Hello readers,

The primary issue being discussed at this time revolves around the COVID-19 virus and essential services needing to minimize the amount of staff working, resulting in the layoff of workers and jobs not getting done. This issue involves the employees and the employers of both essential and non-essential workplaces. From an employee’s perceptive this is problematic as countless people have lost work hours and while some employees are still receiving income, others are now confined to their home without income. From a company/management’s perspective this is problematic as workers are now being told to stay home while some are still being paid and work is not getting done, thus creating a non-efficient workplace. The main cause or driver of this issue is the need for minimal social contact at this time. It is in the interest of safety for everyone that as many people stay home as possible unless there is an emergency situation. This will have an impact on work and employment relations as it impacts the efficiency in the workplace. While workers are being told to stay home, everyday tasks are no longer being completed. The best way to address this issue is to follow the example of Stevens Point. This city has adopted the high performance work systems tactic. This method uses training as its main focuses and discusses the benefits of training on the knowledge and skills of employees. High performance work systems allow employees to increase their qualifications and knowledge by offering multi-skill training or cross-training. This helps to ensure a more flexible work organization and creates a more dynamic work environment. Multi-skill training or cross-training benefits both the employees and the employer as it gives employees alternate jobs to do when they cannot perform their assigned tasks. It also creates an overall more efficient workplace for employers. During the time of the COVID-19 virus, the city of Stevens Point found this approach useful as the city employees who remained at work were able to complete the tasks of other employees who were sent home for isolation. The cross-training allowed for the company to minimize employees on site and social interactions while maximizing efficiency in the workplace. Should this be implemented in other cities or across the country and is this always possible? Do you think implementing this will cause problems in the future and create an increase in employee layoffs where workers are no longer needed because of cross-trained employees? Do you think this strategy of cross-training can be continued and maintained during daily operations in the future to maximize efficiency and cut costs?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

– Julia

Links:

https://onq.queensu.ca/content/enforced/311319-EMPR200ASO/Transcripts/83-Mv09ojhcLEyVj51DLhR48Q-af851265-c9c5-4f0d-8fcb-5a9c0d1bd097.clean.txt?ou=311319

Williams, Rashad. March 27, 2020. “Stevens Point works to cross-train employees during rising COVID-19 concerns”. abc News 9. https://waow.com/2020/03/27/stevens-point-works-to-cross-train-employees-during-rising-covid-19-concerns/

Hello readers,

The current problem at hand revolves around targeted job advertisements. As stated by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, “advertisements for jobs should not refer, directly or indirectly, to prohibited grounds of discrimination” (ohrc.on.ca). The violation of this law infringes on basic human rights. Advertisements targeted to specific individuals based on age are only acceptable where it is part of a specific initiative such as job programs for summer students (Thompson 2019).

In recent years, studies have found that advertisements posted to the widely used social media network, Facebook, can be argued to have violated this human right. Although the advertisements may not have specifically stated that the job opening is available only to individuals of a specific age or gender, Facebook has allowed for advertisements to be filtered to only be shown on certain profiles which meet the criteria set by the employer.

Who is held responsible for this? Is Facebook to blame for implementing the settings which allow companies to set these guidelines for targeted advertisements? Or is it the company’s responsibility to remain inclusive of all ages and genders when posting advertisements as well as generating the advertisements?

I believe that both groups are responsible for ensuring their actions or policies do not infringe on human rights and remain unbiased towards all groups. Facebook programming should not have allowed for the setting to filter users based on age or gender when it comes to viewing advertisements. The actions of the companies creating these advertisements may be violating the human rights code stated above, which can be done so through the sole targeting of younger or older potential applicants. Elizabeth Thompson at CBC News (2019) states that these companies may have found ways to get around this violation while still using targeting on job advertisements. This was argued as the company being open to all ages and genders for potential applicants but creating different advertisements that appeal to the different groups. Do you think this is right? Would this still be a human rights violation or is it just a smart business strategy?

One study found that a specific job posting was looking for applicants over the age of 35 because those under that age requirement often don’ have the proper qualifications. Later in the hiring process, the study found that 2 of 25 employees hired were under the age of 35. Not only does targeting advertisements infringe on human rights but it also limits the company’s pool of applicants and may result in a missed opportunity for the company.

How do you propose we come to a solution to this problem without violating human rights? Getting rid of all filters in Facebook settings would create chaos in advertising and could open up a bigger problem that links with the current problem of employers actions being taken to reduce their applicant pool.

Thanks for reading!

