Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

Employment related decisions cannot be based on protected grounds (e.g. a disability) without a bona fide occupational requirement or to the point of undue hardship. So you cannot and should not consider if an employee is on WCB as a factor for employment (positively or negatively). What you are suggesting is that the presence of an illness may prioritize or benefit the employee (therefore have a positive impact), which violates principals of equal treatment. If you are comparing employees who were on furlough or laid off, I do not think WCB employees have priority. You can and should prioritize return to work based on skillset (who has the skills or competencies you need to complete the work), seniority (if you are unionized, this may be in the CBA) and job performance (recall of high performers can help with business recovery).

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

Yes, all workers can be required to wear PPE. This is a very important topic and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has some excellent resources, including what type of PPE can be required and clarity around who is required to pay by jurisdiction. https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/ A few things to think about though when it comes to masks.

1. If you mandate masks be used on premise, you need to be clear about what you would consider a minimally acceptable mask and how to use them (a simple print out like the one provided in the links is ok). Are cloth masks ok? Are surgical? Must they be N95? Most organizations outside of healthcare, first responders etc are allowing cloth masks. This link helps. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/DIY-cloth-face-covering-instructions.pdf Additionally, this is a good link to help you understand the difference between surgical and N95 masks from the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/pdfs/UnderstandDifferenceInfographic-508.pdf).
   
2. Once you mandate masks, you need a procedure for what you will do if and when an employee fails to wear the required mask. It is helpful to think of the construction industry, which has proven procedures for PPE. If an employee comes to work without a hard hat or steel toed boots (if mandated), then they can be sent home without pay since they failed to come to work with the mandated PPE or offered a spare pair (if the employer makes this available). It's your choice which of the 2 options you take, but you need to keep records of who was sent home (to update payroll, to organize an alternative employee, and to escalate penalties for repeated violations). Moreover, you have to be consistent with what you do when employees come without PPE.

My recommendation is that employers pay for a limited number of masks (e.g. 1 disposable per day or 3 washable masks per employee), and if an employee wants to purchase a more expensive or higher end model, they can. That way, the minimum threshold is established by the company and they are taking the required ethical steps to protect their employees. Legally, it is implied that the safety equipment is provided by the employer, but that does not always mean the employer pays for it. In Quebec and Saskatchewan, employers are expected to pay within the OH&S framework. In BC, Manitoba, and Yukon, the legislation is prescriptive and should be consulted. In Ontario, PEI, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador, the legislation is unclear.

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

As a cautionary note, there was a retailer who refused to let first responders enter under the same basic premise of reasoning, and the companies were blasted in the media (e.g. https://globalnews.ca/news/6866494/coronavirus-montreal-health-care-workers-targeted/) So be careful.

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

Why does it need to be voluntary? Research shows that those who work from home are overlooked for promotion, have less variety in performance reviews and are selected less for developmental opportunities. So, you do not want to inadvertently create an environment of systemic discrimination.

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

Yes, I would highly recommend having these e-mail requests directed to one person or group. Why? 1. Like I said, consistency is key. 2. This person will likely field requests by other employees who might want to work from home for other reasons. Once you notice the trends, you can get ahead of the request and establish policy. 3. This person can keep track of how many people are asking to work from home. So, you'll know if this option is sustainable or not for the company. 4. They can create an email list for any work from home initiatives or support groups.

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

At this point, the Government of Canada has been clear that there are 3 core requirements to protect people from COVID-19: 1) stay at home if you are ill. 2) maintain a 2-metre physical distance from others and 3) avoid touching your face, mouth, nose or eyes. They have also been clear on advocating for hand hygiene. When a 2-metre distance cannot be maintained, then it is recommended that masks be used (non-surgical in most industries) or adjustments be made to increase barriers between people (e.g. plexiglass shields). PPE might include individual masks, improved access to hand washing stations, sanitizers, shields. Those are relative common PPE requirements. Beyond that, provincial/territorial government are establishing their own sector specific guidelines and releases those as needed. For example, Ontario has very specific guidelines for each sector that can be viewed here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/resources-prevent-covid-19-workplace

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

At this point Board can benefit from parceling out the COVID and non-COVID restriction periods, as they bring vastly different demands. During COVID-19 restrictions, organizations may be focused on business continuity, prioritize health and safety concerns, and pivot business needs to best suit the social demands (rather than profit driven).

As restrictions ease and we return to some level of normalcy, organizations should be focused on business growth, prioritize strategic goals, and focus on core business competencies.

Given that, I think 2 set of plans may be best. One set focused on the COVID-19 restrictions period, until a vaccine is made widely available, which may be 2-3 in the future. One set focused on longer term plans (3+ years), which may require some strategic re-alignments now .

