments to employees.24

In recent years, the number of women members in Canadian unions has

been increasing rapidly. In 1967, women made up only 20 percent of total
union membership; now, more than 50 percent of union members are
female—the unionization rate for women surpassed that for men for the
first time in 2004. While about one in six female employees belonged to a
union in 1967, that ratio has doubled over 35 years and now about one in
three women are union members. Thirty years ago, four out of ten male
employees were union members; today that proportion has fallen to under
three in ten. In terms of age, the density rate is 16 percent for workers aged
15–24, 29 percent for those aged 25–34, 31 percent for workers aged 35–
44, 35 percent for workers aged 45–54, and 34 percent for those aged 55
and older.

Page 356

Unions today are acknowledging that traditional approaches to organizing

and collective bargaining are becoming less relevant today. Many
Canadians view union workers as being in a blue-collar or government
occupation, so there is a growing recognition of the need to appeal to other
employees. For example, Unifor has decided to try to attract young workers
to the union movement. According to Anna Goldfinch, formerly with the
Canadian Federation of Students, “There is more and more
underemployment, precarious employment for youth. Unions need to start
communicating that they’re applicable in any workforce—and that unions
will reflect young people more and more as young people start to
participate in them.”25
Moreover, low wage employees may look to unions to protect their rights
and improve conditions of work:

On January 1, 2018, the Ontario government raised the minimum wage

to $14 (now $14.25). This was met with resistance by a number of
employers, including some Tim Hortons franchises, which decided to
change paid breaks to unpaid and to cut some employee benefits. It
became clear that there was a major power imbalance between
employers and low wage employees without the resources to fight
back. As noted by Martin Regg Cohn, “If employers trample on their
rights, minimum wage workers have to stand up for themselves—by
joining a union that can push back against companies. Unions can keep
a watchful eye on abuses, enable members to file grievances, and tap
into the collective resources of the larger labour movement.”26

In comparing unionization across provinces, Quebec had the highest rate

(40 percent), followed closely by Newfoundland and Labrador (39 percent),
while the lowest union density was in Alberta (26 percent). Also of note is
the lower probability that a part-time worker will be unionized (the union
density rate for full-time workers is 33 percent compared with 24 percent
for their part-time counterparts). In addition, larger workplaces are more
likely to be unionized—about 14 percent of employees in firms with fewer
than 20 employees were unionized, 32 percent in firms with 20–99
employees, 41 percent in firms with 100–500 employees, and 53 percent in
firms with more than 500 employees.27

On the global scene, a number of countries have experienced a decline in

union density (that is, union members as a percentage of the paid
nonagricultural workforce), although Iceland, Belgium, Spain, and Italy
have seen an increase since 1985. Explanations for the decline in union
representation include (1) the decline in the manufacturing sector, (2) the
constraints that the globalization of financial markets have put on
macroeconomic policies, and (3) competition from developing countries
with low labour costs, resulting in the loss of low-skilled, labour-intensive
jobs in high-wage countries.28
Back in the mid-1980s, about 30 percent of workers in OECD countries
were unionized. About 35 years later, that number has declined to about 16
percent. Similarly, the percentage of employees covered by a collective
agreement has declined from 45 percent to 33 percent over the same time
period. When considering selected OECD countries, union density varies
across countries, as shown in Figure 13-4.29

FIGURE 13-4

Union Density in Select OECD

Countries

Table Summary: Summary

Country Union Density
Iceland 91.8%
Sweden 67.9%
Italy 34.4%
Canada 25.9%
United Kingdom 23.4%
Japan 17.0%
Germany 16.5%
Australia 13.7%
United States 10.1%
South Korea 10.0%
France 8.8%

SOURCE: OECD (2018), Trade Unions and Collective

Bargaining, www.stats.oecd.org.

Secession
Page 357

In 1960, about two-thirds of union members belonged to an international

union. Over the past half-century, that percentage has declined noticeably so
that now only about 25 percent of union members belong to international
unions.30 This trend, referred to as secession, has been motivated, in part,
by a desire for more autonomy on the part of Canadian locals and the
development of policies aimed at specifically addressing the needs of
Canadian workers. The most dramatic breakaway occurred in 1985 when
the Canadian Auto Workers union (now part of Unifor), led by former
president Bob White, severed ties with the United Auto Workers and held
its founding convention in Toronto. Canadian members of international
unions have often complained that they receive a disproportionately small
share of union benefits.
The Impact of Union
Representation
Strikes
Members of the public frequently associate unions with strikes. However,
the reality is that most collective agreements are settled without the union’s
resorting to strike action or the employer’s locking out the workers. Still,
there are exceptions:

In 2009, approximately 1,800 City of Windsor (Ontario) inside and

outside workers went on strike. By the six-week mark of the strike,
frustration was setting in. A bar owner reported that her employees
were harassed by city workers for removing the bar’s garbage during
the strike, and a newspaper columnist said his car was vandalized after
he wrote an article about taking garbage to a private firm. There were
allegations of individuals putting clothes hangers in tall grass to prevent
it from being mowed and spreading nails on the road leading to a
private waste disposal site. The local CUPE president insisted that there
were no reports of union picketers doing any of that. Rather, one CUPE
member stated that he suffered a broken ankle and cuts to his face after
a confrontation with a private contractor cutting grass, and other
picketers revealed that they had been nudged by automobiles operated
by people seeking to drive past the picket line. One picketer was the
victim of a hit-and-run and another was put in a headlock by an irate
driver.31

In studying why strikes occur, it is possible to classify strikes into one of two
categories:

1. Strikes as Mistakes/Misjudgment. At least some strikes occur because

the parties have uncertain and imperfect information when trying to
negotiate an agreement or because one or both negotiation teams are
inexperienced negotiators. For example, some negotiators easily
 become frustrated when bargaining and make their “final offer” too
early or without carefully considering the implications of shutting down
bargaining.

2. Strikes as Collective Voice. In a number of instances, the decision to go

out on strike is not because of a mistake or misjudgment but because of
a perception on the part of workers that they are not being treated fairly.
A strike is considered a mechanism by which to voice discontent to
management:32

Alberta health care workers, including those in food services,

maintenance, cleaning, and clerical services, engaged in an illegal
wildcat strike in late 2020 to protest the planned outsourcing of their
jobs to private employers. The employer, Alberta Health Services,
asserted that while the large majority of positions would remain, they
could be moved from the public sector to the private sector. The dispute
was settled when the workers’ union, the Alberta Union of Provincial
Employees, told employees to return to work.33

In a strike environment, there are several issues to consider. An extended

strike puts considerable financial pressure on employees. As well, the family
is at risk for more than just financial reasons: Normal family patterns and
routines are seriously disrupted. Physical and emotional harm may also be an
issue:

During a recent strike, a Canadian National Railway worker was

injured after being struck by a pickup truck and ending up on the hood.
According to a union spokesperson, “It’s unacceptable that our
members are being hit by pickup trucks on the picket line …We
encourage all Canadians to show the same respect for striking workers
as they would for anybody else.”34

Once the dispute is settled, employees have to return to a workplace and to

work teams that just a few days before were divided by a fundamental
conflict. While companies need to get on with business, the human issues do
not go away by themselves. It can take four to six weeks to return to normal
working conditions, and some workplaces are never really the same.35
Page 358

What factors distinguish firms with lower strike activity? Strikes were less
common in smaller firms and in organizations where

workers had more autonomy in the workplace;

the employer introduced progressive human resource management

practices;

the union was in a strategically weak position; and

employers had a large share of the market.36

How common are strikes and lockouts? Data on the number of strikes and
lockouts, the number of workers involved, and the person-days not worked
are provided in Figure 13-5. Over the 2016–2020 period, 2020 (when the
COVID-19 pandemic started) saw a noticeable decline in the number of
strikes and lockouts but high numbers for workers involved and person-days
not worked. Obviously, a small number of large strikes in a given year can
markedly affect the number of workers involved and the person-days not
worked.

FIGURE 13-5

Strikes and Lockouts in Canada

Table Summary: Summary

Number of Strikes Workers Person-Days Not
Year
and Lockouts Involved (000) Worked (000)
2006 151 42 793
2007 206 66 1,771
2008 188 41 875
2009 157 67 2,162
2010 174 58 1,202
2011 149 91 1,351
2012 281 137 904
 2013 165 205 205
2014 153 80 1,711
2015 237 429 1,846
2016 189 44 632
2017 192 207 1,201
2018 173 86 1,134
2019 129 46 1,214
2020 61 624 1,447

SOURCE: Based on Work Stoppages by Jurisdiction and Year,

ESDC, 2021.

