In recognition of its employees’ efforts during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Volkswagen and Germany’s largest industrial union have agreed on a 23-month wage deal that provides a €1,000-euro bonus (approximately $1,501.37 in Canadian dollars), as well as a 2.3 per cent wage increase that will take effect in January 2022. The deal covers 120,000 workers at […]
Sobeys Inc. is reinstating a lockdown bonus for employees in areas with renewed stay-at-home orders, said a statement by the grocery retailer, which also noted the pay bump is “the right thing to do.” “When regions and cities enter government-mandated lockdowns that close all non-essential retail, we continue to live up to our commitments and […]
Job-protected leave has been written into British Columbia’s Employment Standards Act to give workers time off to get their coronavirus vaccinations. Labour Minister Harry Bains says the safeguard will ensure that no one will lose their job if they need time away to get vaccinated. The changes allow part-time and full-time workers to take as much […]
Torstar Corp. is permanently closing the physical office spaces for the Ontario-based Waterloo Region Record and St. Catharines Standard newspapers and all staff of those news outlets will work remotely on a permanent basis. The decision is a way to “reduce office space leasing costs,” says a spokesperson. The announcement by the publisher of the Toronto Star, and several […]
The federal Liberals are facing calls from some of the hardest-hit businesses in the coronavirus pandemic to extend emergency-relief programs beyond June. The government has targeted June 5 for an end to the federal wage and rent subsidies and this week extended applications for a popular loan program to the same time. The idea is […]
The New Democratic Party tabled a motion on March 22 that would immediately turn Revera Inc. — a company that runs more than 500 seniors’ homes in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. — from a for-profit chain wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board into a publicly managed entity. The motion calls on the […]
Imperial Oil Ltd. is recommending investors attending its annual meeting in May vote against a shareholder resolution that it adopt a corporate-wide target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The motion, made by Aequo Shareholder Engagement Services on behalf of Quebec group retirement system Bâtirente, argues that Imperial’s current 2023 emissions-reduction target is a step in […]
It’s a question occupying the minds of millions of employees who’ve worked from home for just over a year now: will they still be allowed to work remotely, at least some days, once the coronavirus pandemic has faded? On March 17, one of America’s corporate titans, Ford Motor Co., supplied its own answer: it told […]
Canadian working mothers are reporting increased mental-health concerns one year into the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by The Prosperity Project and CIBC. The survey found more than half of working mothers felt stressed, while 47 per cent felt anxious and 43 per cent felt depressed. Working mothers worried about their children’s safety […]
The end of the coronavirus pandemic won’t mean the end of people struggling with mental-issues due to the prolonged public-health crisis, according to the Canadian Mental Health Association. The poll found only 35 per cent of Ontarians consider their mental health to be “very good” or “excellent,” compared to 52 per cent in the first round of polling in May […]