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph.

Yes, all workers can be required to wear PPE. This is a very important topic and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has some excellent resources, including what type of PPE can be required and clarity around who is required to pay by jurisdiction. https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/prevention/ppe/

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

Any actions that employers take to modify renumeration must be voluntary. A significant change to an employee’s working hours or compensation may lead to allegations of constructive dismissal if that change was deemed unilateral. However, some companies have been able to change renumeration successfully. Manitoba Hydro offered workers unpaid leave to avoid layoffs. Executives, managers, and engineers committed to taking 3 days off unpaid before presenting that option to the unionized workers. In Vancouver, PNE workers who remain employed agreed to a 20% pay cut. What is critical to note is that the pay cut was voluntary. Employees agreed to it and therefore the decision was not unilaterally imposed. These organizations were able to use management to model the behaviour and share the pain, as well as position the pay cut as the lesser of two evils (all employees lose a small proportion of your pay or some employees lose all of their pay through layoffs). For those who have performance-based compensation, there is little need to make any modifications to the plan. We can predict that total compensation will be lower than initial projections, given that performance is clearly lower than initial projections. For example, the Air Canada CEO Calin Rovinescu is collecting no base salary until June 30 and his total compensation (which is largely performance based) is forecasted to be half of what was expected pre-COVID.

Dr. Nita Chhinzer Associate Professor of Human Resources and Business Consulting,
Department of Management, University of Guelph

For our virtual only AGM, we chose an affordable solution that offered online voting and live polling results as well as online questions, at a very reasonable cost.

We used a third-party vendor called Encore Global (formerly Freeman AV). Encore acted as our AGM Stage Manager. Through Encore, our presenters used a platform called Vidyocloud, each presenter joined remotely from their respective homes, and Members were able to view the live stream through Encore’s own streaming website. (I believe that Encore outsources the actual hosting of the webcast to a company called Video Conference Solutions, however Encore coordinated everything, and they all worked closely together). We had two live streams: one for verified Members who could then vote and ask questions; and a second for Guests/Public where no voting or questions were allowed

The voting platform used was Sli.do, which also can act as the platform for questions, however we used the question function that was included with Encore’s stream. From a back-end administrative perspective, Sli.do was easy to manage and see real-time voting results.

Brigitte Catellier, Vice-President, Corporate Governance, Meridian Credit Union,
Corporate Secretary, Motus Bank

Well, it depends on what you consider affordable. The specialist providers that I’m aware of in Canada are Lumi and Brightside; as far as I know, both support anonymous voting. But if an organization’s budget is smaller, it may have to look at using options that likely won’t have all its desired functions: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, AdobeConnect, GoToWebinar, BigMarker or others.

Shona McGlashan, Vice-President, Governance, Vancity

There are very few options available. The two service providers which have been handling annual meetings for Canadian public companies are Broadridge Financial Solutions and Lumi. Each of them has a range of service offerings and corresponding prices, depending on the size of the meeting and the functionality desired. If an organization uses a third-party transfer agent that provides for on-line voting by proxy, another alternative is to keep the on-line proxy voting open during the meeting while audio broadcasting the proceedings. Another service provider in Canada is Simply Voting – however I do not have any clients that have used their product.

The informal conversations are still critical. Use virtual as an opportunity to bring in a speaker that you might not otherwise have - someone from another jurisdiction, or for whom you have no expenses to cover. Then have an informal generative discussion with your board. You can make it a bit more informal by including dinner…. get creative. Send out a menu ahead of time for a local restaurant that delivers or give a skip the dishes/grub hub etc. credit and have a dinner. However, just eating in front of the camera does not work well, and for some reason people are sometimes more self-conscious than when in person. So, structure it with a conversation. Leaving it to free-flow conversation is not ideal. Time the dinner to coincide/follow a presentation or have pre-communicated topic to discuss (with no materials to refer to). In summary – do not lose the opportunity to have informal conversation but remember that virtual informality needs a bit of formality, or structure.

Judy Cotte, LL.M., CEO, ESG Global Advisors

Let people join the meeting 15 min in advance to do socializing. Also consider resending lunch boxes/dinner boxes to peoples’ home so that you can have virtual meal together.

Poonam Puri, Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School

You can add a short social aspect at the end of the board call, but everyone is tired by then. I have heard of some boards adding a cocktail or drink session (or dessert session) in the evening the day before the board meeting. The company can even arrange for delivery of a package to board members prior to the evening, so everyone is sharing the same thing remotely. Generally, I am not seeing the group social interactions – it is instead being replaced by more individual or small group calls/zooms.