Quebec and British Columbia prohibit the use of replacement workers if

there is a strike or lockout. However, some employer groups are arguing that
the ban on replacement workers does not reduce the number of strikes or
lockouts or days lost due to work stoppages. In addition, employers argue
that the legislation discourages investment by employers in Quebec.37

A recent University of Saskatchewan survey of 400 citizens revealed

that about 50 percent approved of unions, 21 percent were neutral, and
about 26 percent disapproved (3 percent didn’t respond). When asked
about whether they would support legislation banning replacement
workers, about 34 percent supported such legislation, 36 percent
opposed, 28 percent were neutral, and the remainder did not provide a
usable answer.38

Sometimes workers do not go out on strike but come up with other

approaches to put pressure on the employer:

After about 200 Air Berlin pilots called in sick one day, approximately
100 flights had to be cancelled. The pilots’ union indicated that it was
surprised by the absences and stated that it had not encouraged pilots to
call in sick.39

Page 359
Recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions addressed important issues
relating to strikes. First, the court struck down Saskatchewan legislation that
prevented public sector workers from going on strike. According to Lori
Johb of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, “Workers aren’t generally
keen to strike. Without that right, we really had no power, we had no ability
to achieve fair, collective bargaining for all the members.”40 The court also
ruled that a part of Alberta’s privacy legislation violated the right of a union
to free speech by prohibiting the union from videotaping employees crossing
a picket line. The court recognized the importance of freedom of expression
in labour disputes with picketing representing a particularly critical form of
expression.41

In commenting on these decisions, union labour lawyer Chris Paliare stated

the following:

“The very notion of collective bargaining implies that there is an

imbalance between workers and employers. So unless you have an
inherently anti-union bent, you have to accept that workers need the
fundamental right to bargain collectively, to be protected from unfair
labour practices, and to take strike action in order to address that
imbalance.”42

In most jurisdictions, employers have the right to operate during a strike but
some choose not to:

According to one labour relations expert, “The employer has to

calculate very carefully if bringing in replacement workers is going to
exacerbate the bitterness of the dispute. After a strike it takes a while to
put the relationship back together. There’s a lot of bitterness left over.
The employer takes some chance of exacerbating that when they bring
in replacement workers—at a substantial cost to the labour–
management relationship over the long term.”43

As noted above, employers also have the right to lock out employees. In the
winter of 2021, Hickman Chrysler Jeep in St. John’s, Newfoundland and
Labrador, locked out nine sales employees who are represented by the
Teamsters Union. Four weeks into the dispute, it had not been settled.
According to the business agent for the Teamsters, the employer was seeking
a change in the commission pay structure on wholesale transactions which
could reduce income by 15–20 percent. The union also noted that the
lockout might work to the employer’s advantage as the winter tends to be a
slower time for sales and the pandemic (and a shortage of computer chips)
had limited the availability of vehicles for sale.44

One issue that frequently comes up after a strike is settled concerns the
rebuilding of the labour–management relationship. A strike changes the
relationship, often leads to workplace conflict, and typically destroys the
trust between the parties:

When a seven-week strike at CBC ended, management announced

plans to hire consultants to “reintegrate” the workers with their
managers. The reaction from most employees was “They’ve got to be
[expletive] kidding.” According to one consultant, “There is always a
dramatic erosion in trust of management after a strike, which creates
lingering resentment, and lack of productivity unless it is addressed
properly.” While each strike is different, some companies ask outside
consultants with expertise in psychology and social work to conduct
confidential debriefing sessions for employees. As well, some
organizations have “return to work” training programs (again run by
consultants) for managers; the programs focus on role plays, dealing
with employees, and getting the team back and running. In addition,
employees should be made aware of the EAP program and other
assistance available to them.45

Wages and Benefits

What are the effects of unions on wages and benefits? The average hourly
wage for full-time unionized employees for 2020 was $33.47 an hour
(compared with $27.10 for nonunion workers) and $30.16 an hour for part-
time unionized employees (compared with $18.17 for part-time nonunion
workers).46 Moreover, unionized employees tend to have more
comprehensive benefit plan coverage.
Spotlight on HRM

Moving Toward Cooperation?

Background

In early January 2021, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) announced
that work being done by 91 NSHA employees at 24 hospitals across the
province could be contracted out to a U.S. company. That’s part of NSHA’s
plan to improve the quality of record keeping in Nova Scotia. The company,
Iron Mountain, would be responsible for scanning patients’ records into a
digital format.

In late November 2020, employees first heard that their jobs would be
eliminated after having a conference call with their NSHA manager. Jason
MacLean, president of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union
(NSGEU), said that the union was not consulted prior to November 2020,
there was no opportunity to give feedback on the NSHA plan, and specific
details of the change were not provided. Andrew Nemirovsky, chief
information officer at NSHA, agreed that there was no consultation in 2019,
but verbal and written communication was provided to employees in
September and October 2020. According to NSHA, “We’ve made an honest
effort to engage the union as much as possible and we’ve made sure we’ve
been in line with the collective agreement. We are committed to finding
comparable opportunities for the employees, whether in existing or new
roles and if there is any job loss, it’ll be very minimal. Ideally zero.

Why the need for change? NSHA alleged that there have been significant
scanning errors in the past and boxes and boxes of unscanned charts waiting
to be scanned. However, some of the problems are due in part to the quality
of the scanning equipment available. NSHA stated that it couldn’t afford to
buy the high-quality and high-capacity scanners required to do the job
properly. Iron Mountain had agreed to buy the higher-end scanners and keep
them at the company’s facilities. Moreover, NSHA also said that it lacked
sufficient funding to hire auditors to ensure quality of the scanned records.
NSHA noted that the government is not consulted in “day-to-day operational
work” within the health authority, such as contracting or eliminating jobs

The Union Position

In December 2020, the NSGEU released a report that was critical of the
NSHA position, in particular the rationale provided by the NSHA in support
of contracting out the work and the fact that there was no tendering for the
contract with Iron Mountain. NSGEU president MacLean was highly critical
of NSHA moving forward with the transition rather than finding internal
solutions. According to MacLean, “The inability of NSHA to hire auditors
or purchase proper scanners reflects the mismanagement of the NSHA.
There’s no accountability to Nova Scotians in spending their money,
especially during a pandemic. We will not stop with this just being swept
under the rug … especially for those that you call health-care heroes during
the pandemic.”

A Change of Heart

On January 22, 2021, NSHA announced that it had decided not to outsource
the storage and scanning of health records. Rather, it would, over the coming
weeks and months, examine internal alternatives to address the quality and
backlog issues. According to NSHA, the change in approach was a result of
additional business planning, as well as feedback from employees and health
care providers.
The union and employees had several meetings with the NSHA to outline
their concerns. According to the union, the proposed plan left the employees
feeling unvalued but the NSHA then decided to work with the employees to
find alternative solutions.

NSGEU president MacLean stated that “They heard all the concerns that we
raised, and they really made the proper decision. We’re very thankful for that
and very happy. For the employer to work with the employees to get this
done, we know that this will be a win for all. With the employer and
government listening to the workers that were affected here, I think that
shows a new way that things can be done in this province and hopefully we
can continue on that road.”

SOURCE: Based on: NSGEU/CUPE, A Matter of Trust: A Review of

NSHA’s Quiet Plan to Hand Control of Nova Scotians’ Health Information to
an American Company, www.nsgeu.ca, Dec. 21, 2020: N. Snan, “NSHA
Axing 90 Health-Record Keeping Jobs,” Chronicle Herald, Jan. 7, 2021;
NSH, NSH Seeks Alternative Ways to Improve Health Records Process,
www.nshealth.ca, Jan. 22, 2021; N. Snan, “NSHA Scraps Plan to Contract
U.S.-Owned Company for Health-Record Keeping,” Chronicle Herald, Jan.
27, 2021.

Unions and Productivity

One major issue of interest for human resource management and industrial
relations practitioners is the relationship between unionization and
productivity. On one hand, it can be argued that unions have a “monopoly”
face that creates economic inefficiency by introducing restrictive and
inflexible work rules, withdrawing labour in the form of a strike if an
employer fails to meet union demands, and increasing compensation costs.
On the other hand, it can also be asserted that unions have a “voice” face that
increases productivity by reducing turnover, enhancing employee morale,
improving communications with workers, and “shocking” management into
using more efficient workplace practices.47 Studies have shown that the
impacts of unions include:

Page 360
 reduced employee turnover (fewer quits);

increased tenure with the firm;

increased training opportunities;

greater access to benefits (20–45 percent) and more comprehensive

benefit plans;

higher productivity (in some situations);

reduced innovation; and

lower profits.
48

Note that the relationship between unionization and productivity is open to

considerable debate and has not been universally agreed upon. In fact,
management perceptions are opposite to some of the empirical work: While
managers from both the union and nonunion sectors tend to believe that
unions lower productivity, some studies indicate that, in a number of
industries, productivity is actually higher in unionized firms.
LO3 The Legal Environment
Page 361

Government shapes the union–management framework both through the

enactment of laws and in its role as employer. Unlike in the United States,
where employers and unions across the country are regulated by the
National Labour Relations Act, in Canada the federal government and each
province has its own labour legislation. This division of responsibilities for
trade union law is a result of the British North America Act (now the
Constitution Act, 1867), which specifies the powers of the federal
government and the provinces.

The issue of jurisdiction over labour relations is significant for human

resource practitioners. The Canadian Parliament is restricted in its
jurisdiction over labour relations matters to organizations involved in
interprovincial trade and commerce (e.g., banks, airlines, railways, and
federal government agencies). All other organizations fall under the
jurisdiction of the provinces. It has been estimated that less than 10 percent
of the Canadian labour force comes under federal jurisdiction.
Consequently, it is important that human resource practitioners be aware of
the appropriate legislation.

Although the traditional view is that the employer and union should be free
to sit down and negotiate a collective agreement, we are seeing increasing
government intervention in the bargaining process at both the provincial
and national levels. For instance, in Nova Scotia, the government
overhauled and radically altered the education system with minimal
consultation. One of the changes, the removal of new school psychologists,
speech pathologists, and social workers from the Nova Scotia Teachers
Union bargaining unit, was overturned in 2019 by arbitrator Eric Sloane.
Sloane concluded that the decision to exclude such employees was made
unilaterally and breached the collective agreement in numerous respects. He
also required the employer to remit any outstanding dues those employees
would have paid to the union.49 Buzz Hargrove, former president of the
Canadian Auto Workers union, stated, “There’s no respect left for the
collective bargaining process. It’s about government coming in on behalf of
employers and defending employers, almost guaranteeing they’re going to
win the dispute … it’s so anti-democratic, it’s so un-Canadian.”50

The Common Core of Canadian Labour

Legislation
The fact that each province and the federal jurisdiction has its own labour
relations statutes makes dealing with unions somewhat more difficult,
particularly for employers operating in more than one province. Some of
the key aspects of Canadian labour law (which will be discussed in more
detail later) include the following:

Right to Join a Union. Employees have the right to join a trade union
of their choice and participate in the union’s activities.

Good Faith Bargaining. In attempting to negotiate a collective

agreement, both labour and management have a duty to “bargain in
good faith.”

No Strikes or Lockouts During the Life of the Collective Agreement. It

is illegal for a union to strike or an employer to lock out employees
during the life of the contract.

Prohibition on Unfair Labour Practices. All jurisdictions have

legislation prohibiting unfair labour practices by employers and
unions.