– Julia

Links:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/facebook-employment-job-advertisements-discrimination-1.5086491

Click to access Guide%20to%20Your%20Rights%20and%20Responsibilities%20Under%20the%20Code_2013.pdf

Hello readers,

Today’s blog post is about a widely discussed issue, the salary gap. The current problem at hand revolves around the increasing gap between CEO compensation and the salary of an average worker each year in Canada. This issue is the concern of many workers as it creates major inequality in the workforce and steps need to be taken to minimize this gap. In 2018, Canada’s top CEOs received salaries 227 times more than that of the average Canadian worker (Weikle 2020). Over a ten-year period from 2008-2018, the average Canadian worker saw a salary increase of 24 per cent where Canada’s top 100 CEOs saw a salary increase of 61 per cent (Weikle 2020). This has become a major concern of many Canadian’s over the years. Yes, CEOs receive a higher salary for their responsibilities, reputation, work efficiency, connections, and skills, but should their pay increases be at the incline that has been seen in the past? It has been concluded that the high salary increases aren’t what is keeping CEOs from looking for other job opportunities so why are they rising at such high rates? Continue reading to find out the different problems with this salary gap and ways to help move closer to pay equality.

To begin, the policy problem is the gap that has been created through the rapid salary increase of CEOs and the stilled increase in average worker’s salaries. The desired outcome of this problem is to minimise this gap through increased salaries for the lower income brackets while slowing down the increase in pay for CEOs. This problem can be viewed from a number of different positions including labour, management, and government. From the perspective of a labourer, the salary gap is simply unfair and needs to be reduced. They could choose to approach the problem by finding companies that are willing to pay more or increasing their education and skills to demand a pay increase. The management team could view the problem in terms of expenses where they are constantly looking for ways to reduce expenses, therefore, they would be in support for lower salaries. They could choose to approach this problem by offering as little pay increases as possible or cutting back on benefits as an effort to lower expenses. The government could support the increase in salaries to generate more taxes and could approach this issue by proposing higher income with higher taxes.

Options for different policies could include lower pay for CEOs or lower pay increases which could be reallocated to offer more benefits for the lower or average workers. Additionally, the lower pay for CEOs could also be reallocated to compensate the lower paid workers with a salary that compliments their skill set, given that increases in salary should be based on performance within the position, job expectations, loyalty to the company, and overall work efficiency.

After concluding that a large portion of a CEOs compensation is allocated in stock options, one way to reduce the salary gap could include imposing a higher tax on the earnings of CEOs or a higher tax on their overall salary. In addition, allowing access to stock options for average workers could be beneficial to those interested.

The issue discussed reinforces the inequalities of salary rates between average Canadian workers and CEOs and presents opportunity for improvement in Canada.

Thanks for reading!

– Julia  

Link: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/canada-top-100-ceo-salary-1.5413124

Hello Readers,

My name is Julia Papaevangelou and I am a third year undergraduate student at Queen’s University. I am a Sociology major and Political Studies minor with a certificate in Employment Relations. Over the past few years I have developed an interest in the study of sociology through the different interactions in society, why these interactions occur, and why individuals in society respond the way they do. A main area of interest in this field discusses these interactions through a comparison of different social contexts, for example, workplace behaviour vs. behaviour around grandparents vs. behaviour around close friends.

When I was 15 I started working at my first job at a local grocery store, Longo’s. To this day I am still employed at this company. When I started in 2015 I was hired as a customer service representative where I was able to learn valuable skills such as customer service, problem solving, and money handling. Since then, I have expanded my job title and have been able to gain experience in almost all other departments including floral, garden centre, grocery, dairy, store demonstrations (yes, the free samples), and the Longo’s loft experience. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work for this company and be able to gain experience in numerous departments because I now have expanded my knowledge in customer service and problem solving while gaining experience in product presentation, sales, teaching as an assistant and as the main instructor, and working with children.

In this course, I am most excited to learn about new ways to organize and increase efficiency in the workplace as well as the ways to keep the workplace a safe environment in terms of reducing workplace hazards and discrimination. These topics will add onto my field of study in sociology as my second year of my undergraduate degree focused primarily on minority groups and different ways that they are discriminated against in society while looking at ways to fix these problems.

If you would like to connect via social media to discuss topics in employment relations or non-class related topics feel free to reach out to me and I’d be happy to chat!

– Julia Papaevangelou

Hello Readers,

My name is Julia Papaevangelou and I am a student at Queen’s University currently enrolled in my third year of my undergraduate degree with a major in Sociology, a minor in Political Studies, and a certificate in Employment Relations. As my studies have progressed, I have become more interested in the study of the different interactions that occur in society as well as why certain interactions and responses occur. My interest has been drawn to specifically examine these interactions within the workplace.

I am eager to begin learning more about employment relations and specifically the aspects of human resources management. I have recently gained a stronger interest in human resources management and hope to pursue a career in a similar field after graduating from Queen’s University next year.

During my breaks from my academics and work I love travelling. On my most recent travels this past summer I visited Arizona, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, alongside my family. Of each of these places my favourite was California where I was able to see Hollywood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, Huntington Beach, and Malibu Beach, which were all so amazing and a must see! During this trip, I was also able to visit the universities in the area such as the University of California, Los Angeles as well as Pepperdine University which allowed me to see the different lifestyles of other university students.

If you would like to connect via social media I would be happy to connect and discuss employment relations topics as well as others. Please feel free to reach out to exchange travel stories and let me know your favourite travel destinations!

– Julia Papaevangelou