In this two speaker session, we will first hear from Labour & Employment Lawyer Christine Ashton on the changes in employment law during and post pandemic. Further to the pandemic, there have been substantial changes to employment laws and new issues in employment laws have arisen. Over the last several months, HR professionals have had to tackle these complex pandemic related HR issues and in review have often found that their current HR policies and procedures have fallen short of providing clear guidance. In review of what we have learned and the changes to the laws, Christine Ashton will address updating HR policies and procedures now, in hindsight of the pandemic. This will be immediately followed by a session lead by Lewis Eisen where he will explain how we can make updates to our policies and rules more effective. Often organizations claim to hold "respect for others" as a core value, but when you look at their rules documents, the story is different. Whether they call them "policies," "terms and conditions," or simply “guidelines," many of these rules read like angry parents scolding naughty children. The reality is that the policy writers wanted to sound strict rather than disrespectful; however, they focussed solely on the content and paid no attention to the tone of voice. To succeed, internal policies need buy-in from everyone involved. Adults bristle at disrespectfully worded statements, making compliance an uphill road. Ultimately, the tension created by poorly drafted policies has a palpable impact on employee morale. In this eye-opening session, Lewis shows you how you can make rules documents more effective.
Participants will learn:
• To review the changes to employment laws triggered by the pandemic
• To review HR policies and procedures to be updated in light of the pandemic
• To review HR policies and procedures to be created in light of the pandemic
• To raise awareness of the fact that policies have a tone of voice
• To provoke thought around the deliberate re-adjustment of that tone
• To learn some of the impacts of poorly worded policies on the employee experience.
Agenda
7:55 am Welcome and Introductions
8:00 am Speaker Presentation 1
9:00 am Speaker Presentation 2
10:00 am Adjournment
During registration, please consider the donation option. Donated funds collected through this event registration will be equally divided between Indspire and Black Youth Helpline, preferred charities identified by HRPA members in a recent survey.