Conciliation. The right of a union to strike or an employer to lock out

employees is (in most provinces) delayed until the conciliation process
has been exhausted.

While the provinces and the federal jurisdiction have some unique features
in their labour laws, there is a “common core” of provisions contained in
the various labour relations acts (refer to Figure 13-6).51
Page 362

FIGURE 13-6

Common Characteristics of Federal and Provincial Labour

Legislation

Table Summary: Summary

1. All jurisdictions create labour relations boards to decide

who has the right to participate in collective bargaining and
what bargaining unit should be permitted to represent those
who are organized.

2. Most jurisdictions prohibit strikes during the life of an

agreement.

3. Most jurisdictions contain regulations that delay strike

action until a conciliation effort has been made and has
failed.

4. All jurisdictions require that a collective agreement be in

force for at least one year.

5. All jurisdictions specify and prohibit certain “unfair labour

practices’’ by management and unions.

Labour Relations Boards

To enforce labour legislation, the federal and all provincial governments
have created labour relations boards (LRBs). These agencies investigate
violations of the law and have the power to determine (1) whether a person
is an employee for the purposes of the law; (2) whether an employee is a
member of a trade union; (3) whether an organization is an appropriate
bargaining agent for bargaining purposes; (4) whether a collective
agreement is in force; and (5) whether any given party is bound by it. The
enforcement procedures of an LRB relating to unfair labour practice
allegations are summarized in Figure 13-7.

FIGURE 13-7

LRB Procedures for Redressing Unfair Labour Practices

Table Summary: Summary

1. The aggrieved individual or organization contacts the

appropriate LRB office (federal or provincial) and explains
the alleged violation.

2. If the case appears to have merit, the LRB informs the other
party of the complaint and asks for a response.

3. The LRB gives the parties involved the opportunity to

present evidence and to make representations. If the
complaint cannot be solved informally, the LRB conducts
an official hearing with the interested parties present and
usually represented by legal counsel.

4. On the basis of the evidence, the board will either dismiss

the case or, if one party is found guilty of a violation, issue
a cease-and-desist order. In the event of noncompliance, this
order is enforceable in a court of law.

5. It is up to the courts to decide whether a verdict can be

appealed or not. In any case, an appeal can be made in
matters of jurisdiction, failure to pursue legitimate
complaints, and procedural irregularities.

In comparison to traditional courts of law, LRBs are more flexible in their

procedures for resolving a conflict. They may rely on expert evidence
instead of adhering to precedents, suggest a compromise, or even impose a
solution upon the parties. In all jurisdictions, the boards’ decisions are final
and binding and cannot be appealed except on procedural matters.
When charges have been filed against an employer, the human resource
department usually assists the organization’s lawyer in preparing the case.
For example, the HR department may be involved in compiling job
descriptions, performance appraisals, attendance records, and other
documents that help the company prove its case. Consider the following:

Patrick Veinot was an employee of Vale Canada (a nickel mining and

metals company) and vice-president of his local union. During a long
and bitter strike, Veinot was charged with criminal harassment after an
employee who crossed the picket line was assaulted. Vale investigated
the incident, concluded that Veinot had verbally harassed the employee
and encouraged another striking worker to assault the employee, and
terminated Veinot’s employment (but Veinot was subsequently
acquitted of the charges). Veinot was also prohibited from going onto
the employer’s property. After the strike ended, Veinot was appointed a
vice-president of the local union—the company would contact him by
phone to discuss grievances but refused to allow Veinot onto the
company property. The union grieved the employer’s action and the
labour board held that banning Veinot from company property was
interference with union activities. The company was ordered to stop
such interference and to allow Veinot on the property for the purpose
of union meetings.52
LO4 The Collective Bargaining
Process
Union Organizing
Page 363

It is worth remembering that a union exists only when workers create it.
While unions may use professional organizers, the outcome of the
organizing drive depends primarily upon the employees. George Meany, the
first president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in the United States, once said this:

“Despite the well-worn trade union phrase, an organizer does not

organize a plant. Now, as in the beginning, the workers must organize
themselves. The organizer can serve only as an educator; what he or
she organizes is the thinking of the workers.”53

In addition to professional organizers, employees interested in unionization

often play an important role in convincing co-workers to join the union.
During regular working hours, employees are not allowed to discuss
unionization with co-workers. However, several other techniques are used
to encourage workers to sign authorization cards, including handbills,
speeches, conversations, and even home visits. Depending on the
jurisdiction, a union is typically certified either on the basis of card
signatures or as a result of an election. Some unions are particularly creative
in the organizing process:

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) have developed a

Youth Internship Program that involves youth activists who are given
the opportunity to work with union representatives to learn negotiating
skills and experience hands-on union organizing campaigns. Travel
and accommodation expenses as well as lost wages are covered by the
union. The UFCW also has a program—Talking Union—where union
 representatives and members visit high schools, colleges, and
universities and provide students who are new to the workforce with
information on labour history and workplace rights. However, the
pandemic resulted in cancelling events in 2020.54

Union organizers educate the workers by explaining how the union can help
employees and reduce mistreatment of workers. However, professionals
only assist workers; they do not cause workers to join a union. Even
experienced organizers find it difficult to organize a well-managed and
growing company with proactive human resource practices.55 Some unions
are focusing attention on non-traditional workers:

A decision by the Ontario Labour Relations Board found that Foodora

couriers were dependent contractors and in essence work for Foodora
based on the company’s terms and conditions of employment. The case
of Uber v Heller involves a $400 million class action lawsuit arguing
that Uber drivers should be recognized as employees rather than
independent contractors. An earlier Supreme Court of Canada decision
supported the use of a class action lawsuit challenging Uber’s
arbitration system requiring workers to take employment claims to the
Netherlands and pay a $14,500 filing fee. These decisions are seen as
potentially paving the way for the unionization of gig economy
workers.56

In a 2020 Ceridian report, more than half (56 percent) of freelance and
gig workers indicated that gig workers should unionize. The main
reasons for unionizing included negotiating higher wages (69 percent),
better benefits (59 percent), greater equality such as more equality in
compensation across employers (55 percent), better workplace health
and safety (39 percent), and better job security (34 percent).57

Some experts are suggesting that unions use more technology and analytics
in an effort to recruit new members. For example, unions could use “big
data” and algorithms to identify and engage prospective members.
Similarly, having a presence on social media sites such as Facebook,
Instagram, and Twitter could be useful in informing young workers about
the advantages of belonging to a union. Online organizing may be
particularly effective in attracting Millennials. Other options range from
having live-assistance help lines to digital marketing and a digital
organizing tool.58

Page 364

Prior to many union organizing campaigns, there are signs of employee

interest in union representation. Of particular importance is the work
environment. For example, are the turnover and absenteeism rates higher
than the norms for the industry and community? Is morale poor? Are pay
and benefits below average for the industry? Does the employer have a
procedure for resolving employee complaints or issues, and, if so, is the
process used by workers? Changes in employee behaviour may also suggest
that a union drive is under way (see Figure 13-8). However, these are only
indications of a possible union drive.

FIGURE 13-8

Employee Behaviour That Suggests Union Activity

Table Summary: Summary

Obvious signs—such as finding a union flyer

Change in employee turnover
Exit interview language—comments on a negative work
environment
Employee language—such as common labour management
terms like arbitration and unfair labour practice
Employee communication behaviour change—less
cooperative behaviour by workers
New employee alliances—among those interested in
unionization
Social media language—involving unionization
Employee phone time—discussing union activities
Emotions running high—negative portrayal of working
conditions
Employee routines change—such as lunch breaks
 Based on “Are You Missing These 10 Signs of Union Organizing
Activity?” UnionProof, http://www.unionproof.com

Spotlight on ETHICS

Ethics and Refusing to Work

Can Canada Post mail carriers refuse to deliver mail having content they
oppose? Two Canada Post workers in Regina were suspended without pay
for three days after telling their supervisor that they would not deliver a
sample edition of the Epoch Times. According to the Canadian Union of
Postal Workers, the employees were escorted from the facility after their
refusal to deliver the newspaper.

The Epoch Times is a controversial newspaper that claims to have about 5.7
million readers monthly in Canada. It also, on occasion, sends out
complimentary sample copies to Canadians using Canada Post’s advertising
mail service. The Epoch Times has a variety of articles on several topics but
also has a focus on material critical of the Chinese Communist Party.

One employee objected to delivering the paper due in part to the paper’s
coverage of the coronavirus and its origins in China. A second employee,
who was born in China, refused to deliver the paper because of her fears
that the paper’s coverage could fuel anti-Chinese and anti-Asian sentiment.
Both employees stated that the Epoch Times goes against their personal
beliefs and thus they could not agree to deliver the paper.

The Canadian publisher of the Epoch Times stated that using advertising
mail to promote a paper is common industry practice. Canada supports
freedom of the press, and people who do not want to read the paper can
treat it like any other promotional mail that they don’t want. Refusing to
deliver the paper would be censoring an independent media outlet.

Canada Post, although it has discussed this issue with the Canadian Union
of Postal Workers, takes the position that mail that is properly prepared and
paid for must be delivered by mail carriers. The Epoch Times is considered
“mailable matter” (that is, it is not prohibited as being illegal, obscene or
fraudulent) and the courts have ruled that the role of Canada Post is not to
censor mail or regulate freedom of expression in Canada.

Should the two Canada Post carriers have been suspended? Does an
employee have the right to refuse performance of duties due to ethical
concerns? As a human resource professional, what advice would you give
the employer?

SOURCE: K. Nicholson and J. Ho, “2 Canada Post Workers in Regina

Suspended for Refusing to Deliver Epoch Times,” cbc.ca, January 29,
2021.

Page 365

Once a union drive begins, management’s choice of responses becomes

limited in several important ways. A labour relations board (LRB) will
protect workers from management reprisals. For example, the discipline of
union supporters is illegal, unless the employer can prove that the basis for
punishment was not involvement in a union but improper behaviour.

