Canadian law firm Bull Housser & Tupper LLP (BH&T) has recently announced their annual list of the top issues facing employers.
Their list is made up of the key issues to come across the desks of their Labour and Employment department. It demonstrates that while some things remain constant (misconduct and absenteeism are perennial concerns), modern technology can create new challenges for employers. Social networking and telecommuting are examples of issues that have both rewards and risks in the workplace.
The top five issues for employers?
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Employee absenteeism – Employees missing work continues to be among the greatest challenges facing Canadian employers. A recent study found that the estimated cost of absenteeism in Canada reached into the billions.
A healthy workplace culture can help mitigate this. Employees with negative work relations miss an average of 5.9 days a year compared with only 3.7 days for those with healthier relationships [Source]. Read our take on the worst excuses employees use for calling in sick and some tips on reducing absenteeism.
Disciplinable Conduct – Employee misconduct or failing to perform the job adequately have long been problems for employers. However, Bull Housser & Tupper point out that this is further complicated by the recent trend of staff claiming drug or alcohol addictions, stress or various kinds of disabilities (including anger management disorder) as a defence to avoid being disciplined or fired.
Social Networking – Many employers claim that sites such as Facebook and Twitter are causing serious amounts of lost productivity as employees spend too much work time updating their statuses and connecting with their friends. (One employer told us confidentially that she hesitates to hire anyone under 30, assuming that they would all be wasting too much time on social networking sites.)
Another pitfall for employers is what their staff may say on networking sites even after hours that might reflect poorly on the company’s image online. Monitoring these sites and educating employees can be time-consuming and costly.
Telecommuting – A growing number of Canadians (an estimated 1.5 million) telecommute at least some of the time. Telecommuting can have distinct advantages for both employers and employees. Workopolis has spearheaded the campaign for a National Work From Home Day for Canada to encourage more workplaces to experiment with telecommuting. However, Bull Housser & Tupper point out that working offsite does present some challenges as well. There can be a lack of supervision for teleworking employees as well as issues of security and privacy as potentially confidential company information is accessed remotely.
Restrictive Covenants – Otherwise known as non-compete clauses, these contract stipulations are meant to protect employers from having key employees jump over to the competition, potentially bringing clients and strategic information with them. As the competition of top talent in the labour market tightens, this issue is only going to become increasingly important. Employers are finding out that when it comes to enforcing these clauses in court, judges frequently side with the employee, ruling the non-compete clause unenforceable.
Similarly, our career columnist Colleen Clarke recently wrote a tongue-in-cheek advice piece for new workers entitled The Top Five Ways to Hinder Your Boss.
What’s your experience? Let us know what the top issues facing your workplace are likely to be this year.
Read the full report of Top Issues Facing Employers from Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP
Interesting to see Workopolis’ Peter Harris talk up something other than this working at home day all the time. Thought provoking piece, but to my mind the biggest issues facing employers this year will be ones of attracting and retaining critical employees. I am surprised to see a Workopolis writer miss that one.
If abesenteeism is such a problem maybe the employer should ask himself what he can do to make the work environment less stressful and more productive and enjoyable. Clearly people need more variety in order to stay healthy which should include a much needed body break throughout the day. Many organizations do not recognize the value in that. And how does a sick day translate to financial loss. You pay your employee to meet goals and deadlines. If that has been accomplished then really no monetary value has been lost.
I support Work From Home Day.
I also support working remote and from home office. The new technology “MS Office Communicator” allows people to easily chat or even video conference. Instead of gossiping at the office or bullying others around, let’s just get the work done and spend the rest of much needed time with family.
I read with interest the article regarding the top 5 challenges that bosses face.
Now, here is an interesting concept. If reduction in absenteeism is the important concern that it is stated to be, if (perhaps not necessarily) well deserved rest breaks and vacations are vital to keeping ones body and mind in good operating condition and (it is well documented that) the taking of all alloted vacation days by employees is NOT happening in Canada or the USA, it seems that it would be a “no brainer” to alter a company’s culture to insist that all vacation days be taken. Applying unused vacation days against “call in sick” days would reduce absenteeism substantially.
Kudos for the development of “National Work From Home Day!” Teleworking can help on several of the points above…It is proven that employees who telecommute are healthier and are absent less. I recently wrote a blog post on the myriad of benefits a virtual workforce provides: http://bit.ly/gC4gGc. I welcome any feedback – and would love to know if there are any that I missed…
About employees(and trust me the above 30 crowd can be just as bad as those under 30)using Facebook and other social networking sites.
But of those companies claiming it interferes with productivity I’d love to know how many of them would admit to the following: often employees use Facebook, etc. on-duty(are they really on-duty?) because the employee has no one to relieve them for their break so the worker has to take a break any chance they get..or how often has the employee helped the customer after employee punched out and wasn’t getting paid for it?(the UFCW union is no help here…had to add that).
Happens often at the grocery store I work at.
Funny how some companies only see what they want without looking at the whole picture!
I beleive that a work place should be like at home because they should have group discushions. So every one can say what they feel about the other person in front of them. I beleive that the work place would be stronger if they did that. Maybe 1 a week for just a half hour and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak there mind. That way everyone can be considerate of others.
Re: The issue of social networking websites – first of all, why is it us under-30s are always, ALWAYS being slagged off as slackers, Facebook addicts etc.? I am turning 27 this month and in the approximately six years I’ve been working, I have NEVER gone on Facebook/Twitter etc. while on the job. NEVER. I know several people my own age who can say the exact same thing. Also, have these people ever heard of, gee, I dunno… blocking such websites so nobody can use them???? DUH!
Next, regarding employers “having to” monitor employees’ Facebook/Twitter/what-have-you use outside the office – no. Just no. What an employee does on their own time should remain private and the employers have NO RIGHT to snoop/spy on their workers. Blogs, Facebook profiles, etc. should be treated as private property unless the employee is trying to get away with using said sites during designated work hours on office equipment.
Thank you, that is all.