Employer lawyer Jamie Knight identified three stages to an employer’s

defence in the event that an employer is committed to remaining union free.
Stage 1 involves removing the incentive to unionize through effective
human resource management (such as competitive wages and benefits, fair
and reasonable policies, excellent communication with employees, and a
complaint and suggestion system that allows employees to voice their
concerns without the threat of reprisal). Stage 2, which occurs when card
signing begins, involves discussing the impacts of unionization (such as the
union becoming the exclusive bargaining agent, the requirement for
employees to pay dues, and the need to carefully assess union promises)
and the need to avoid unfair labour practice charges. In Stage 3, when an
election is about to be held, the employer is advised to encourage
employees to get out and vote because the chance of a union victory may
decline as voter turnout increases.59
When unions are organizing, labour relations boards pay particularly close
attention to the actions of employers. Unlike the United States, Canadian
labour law provides employers with relatively little freedom to counter a
union organizing drive.60 Both the context and content of statements about
unionization are carefully examined by LRBs. Consequently, employers are
well advised to obtain prudent legal advice in the wake of a union
organizing campaign.

Canadian LRBs are quite vigilant in enforcing unfair labour relations

practices. Human resource administrators should stress to every member of
management, from supervisor to chief executive officer, the following two
cautions:

1. Can management actions be judged as unfair labour practices by the

LRB?

2. Will management actions provide fuel for the organizing drive?

When an unfair labour practice is committed by any member of

management, it can lead to expensive, time-consuming lawsuits and
(in some instances) automatic certification of the union. Moreover,
union supporters can point to management violations as further
justification for a union.

Unfair Labour Practices

To prevent employers from interfering with employee rights, the law
prohibits specific unfair labour practices by management. These legal
prohibitions are summarized in Figure 13-9. They require that management
neither interfere with nor discriminate against employees who undertake
collective action.

FIGURE 13-9

Unfair Labour Practices by Management

Table Summary: Summary

 Every jurisdiction in Canada has specific provisions dealing with
unfair labour practices by management. Some of the most
common provisions addressing unfair labour practices are
provided below. Activities that management may not engage in
include the following:

1. Interfering in the formation of a union or contributing to it

financially (although there have been allowances for the
providing of an office for the union to conduct business and
for paid leave for union officials conducting union business)

2. Discriminating against an employee because the individual

is or is not a member of a trade union

3. Discriminating against an employee because that individual

chooses to exercise rights granted by labour relations
statutes

4. Intimidating or coercing an employee to become or not

become a member of a union

Unfair labour practices by unions are also prohibited. A summary of such

practices is provided in Figure 13-10.

FIGURE 13-10

Unfair Labour Practices by Unions

Table Summary: Summary

While every jurisdiction has laws regulating trade union conduct,
some of the most important unfair labour practice provisions are
presented below. Activities that a union is not permitted to
engage in include the following:

1. Seeking to compel an employer to bargain collectively with

the union if the union is not the certified bargaining agent
 2. Attempting, at the workplace and during working hours, to
persuade an employee to become or not become a union
member

3. Intimidating, coercing, or penalizing an individual because

he or she has filed a complaint or testified in any
proceedings pursuant to the relevant labour relations statute

4. Engaging in, encouraging, or threatening illegal strikes

5. Failing to represent employees fairly

Obtaining Bargaining Rights

Legal recognition or bargaining rights may be obtained in three ways: (1)
through voluntary recognition, (2) through certification by a labour
relations board, and (3) through a prehearing vote or automatic certification
resulting from unfair labour practice.

Page 366

1. Voluntary recognition occurs if a union has organized a majority of

employees and the employer is satisfied that the union did not apply
undue pressure in the organization process. The employer then accepts
the union as the legal bargaining agent without any involvement of a
third party.

2. Regular certification may take different forms (depending on the

jurisdiction):

In some provinces, if a substantial number of employees (usually

between 50 and 65 percent, depending on jurisdiction) sign union
cards, the labour relations board may certify the unit without an
election. If the union is unable to get enough employees to sign
cards to qualify for automatic certification but still gets a
significant number of card signatures (typically between 35 and
 45 percent of bargaining-unit members, again depending on the
jurisdiction), an election is mandatory. A secret ballot is taken
under the supervision of the labour relations board at the
employer’s place of business. If the union loses, another election
among the same employees cannot be held for one year. If the
union wins (that is, the majority of eligible employees who vote
cast ballots in favour of the union), then the employer must
prepare to negotiate with the union and attempt to reach a
collective agreement.

Other provinces do not automatically certify unions based on card

signatures. Rather, an election is held if there is sufficient support
for the union in the form of signed cards. Again, the union is
certified if the majority of the ballots cast are in favour of the
union. While employers generally favour a mandatory secret
ballot vote for certification, the legislative change away from
certification on the basis of card signatures was strongly opposed
by unions. A poll of Manitoba residents by the Canadian
Federation of Independent Business revealed very strong support
for the use of secret ballots in union certifications. More than 70
percent supported the use of secret ballots (51 percent strongly
agree and 20 percent agree) and 68 percent of small business
owners are supportive of the secret ballot approach (57 percent
are very supportive and 11 percent are somewhat supportive).61
Amendments to the certification process are not uncommon:

Ontario’s Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, has some

interesting features that will impact union organizing in the
province. For instance, a union able to show at least 20 percent
membership support can obtain employee contact information
(such as name, phone number, and email) from the employer.
Also, the Act provides for off-site or electronic voting. However,
there have been fewer requests for employee lists than anticipated
as unions may be unwilling to seek such lists earlier in the
certification process and thus put employers on notice of a
potential organizing drive and permit more time for employer
preparation.62
3. Page 367

Prehearing votes are taken in cases when there are significant

indications that an employer has committed unfair labour practices to
prevent unionization. In such a case a union can ask an LRB to
conduct a prehearing vote. In addition, most jurisdictions provide for
automatic certification if employer actions (in the form of unfair
labour practices) are such that the true wishes of employees may not
be known.63
LO5 Negotiating a Collective
Agreement
Once a union is certified, the various labour relations statutes require both the
union and management to bargain in good faith. This means that both sides are
required to make a reasonable effort to negotiate a collective agreement. The
failure of either party to do so can lead to unfair labour practice charges.

The collective bargaining process has three overlapping phases. Preparation for
negotiations is the first and often the most critical stage. The success of the
second stage, face-to-face negotiations, largely depends on how well each side
has prepared, the skill of the management and union negotiators, and the
bargaining power of each side. The third phase involves the follow-up activities
of contract administration. An organization may establish an industrial relations
department or create a labour relations specialist position within the human
resources department to administer the collective agreement and coordinate
contract negotiations. In recent years, we have seen a trend toward longer
collective agreements:

Over the past 30 years, the average length of collective agreements has
doubled (from 20 to 40 months). Unions have generally preferred shorter
agreements while employers often sought longer deals. According to labour
lawyer Will Cascadden, “Because bargaining involves multiple meetings,
bargaining is usually a time-consuming expensive process. Employers have
to allocate significant resources figuring out what the bargaining positions
are and what positions you are going to take on those issues.”64
© CP/Sean Kilpatrick
 Postal strikes tend to have a serious impact on customers, especially
small businesses. Should postal strikes be prohibited? Could such
prohibitions be done legally?

Preparing for Negotiations

The purpose of negotiations is to achieve a collective agreement. The agreement
specifies the rights and responsibilities of management and the union. Detailed
preparations are required if each party is to achieve its objectives.

Labour relations specialists need to monitor the environment to obtain

information about likely union demands. A number of strategies can be
employed. The labour relations department must be sensitive to the rate of
inflation and the settlements made by other unions:

VIA Rail encourages regular structured discussions with the union and
opening the communication lines before meeting during contract
negotiations. This permits the parties to discuss relevant issues, share
direction, and identify emerging trends in advance of bargaining. According
to Ed Houlihan, director of labour relations at VIA Rail, “better ideas will
emerge when both sides work together early in the process to solve common
issues.”65

One set of bargaining issues revolves around management rights. These rights
provide management with the freedom to operate the business subject to any
terms in the collective agreement.66 They often include the right to reassign
employees to different jobs, to make hiring decisions, and to decide other matters
important to management.

Page 368

Under what is known as the residual rights theory of management, employers

argue that they have the authority over all issues not contained in the collective
agreement. On the other hand, union leaders assert that residual rights do not exist
and that they are free to bargain over any issue affecting workers. Most collective
agreements have a management rights clause. A typical clause might be as
follows:

The Employer retains and shall possess and exercise all rights and functions
that the Employer possessed prior to the signing of this collective agreement,
 excepting only those that are expressly relinquished or restricted in this
agreement.67

In negotiating a collective agreement, management may want to include contract

language that increases its flexibility at the workplace. For example, supervisors
may want all job descriptions to include the phrase “and other duties assigned by
management.” This clause prevents workers from refusing work because it is not
in their job description. The clause also gives supervisors greater freedom in
assigning employees. Labour relations specialists in the human resource
department may use a variety of sources (such as surveys, discussions, focus
groups, provisions in other collective agreements, and information from
grievance claims) to discover which rights are important.

Negotiating With the Union

After preparing for bargaining, the second phase of negotiations is face-to-face
bargaining with the union. Discussions often start as much as 60 to 90 days
before the end of the present contract. If the negotiations are for a first contract,
they begin after the union is recognized by the employer or wins a certification
election.

Negotiations cover a variety of issues relating to terms and conditions of

employment, including wages, hours of work, and working conditions. These
areas are interpreted broadly. Wages refer to all forms of compensation, such as
pay, insurance plans, retirement programs, and other benefits and services. Hours
of work include the length of the workday, breaks, holidays, vacations, and any
other component of the work schedule. Working conditions involve such issues as
safety, supervisory treatment, and other elements of the work environment. The
contents of a collective agreement are only limited by the ingenuity of the parties.
For instance:

Canadian Blood Services (Edmonton) permitted employees to take up to

three days off to attend their wedding. In PEI, the Labourers International
Union negotiated a clause that prohibits the use of cellphones and smart
phones during work hours, and in Quebec, CBC and Groupe TVA agreed to
a clause guaranteeing an employee salary and benefits if the individual is
incarcerated for refusing to divulge a confidential source.68
 © THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Union leaders, like politicians, are elected. Are there other similarities?

Successful bargaining usually begins with easy issues in order to build a pattern
of give-and-take. Negotiations almost always take place in private, permitting
more open discussion of the issues. When deadlocks occur, several tactics can
keep negotiations moving toward a peaceful settlement. By settling easy issues
first, bargainers often point to this progress and say, “We’ve come too far to give
up on this impasse. Surely, we can find a solution.” This sense of past progress
may increase the resolve of both sides to find a compromise.

Richard Dixon, former vice-president and human resources officer at NAV

Canada, stated, “In any unionized environment, if you’re sitting at the
collective bargaining table, you’re sitting across from individuals who know
the business very well. When trying to introduce a new business process or
negotiate a more streamlined way of doing things, the HR professionals who
don’t know the business as well as the people on the other side of the table
could have their pockets picked.”69
Compromises may be achieved by offering counterproposals that take into
account the needs of the other party. For example, Air Canada and its pilots
reached an agreement without resorting to strike action or arbitration for the first
time since 1996. In addition to reopener clauses, the 10-year contract also
provided for profit sharing for union members using a formula similar to that
applied for executive bonuses.70

Page 369

Many management teams will exclude top executives. They are kept out of
negotiations because top managers are often not experienced in collective
bargaining. Also, their exclusion gives management bargainers a reason to ask for
a temporary adjournment when the union introduces demands that require a
careful review. Rather than refusing the union’s suggestion, management
bargainers may ask for a recess to confer with top management (using the adage
“My hands are tied”).

Experienced bargainers realize that the other side must achieve some of its
objectives. If the employer is powerful enough to force an unacceptable contract
on the union negotiating team, the union membership may refuse to ratify the
contract, or union officials and members may refuse to cooperate with
management once the collective agreement goes into effect. In addition, if
management does not bargain in good faith, the union may file unfair labour
practice charges.

Using Mutual Gains Bargaining

Rather than use the traditional adversarial approach to negotiating a collective
agreement, some unions and employers are employing mutual gains bargaining.
This approach moves away from the us-versus-them or win–lose attitude in
favour of a win–win approach, in which both parties work together to solve
common problems. However, labour unions are often skeptical about win–win
bargaining, as one senior union official asserts:

It has been our experience that most employers only become “less
adversarial” and talk about cooperation when they want something that will
benefit them. Many employers have approached unions wanting to extract
concessions, normally accompanied by promises of future employer
cooperation. It is also usually followed by an acute case of amnesia on the
part of the company. Any level of cooperation between the union and
 company must be accompanied by a commitment that front-line supervisors
are prepared to treat our members with dignity and respect on the shop floor.
Without that commitment, cooperation between the union and company is
meaningless.71

Note that mutual gains bargaining does not mean “soft” bargaining or one side
giving in. Rather, both parties sit down at the bargaining table as equals and
engage in joint problem-solving activities. The process is usually preceded by
training in conflict resolution for both employer and union representatives. In
addition, mutual gains bargaining requires substantial commitment, trust, and
respect, and a long-term focus on the part of both labour and management.

What does a mutual gains enterprise need to succeed? At the workplace level, it is
important to have high standards of employee selection, broad design of tasks and
a focus on teamwork, employee involvement in problem solving, and a climate
based on cooperation and trust. At the human resource policy level, key elements
include a commitment to employment stabilization, investment in training and
development, and a contingent compensation strategy that emphasizes
participation, cooperation, and contribution. Finally, at the strategic level, there
must be a strong commitment from top management to the mutual gains concept,
business strategies that support and are aligned with the mutual gains model, and
an effective voice for human resource management in strategy making:72

In a recent settlement between the CBC and Canadian Media Guild (CMG),
the union stated that the atmosphere in bargaining was respectful and
constructive with both parties looking to move the discussions forward.
“Similar to past negotiations, the parties relied on an interest-based approach
throughout the bargaining process that has worked to the benefit of both
parties. This approach encouraged cooperation, respect, transparency and
fact-based decisions to address issues.73

Research by the Conference Board of Canada revealed that 36 percent of

employers and 42 percent of unions have attempted interest-based or mutual
gains bargaining techniques.74

The Harvard Program on Negotiation has several important strategies to avoid

reaching an impasse in collective bargaining. Factors leading to impasse and a
potential strike include overconfidence by the negotiators (believing that your
position is stronger than it is and the other side is weaker), fairness concerns and a
desire to seek retribution if treated unfairly, the use of agents who may have
interests that do not align with the parties they represent, seeing negotiations as a
competition, and incrementally commit to an impasse (failing to ignore past
investments such as time, money and other resources).

Suggestions for reducing conflict during bargaining are listed in Figure 13-11.75

FIGURE 13-11

How to Reduce Conflict During Bargaining

Table Summary: Summary

1. Avoid extreme demands and drawing a line in the sand.

2. Consider the other side’s perspective and brainstorm for creative

solutions to issues on the table.

3. Get an outside opinion, such as an external expert who can

examine the demands and issues from a disinterested perspective.

4. Consider a “virtual” strike which involves the parties continuing

operations but not receiving pay or revenues—these are paid into
an escrow fund for distribution after the dispute is settled.

5. Develop contingency clauses, for instance, if there is a change in

inflation or revenue stream.

SOURCE: K. Shonk, “Collective Bargaining Negotiations and the Risk of

Strikes,” Program on Negotiation—Harvard Law School, www.pon.harvard.edu,
Jan. 18, 2021.

Page 370

Still, many labour relations experts are somewhat skeptical about interest-based
bargaining, as one labour lawyer points out:
 “If you ask seasoned negotiators (about interest-based bargaining), they’ll
give you the look of death and say, ‘Are you crazy?’ Mutual gains
bargaining requires both sides to invest so much time and energy in being
trained in things like ‘What do you need?’ ‘What are our needs?’ ‘How do
we negotiate in a collaborative fashion?’ But to go from traditional
bargaining into mutual interest takes a diametric mind-shift. You need to
invest the resources and the relationship has to be mature enough.”76

Approving the Proposed Agreement

The bargaining stage of negotiations is completed when the agreement has been
approved. Often final approval for the employer rests with top management.
Negotiations are not complete until the union also approves the proposed
agreement. Typically, the union bargaining team submits the proposal to the
membership for ratification. If a majority of the members vote for the proposal, it
replaces the previous collective agreement. If members reject it, union and
management bargainers reopen negotiations. Administration of the collective
agreement begins when both sides sign it.

LO6 Conciliation and Mediation

What happens in the event that negotiations between labour and management
break down? In their legislation, all jurisdictions provide for conciliation and
mediation services. Actually, in most provinces, no strike action is permitted
before a conciliation effort has been made and has failed.77 A 10-year review of
conciliation cases in Nova Scotia revealed that conciliation officers settled more
than 90 percent of the cases.78 However, the results vary among provinces, and
some jurisdictions have not come close to matching the 90 percent figure.

Conciliators are appointed by the federal or provincial minister of labour, at the

request of either one or both of the parties involved or at the discretion of the
ministers. A conciliator is requested to submit a report to the minister within a
specified time period. If conciliation fails, strikes or lockouts can legally
commence, usually two weeks after the submission of the conciliator’s report.
Although labour relations legislation may include an option to have a conciliation
board meet with the parties, this is used infrequently.

With reference to mediation, often a mediator will meet separately with each
bargaining team, especially when the negotiations take place in a hostile
atmosphere. Effective mediation requires a high degree of sensitivity, patience,
and expertise in the psychology of negotiation.
Administering the Collective
Agreement
Page 371

Upon ratification by union members and approval by management, the

parties begin living with the collective agreement. What happens if the
parties have a disagreement regarding the interpretation of a term of the
agreement? As discussed below, alleged violations of the agreement
typically go through the grievance procedure. A grievance is defined as a
complaint by an employee or employer that alleges that some aspect of a
collective agreement has been violated. Almost every collective agreement
in Canada contains some type of formalized procedure for resolving
disputes. Furthermore, labour legislation typically requires that a grievance
that cannot be resolved between the parties be submitted to an arbitrator or
arbitration board whose decision is final and binding. To give an example,
consider the following case:

A 46-year-old Ottawa city worker was found to have altered the water
meter at both his current and former residences. The employer met
with the worker, who admitted to tampering with the meter and agreed
to reimburse the city for almost $7,000 to cover unrecorded water
usage. The employee admitted turning off the meter on several
occasions (such as on heavy laundry days or when filling his pool).
Although the employee had 23 years of service without performance
or disciplinary issues and the misconduct was off-duty and not directly
related to his employment, an arbitrator upheld the termination of the
employee.79

Grievance Procedures
While either management or the union may file a grievance when the
collective agreement is violated, most workplace decisions are made by
management. Consequently, most grievances are filed by the union:

The Laborers’ International Union of North America recently filed a

grievance after claims that a nurse at a senior care home in Ontario
was required to give the COVID-19 vaccination to at least 10 people
(friends of a manager at the home) who were not front-line staff or
home-care residents and one member of the medical staff took home
about five doses of the vaccine for personal use. The union is arguing
that the nurse was pressured into administering the vaccine and a
number of the individuals entering the home to receive the vaccination
were in violation of current pandemic regulations and represent a
major breach of infection control measures. The employer is asserting
that the vaccines would have gone to waste if not provided to outside
people.80

The grievance procedure consists of an ordered series of steps. Figure 13-12

describes the steps that an employee’s grievance typically passes through.
An example further demonstrates how grievances may occur:

Preboarding screeners at the Edmonton International Airport, who are

members of Teamsters Local 362, filed more than 900 grievances
resulting from delayed or missed breaks. Although all workers are
entitled to two or three half-hour breaks based on shift length,
employer GardaWorld changed its interpretation of the clause so that
all required security lines could be open. Union officials reported that
at least four workers soiled themselves after being denied bathroom
breaks. Union vice-president and business agent Jordan Madarash
stated, “Morale is low, absenteeism is higher. It’s not a fun place to
work right now, wondering if you are going to get a break to get your
food if you are a diabetic.”81

FIGURE 13-12

Typical Steps in a Union–Management Grievance Procedure

Table Summary: Summary

 Preliminary discussion. The aggrieved employee discusses
the complaint with the immediate supervisor with or
without a union representative. At this stage, or at any other
step in the process, management may resolve the grievance
to the satisfaction of the union, or the union may decide to
drop the grievance. Otherwise, the grievance proceeds to
the next step in the process.

Step 1. The complaint is put in writing and formally

presented by the shop steward to the first-level supervisor.
Normally, the supervisor must respond in writing within a
contractually specified time period, usually two to five
days.

Step 2. The chief steward takes the complaint to the

department superintendent. A written response is required,
usually within a week.

Step 3. The complaint is submitted to the plant

manager/chief administrative officer by the union plant or
grievance committee. Again, a written response is typically
required.

Step 4. If Step 3 does not solve the dispute, arrangements

are made for an arbitrator or an arbitration board to settle
the matter.

Page 372

The number of steps in the grievance procedure and the staff involved at
each step will vary from organization to organization, but most grievance
procedures have between three and five steps. The purpose of a multistep
grievance procedure is to allow higher level managers and union
representatives to look at the issue from different perspectives and to assess
the consequences of pursing the matter further. This approach increases the
chance that the dispute gets resolved without going to arbitration.
Although an employee may prefer to bring the case to court rather than to
arbitration, this may not be permissible. For instance, former Canadian
Football League receiver Arland Bruce’s lawsuit against the CFL and
former league commissioner Mark Cohon will not be going to court. Bruce
was alleging in his lawsuit that he had sustained permanent and disabling
head trauma while playing football and has post-concussive symptoms,
including depression and paranoia. The Supreme Court of Canada refused
to hear Bruce’s appeal, following its earlier decision that unionized
employees must use labour arbitration for disputes arising from their
collective agreements.82

Handling Grievances

Once a grievance has been filed, management should seek to resolve it

fairly and quickly. Failure to do so can be seen as a disregard for employee
needs and is not conducive to building and maintaining effective labour
relations. However, in resolving grievances, management should consider
several issues. First and most important, grievances should be settled on
their merits. Complaints need to be carefully investigated and decided on
the facts. Second, the cause of each grievance should be recorded. A large
number of grievances coming from one or two departments may indicate
poor supervision or a lack of understanding of the contract. Third, the final
solution to the grievance needs to be explained to those affected:

Shahab Makholi, an immigrant from Iran, was hired as a welder by a

Mississauga company that manufactures fire doors. Makholi injured
his hand at work and had to have a splint put on it. He continued
working and was ultimately assigned alternative duties. Eventually, his
lead hand assigned Makholi to do work that he couldn’t perform and
he went to the production manager’s office to complain. After some
discussion, the employer concluded that Makholi wanted to be laid off
and documentation was prepared. Makholi was dismissed, which he
ultimately grieved. The arbitrator, in reinstating Makholi, noted that
Makholi could not read or write English, the company did not make a
substantial effort to explain the importance of the dismissal
documentation, no union representative was present at the termination
meeting although the agreement required that the union be notified of
 any layoffs, and Makholi was instructed not to tell the union what had
happened.83

Arbitration
Consider the following arbitration decision:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a Toronto hospital employee ignored

the pleas of a screener and brought pizza into the facility for a party
with fellow union members which was in violation of the Trillium
Health Partners’ safety rules. The employee denied bringing the food
into the hospital but photographs showed otherwise. The employee
also became involved in an argument with a screener who was trying
to prevent a contractor from entering the facility without wearing a
mask. The employee’s tirade was laced with obscenities. The employer
dismissed the employee but the dismissal was overturned by an
arbitrator who found the penalty was too harsh. The employee was
reinstated but with loss of pay for the period of the dismissal. The
arbitrator also gave the employer the right to dismiss the employee if
the employee engages in misconduct that would normally result in
discipline over the next 18 months.84

All jurisdictions require that collective agreements include a provision for

final settlement by arbitration, without stoppage of work, of all differences
concerning the interpretation or administration of a contract. This means
that, as long as a collective agreement is in force, any strike or lockout is
illegal. An arbitrator may be selected from a list provided by the appropriate
ministry of labour, or the parties may agree to the selection of an arbitrator.
The arbitrator’s decision is final and cannot be changed or revised, except
in rare instances (such as corruption, fraud, or a breach of natural justice).85
There is growing concern that the arbitration process is becoming too
costly, too slow (some cases take two years or more to be resolved), and too
legalistic.86

Page 373
Arbitration holds two potential problems for labour relations practitioners:
costs and unacceptable solutions. An arbitration case can cost both the
union and employer several thousand dollars. There are also time
commitment costs in terms of preparing for arbitration, attending the actual
hearings, and following up on the case. From the perspective of
management, a potential problem occurs when an arbitrator renders a
decision that is against management’s best interests. Since the ruling is
binding, it may drastically alter management’s rights and set a precedent for
future cases. For example, if an arbitrator accepts the union’s argument of
extenuating circumstances in a disciplinary case, those extenuating
circumstances may be cited in future cases. Consider the following case and
decide if the employee should be terminated:

Mark Davis was a Toronto Transit Commission fare collector who had
been employed for 25 years. After gesturing at a customer with his
middle finger, Davis was suspended for two days and required to take
sensitivity training on dealing with difficult customers, workplace
violence, and professional conduct. One day after completing the
training, Davis commented to a co-worker, “If anything ever
happened, like losing my job, I’d have no problem coming in and
shooting them. I’d die for that cause.” Davis indicated that he would
only shoot managers (three of whom he named). The co-worker
subsequently told her shop steward and a manager about the comments
and Davis was terminated from employment. Although Davis stated
that he was only joking and had no animosity for anyone, an arbitrator
upheld the dismissal.87

This decision shows that once an employer goes to arbitration, the decision
is turned over to a third party. In dismissal cases, the union will typically
argue that discharge is an inappropriate penalty and the possibility exists
that an arbitrator may agree with the union position. Consequently, it is
important that an employee grievance be treated seriously by management
representatives and that the organization attempt to resolve grievances with
the union in a fair and timely manner. However, there may be some
instances where arbitration is unavoidable.

Contract Provisions
Every collective agreement contains specific terms and provisions. A
number of the most common ones are listed in Figure 13-13. These clauses
are important because they define the rights and obligations of the employer
and the union. For instance, union security is a very important issue from
the union’s perspective. In addition, some of the most frequent disputes
concern seniority and discipline.

FIGURE 13-13

Common Provisions in Union–Management Agreements

Table Summary: Summary

Union recognition. Normally near the beginning of a

contract, this clause states management’s acceptance of the
union as the sole representative of designated employees.

Union security. To ensure that the union maintains members

as new employees are hired and present employees quit, a
union security clause is commonly demanded by the union.
Union security provisions are discussed later in the chapter.

Wage rates. The amount of wages to be paid to workers (or

classes of workers) is specified in the wage clause.

Cost of living. Unions may negotiate automatic wage

increases for workers when price levels go up. For example,
one approach is for wages to go up in response to an
increase in the consumer price index above some specified
amount.

Insurance benefits. This section specifies which insurance

benefits the employer provides and how much the employer
contributes toward these benefits. Frequently included
benefits are life and supplemental hospitalization insurance
and dental plans.
Pension benefits. The amount of retirement income, years
of service required, penalties for early retirement, employer
and employee contributions, and vesting provisions are
described in this section if a pension plan exists.

Income maintenance. To provide workers with economic

security, some contracts give guarantees of minimum
income or minimum work. Other income maintenance
provisions include severance pay and supplements to
Employment Insurance.

Time-off benefits. Vacations, holidays, rest breaks, washup

periods, and leave-of-absence provisions typically are
specified in this clause.

Seniority clause. Unions seek contract terms that require

human resource decisions to be made on the basis of
seniority. Often, senior workers are given preferential
treatment in job assignments, promotions, layoffs, vacation
scheduling, overtime, and shift preferences.

Management rights. Management must retain certain rights

to do an effective job. These may include the ability to
require overtime work, decide on promotions, design jobs,
and select employees. This clause reserves to management
the right to make decisions that management thinks are
necessary for the organization’s success.

Discipline. Prohibited employee actions, penalties, and

disciplinary procedures are either stated in the contract or
included in the agreement by reference to those documents
that contain the information.

Dispute resolution. Disagreements between the union and

management are resolved through procedures specified in
the contract.
 Duration of agreement. Union and management agree on a
time period during which the collective agreement is in
force.

Union Security

Can an employee be required to join a union as a condition of employment?

An employer and union can negotiate clauses dealing with union security
and, in some jurisdictions, compulsory dues checkoff is required.

The highest form of union security is the closed shop (found in about 8
percent of agreements), which requires that an employee be a union
member prior to obtaining employment and pay dues to the union. The
closed shop, which is frequently operated through a hiring hall, is common
in construction and longshore industries.

Under a union shop security arrangement, the employer is free to hire an

individual, but, as a condition of employment, the new hire must join the
union within a specified period of time after being hired and must pay union
dues. If the individual refuses to join the union, the employer is required to
terminate the worker’s employment.

The Rand Formula requires an employer to deduct union dues at source

from the wages of an employee and remit the funds to the union. However,
the employee is not required to join the union. In some jurisdictions, dues
checkoff clauses must be negotiated; in other jurisdictions, compulsory dues
checkoff is enshrined in law.

While the amount of dues varies, it is typically in the range of about 1–1.5
percent of an employee’s earnings. Most workers covered by a collective
agreement are subject to a dues checkoff requirement. Some jurisdictions
allow workers who object to joining a union on the basis of religious
grounds to pay the equivalent amount to a registered charity.

In an open shop, an individual does not have to join the union and is not
required to pay dues.
Seniority

Unions typically prefer to have employee-related decisions determined by

the length of the worker’s employment, called seniority. Seniority assures
that promotions, overtime, layoffs, and other employee concerns are
handled without favouritism. As well, the influence of seniority is not
restricted to the union environment; several nonunion organizations also
place considerable weight on seniority in making human resource decisions.

Page 374

Seniority is often very important in deciding layoff rights. For example,

when a company plans a layoff, the most recently hired workers are
typically the first to go. The remaining employees probably receive higher
wages if there is a premium for service with the organization. Thus, the
higher paid employees are retained, even though the layoff may have been
implemented as a cost-reduction measure. Moreover, layoffs may
undermine a company’s employment equity plan, since employees hired
through the employment equity program may have low seniority.

A major concern for unions is job security in light of rapid technological

changes. According to the Conference Board of Canada, job security
benefits both employees and employers but the past reliance on a seniority-
based system may not be sufficient to provide employers with the requisite
mix of talent. The major suggestion is that the parties will need to work
together to develop new parameters for job security and perhaps develop
mechanisms allowing portable seniority between employers.88

Discipline

Page 375

Unions often challenge the discipline of a union member. Due to the

difficulty of trying to list employee behaviours that may warrant discipline,
many collective agreements provide the employer with the right to
discipline or discharge if “just cause” exists. In any disciplinary action,
management must abide by the terms of the collective agreement.
Arbitration cases are frequently lost because management failed to establish
grounds for disciplinary action, neglected to document past disciplinary
procedures, and failed to adhere to the provisions of the collective
agreement.

In deciding discipline and discharge cases, the starting point is the

collective agreement. However, many collective agreements have a
provision indicating that the employer must have “just cause” to discipline
or discharge an employee. In determining just cause, a number of factors
may be important:

Nature and seriousness of the offence

Due process and procedure

Past record of the grievor

Seniority and age of the grievor

Knowledge of rules

Previous warnings from management

Lax enforcement/condonation by management in the past

Unequal treatment of employees

Provocation by management

Isolated incident

Sincere apology/remorse on the part of the grievor89

Although an employer may believe that clear grounds for discipline or

dismissal exist, arbitrators consider a number of issues in making their
decisions:

A Beer Store employee in Ontario took a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt

from a case of beer being returned by a customer. Cases of beer
 containing Maple Leafs shirts were part of a special promotion, and
the employee’s daughter was a big Leafs fan. The employee put the
shirt in his coat pocket (with part of it hanging out) and went to serve a
customer. The employer terminated the employee as part of its zero-
tolerance theft policy while the employee argued that he had intended
to ask his supervisor whether he could keep the shirt. An arbitrator
ruled that the employee, who had 23 years of service with the
employer, had not intended to steal the shirt and replaced the
termination with a three-day suspension.90

Past Practice
The actions of managers and union officials sometimes change the meaning
of the agreement. A precedent is a new standard that arises from the past
practices of either party. Once a precedent results from unequal
enforcement of disciplinary rules, the new standard may affect similar cases
in the future.

The fear of past practices usually causes two changes in human resource
policies and procedures. First, employee-related decisions are often
centralized in the human resource department. Supervisors are stripped of
their authority to make decisions on layoffs, discipline, and other employee
matters. Instead, supervisors are required to make recommendations to the
human resource department to ensure uniformity and consistency of
application and to prevent precedents.

Second, employers increase the training of supervisors in the administration

of the contract. Training is needed to ensure that supervisors administer the
collective agreement in a consistent manner. For example, if each
supervisor applies a different standard to tardiness, some employees may be
disciplined while others with more lenient supervisors may not receive any
penalty. In time, the union might argue that unequal treatment makes it
unfair to discipline those who are late. Through centralization and training,
human resource departments create a more uniform enforcement of the
contract.
Public Sector Bargaining
When Parliament passed the Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) in
1967, it essentially gave federal civil servants bargaining rights similar to
those granted workers in the private sector—usually the right to bargain for
wages, hours, and certain working conditions. More important, it also gave
them the right to strike. This is in contrast to civil servants in the United
States, who since 1962 have had the right to bargain collectively but not to
withhold their services. Under the PSSRA, the methods of conflict
resolution are different from those in the private sector. Before a bargaining
agent can give notice that it wishes to bargain, a decision must be made as
to whether a conciliation-strike procedure or a binding-arbitration
procedure will be used should a deadlock occur. The union has the right to
choose different procedures for each subsequent collective agreement. If the
strike route has been chosen, conciliation procedures must be followed
before a strike can begin.

Page 376

Another difference from the private sector is that the law allows the
employer to designate certain employees as performing essential services,
thus divesting them of the right to strike. The union, however, may
challenge the list of “designated employees,” in which case the Public
Service Staff Relations Board makes the final decision.

A comparison of the federal and provincial legislation for government

employees reveals little uniformity across Canada. While municipal
government employees generally fall under the same legislation as private
sector workers, the legislation applicable to provincial civil servants varies
markedly. For instance, Saskatchewan government employees come under
the same legislation as private sector employees; in some provinces there is
specific legislation applicable only to provincial government employees;
and in other jurisdictions, there may be two or more statutes applicable to
government employees. In addition, some provinces markedly restrict or
prohibit strikes by public sector workers.91
Public sector labour disputes can present major challenges:

On October 16, 2017, about 12,000 college teachers represented by the

Ontario Public Service Employees Union went on strike, affecting
around 500,000 college students. The major issues concerned the ratio
between full and contract employees, job security, academic freedom,
and compensation. The strike ultimately came to an end when the
Ontario Liberal government passed back-to-work legislation on
November 19 and an arbitrator set a new four-year contract one month
later. However, the union initiated a court charter challenge in early
2018, alleging that the back-to-work legislation violated workers’
rights.

Even though students and faculty are back to class, repercussions from
the dispute are still being felt. A condensed schedule meant cutting and
skimming over course material. Some faculty lost external research
funding, stress and anxiety increased, and students missed employment
opportunities. For example, one student had secured full-time
employment with the federal government upon her anticipated
graduation in December, but one of her courses was delayed by the
strike and, consequently, her employment contract was changed to
temporary status.92
LO7 Human Resource Practices in the
Union Environment
Human resource issues are constantly arising in the union environment. Consider
the following example from the health care sector:

There is a growing concern relating to people using cell phones to record

nurses at work. Examples range from recording the birth of a child to a
person waking up after being anesthetized to someone upset about wait
times or inefficiencies at the hospital. According to Janet Hazelton, president
of the Nova Scotia Nurses Union, recording nurses at work can distract them
while performing their jobs and violates the privacy of patients. As Hazelton
notes, “It makes nurses uneasy. You become very self-conscious. And you
worry what are they going to do with it?” Karen Hornberger, director of
privacy for Nova Scotia’s Health Authority, says that patients have the right
to record their interactions with medical personnel but recording others in
the hospital would be treated like a privacy breach.93

A study by the Industrial Relations Centre at Queen’s University provides

insights on the labour relations profession in Canada. Among the major findings
are the following:

The four activities that labour relations professionals are most involved in
are conflict resolution management, coaching with regard to labour relations
best practices, administration of the collective agreement, and grievance
settlement.

From a knowledge perspective, the most important areas are understanding

the union–management perspective, conflict resolution, labour statutes, and
negotiation.

Page 377

In terms of skills required to perform day-to-day work, the top four skills are
communication, active listening, relationship building, and collective
agreement interpretation.
 When considering the labour relations profession, 59 percent are optimistic
about the future of the profession, 15 percent are pessimistic, and 26 percent
are unsure.

The top three perceived opportunities for the profession are talent
management, union–management collaboration and partnership, and
strategic labour relations.94

While there is a significant and growing body of information about human

resource management from the perspective of the employer, less attention has
been paid to examining which human resource management practices are found
within unionized workgroups.

A survey of Canadian union officials examined a number of human resource

issues in the unionized environment. Concerning human resource management
policies, union officials were asked to indicate whether a number of specific
HRM programs or practices applied to bargaining-unit employees. As revealed in
Figure 13-14, more than 95 percent of units had a policy addressing sexual
harassment, 86 percent had an orientation program for new hires, 86 percent had
an employee assistance plan (EAP), and 66 percent had some type of formal
performance appraisal system. About 51 percent of respondents reported that the
employer shared business information with union members.

FIGURE 13-14

HRM
Practices/Program
s Among Canadian
Unions

Table Summary:
Summary
 SOURCE: Terry H. Wagar (2009), Human Resource Management and
Workplace Safety: A Study of Canadian Union Officials, unpublished
report, Saint Mary’s University.

Union officials were also asked to indicate whether bargaining-unit employees

were involved in a number of specific team-based and incentive programs (Figure
13-14). As the figure reveals, 28 percent of the union locals reported having work
teams, 22 percent had quality circles, and 40 percent had problem-solving groups.
Unions have generally stayed away from contingency compensation plans such as
profit sharing, productivity sharing, and employee stock ownership plans; overall,
less than 20 percent of respondents reported having such plans.

Page 378

A study on the impact of a strike on a workplace team examined two groups: the
strikers and those who continued to work during the dispute. The two groups
became more cohesive during the conflict and their social network increased but
there were several challenges after the dispute was settled and the two groups
needed to work cooperatively.95
Implications of Union Avoidance
Approaches
In nonunion facilities, an implicit objective of many employers is to remain
nonunion. Employers frequently adopt either a union suppression or a union
substitution approach in order to avoid unionization. The union suppression
approach involves fighting union representation. An employer may try to
intimidate workers, threaten to close or move the plant or facility, or
discriminate against union supporters.

The union substitution approach examines what unions bring to the

employment relationship and then tries to introduce such features into the
nonunion workplace. This approach requires that human resource
specialists do the following:

Design jobs that are personally satisfying to workers.

Develop plans that maximize individual opportunities while

minimizing the possibility of layoffs.

Select workers who are well qualified.

Establish fair, meaningful, and objective standards of individual

performance.

Train workers and managers to enable them to achieve expected levels

of performance.

Evaluate and reward behaviour on the basis of actual performance.

Provide employees with a “voice” in the workplace.

Implement a compensation plan in which wages/salary and benefits

parallel those available in the union sector.
The union substitution approach is advocated by many HR practitioners,
consultants, and labour lawyers. According to one labour lawyer:

“Nonunion companies that want to remain nonunion should steal some

of their best features from their competitors’ collective agreements.
Often a collective agreement will contain provisions that do not
contradict an efficient and effective operation. Employers should have
a nonunion dispute resolution process. Dealing with complaints is the
biggest challenge in a nonunion workplace.”96

On the other hand, Canadian labour relations legislation requires that

workers need to take the initiative in establishing collective bargaining
relationships, knowing that many employers are opposed to unions.
Consequently, the beginning of the new union–management relationship is
already characterized by conflict and adversarialism. Roy Adams, professor
emeritus of industrial relations at McMaster University, argues that the
practice of union avoidance sabotages the right to bargain collectively and
contravenes the International Labour Organization’s Declaration of
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which includes the effective
recognition of the right to bargain collectively. In North America, this right
is generally not available until workers go through an arduous certification
procedure, which results in an adversarial relationship.97
LO8 Managing in a Union
Environment
When unions are present, the human resource function is changed. In many
organizations, the human resource department is expanded by the addition
of specialists in labour relations, who deal with such critical areas as
negotiations and contract administration, while human resource
professionals attend to their more traditional roles. Although some
organizations establish separate industrial relations departments to deal with
labour relations issues, industrial relations is often considered a subset of
human resource management.

Page 379

Unionization may be associated with greater centralization of employee

record-keeping and discipline to ensure uniformity of application. This
change can mean that line managers lose some of their authority to the
human resource department. They may also find their jobs more difficult
because of the new rules imposed by the contract—while management has
the right to act, the union may have the right, under the contract, to react to
management’s actions.

Line managers may become dissatisfied because their authority diminishes

while their responsibility increases. These added responsibilities are likely
to result from requests of human resource professionals, who may need to
monitor the work environment more closely and need more information
from the line managers. For example, the line manager may have to
compile new reports on such issues as absenteeism, lateness, productivity,
and employee grievances. Such demands on supervisors may create friction
between line managers and human resource staff members.

The presence of a union means that management has less freedom to make
unilateral changes. No longer can an employer simply decide which
changes to implement. Instead, collective agreement provisions and labour
laws must also be considered.

Some unions have been using the media to control the debate on key issues.
Both employers and unions need to consider the effect of media relations
but there is a fear that media can be a barrier to good-faith bargaining or
result in misinterpreting or sensationalizing fundamental workplace issues.
A number of employers are increasing their focus on media relations and
making sure that they have a carefully considered response to media
queries.98

Labour–Management Cooperation
Some unions and employers are moving toward greater co-operation, and
there is increasing acceptance that labour and management must work
together if they are to survive and prosper in the highly competitive global
economy.99

Some employers and unions are using or considering “evidence-based

labour relations.” According to Cooper, Jackson, and Irish, “Both
unions and employers are expressing an interest in partnering on
initiatives to tackle challenges related to health and safety, precarious
work, and marginalized groups.” The parties also may be interested in
grievance metrics, such as grievances as a percentage of unionized
headcount, arbitrated grievances as a percentage of grievances open,
and percentage of grievances closed. A Conference Board report
revealed that both employers and unions viewed arbitration as a
“cumbersome, unpredictable process.”100

About 52 percent of respondents to a recent Conference Board of Canada

study reported that their overall union–management climate was
cooperative and a further 9 percent said it was very cooperative. The major
issues for 2020 included wages (58 percent of respondents), followed by
flexible work practices (34 percent), business competitiveness (33 percent),
productivity (31 percent) and organizational change (27 percent). Their
perception of the top issues from a union perspective included wages (81
percent), employment security (51 percent), health benefits (38 percent),
employment and pay equity (28 percent), and outsourcing and contracting
out (22 percent).101

There is growing evidence that organizational performance is enhanced

when labour and management cooperate. For example, research using data
from both employers and unions indicated that a more positive labour
climate was associated with perceptions of higher productivity, enhanced
product or service quality, and greater customer or client satisfaction.102
However, cooperation is a very challenging process:

A recent survey of the City of Edmonton’s communication branch

revealed low morale and allegations of workplace harassment,
disrespect, and bullying. The City’s engagement survey showed that
only 27 percent of respondents reported having “trust and confidence
in my branch’s leadership team’s ability to achieve the city’s goals”
while just 30 percent indicated that “the City inspires me to do my best
work.” One employee stated that she would be criticized at large
meetings, get yelled at, and have people go behind her back to her
supervisor. Another finally quit after seeing man after man get
promoted and stated, “It was awful. My mental health deteriorated
over the years I was there.” The branch is now under new leadership
that is committed to improving the work environment.103

Obstacles to Cooperation

Industrial relations specialists often seek union cooperation to improve the

organization’s effectiveness. However, cooperation may not be politically
attractive to union leaders, who see little gain in cooperating with
management. In fact, if leaders do cooperate, they may be accused by
workers of forgetting the union’s interests. These accusations can mean
defeat by political opponents within the union. Thus, cooperation may not
be in the union leader’s best interests.

Page 380

In addition to political obstacles, union leaders may mistrust management.

For example, bitter remarks during an organizing drive or arbitration case
may convince union officials that human resource specialists are anti-union.
Within this climate, cooperative gestures are often seen as tricks or
gimmicks aimed at hurting the union. If cooperative proposals threaten the
members or leaders, mistrust increases and cooperation usually fails.

While employers often have good reasons for seeking more cooperation
with their unionized workforce, a number of cooperative programs have the
underlying goal of increasing managerial domination in the workplace. As
well, some employers use cooperation to “stress the system” by reducing
employees or resources, giving workers more tasks, or speeding up the
assembly line; such practices may dramatically increase the stress level of
workers and dehumanize the workplace.104

Building Labour–Management Cooperation

An employer and union interested in greater labour–management

cooperation have several options to consider. Some of the most common
cooperative efforts are summarized in Figure 13-15. One of the most basic
actions is prior consultation with the union. While not every management
decision must be approved by the union, actions that affect unionized
employees may result in grievance filing unless explained in advance to the
union.

FIGURE 13-15

Methods of Building Labour–Management Cooperation

Table Summary: Summary

Managers and human resource specialists can build cooperation

between the employer and the union through the following:

Prior consultation with union leaders to defuse problems

before they become formal grievances

Sincere concern for employee problems and welfare even

when management is not obligated by the collective
 agreement

Training programs that objectively communicate the intent

of union and management bargainers and reduce biases and
misunderstandings

Joint study committees that allow management and union

officials to find solutions to common problems

Third parties who can provide guidance and programs that

bring union leaders and managers closer together to pursue
common objectives

Human resource specialists can also build cooperation through a sincere

concern for employees. This concern may be shown through the prompt
settlement of grievances. As well, employers can establish programs (such
as employee assistance programs and job counselling) that assist employees
who are experiencing personal difficulties.

Training programs are another way to build cooperation. After a new

contract is signed, the human resource department often trains only
managers. The union does the same for its leaders. The result is that both
sides continue their biases and misunderstandings. If human resource
management sponsors training for both the union and management, a
common understanding of the contract is more likely to be brought about.
The training can be as simple as taking turns paraphrasing the contract, or
outside neutral parties can be hired to do the training. Either way,
supervisors and union officials end the training with a common
understanding of the contract and a new basis for cooperation.

When a complex problem confronts the union and employer, joint study
committees are sometimes formed. For example, one organization recently
set up a joint committee with its union to establish a policy on sexual
harassment. Other employers use joint study committees to address such
issues as workplace rules, quality of work life, technological change, budget
reduction strategies, and safety. However, union participation and support is
absolutely essential.

A final method of building cooperation is through the use of third parties,

such as consultants or government agencies, who may act as change agents
or catalysts to cooperation. For example, in Nova Scotia, the provincial
government has established and delivers a variety of joint union–
management programs (including grievance mediation, joint supervisor–
steward training, and labour–management committees) with the goal of
increasing cooperation in the workplace.

Page 381

There is no single best approach to building cooperation. Since each

relationship is unique, the methods used will depend upon the situation.
Improving union–management relations is an important function that can be
addressed by human resource professionals in unionized organizations.
SUMMARY

The labour–management framework consists of unions, government, and

management. Although each union is unique, unions share the common
objectives of protecting and improving their members’ wages, hours, and
working conditions. To further these objectives, the union movement has
created local, national, and international structures, plus federations at the
provincial and federal levels.

In Canada, the federal government has jurisdiction in labour relations

matters over Crown corporations, airlines, most railways, communication
companies, and federal government agencies—or approximately 10 percent
of the labour force. All other organizations fall under the jurisdiction of the
provinces, which have enacted separate but similar legislation.

Unionization often occurs when workers perceive the need for a union as a
response to unsatisfactory treatment by management. During the organizing
process, management’s response is limited by laws and employee reactions.
The employer’s primary defence is sound policies implemented by
competent supervisors before unionization begins.

If workers form a union, federal or provincial law requires management and

the union to bargain in good faith. The success of the employer at the
bargaining table is affected by its actions before negotiations begin.
Negotiations with the union usually result in a “collective agreement” that
must be approved by union members and top management. Once
negotiated, the collective agreement is administered by the union and
management.

In administering the agreement, human resource specialists face several

challenges. For example, contract clauses place limits on management, day-
to-day administration of the contract can lead to precedents, and limitations
often result from the resolution of disputes through the grievance procedure
or arbitration.
Although unions may represent the employees, management remains
ultimately responsible for organizational performance and effectively
utilizing the human resources. Through prior consultation, sincere concern
for employees, training programs, joint study committees, or third parties,
human resource specialists can lay the foundations of a cooperative union–
management relationship.
TERMS FOR REVIEW

arbitration

authorization cards

business unionism

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)

collective agreement

conciliation

craft union

grievance procedure

industrial union

labour relations boards (LRBs)

local union

management rights

mediation

precedent

Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA)

seniority

social (or reform) unionism

unfair labour practices

union

union shop