"Amid the job implosion, some companies are rapidly hiring"/ "Looking to temporarily lay off staff during the coronavirus crisis? Wait, that's illegal"

Mar. 27, 2020 "Amid the job implosion, some companies are rapidly hiring": Today I found this article by Tavia Grant, Les Perreaux, and Joe Castaldo in the Globe and Mail:

As hundreds of thousands of Canadians join the ranks of the unemployed amid the continuing COVID-19 epidemic, some companies are seeing increased demand – and hiring accordingly.

As a result, the labour market has splintered. An overwhelming number of businesses are on hold, shuttered or scaled back. But others are scrambling to keep up with a sudden need for their services.

Among those hiring are Walmart Canada, Amazon and Dollarama, along with some grocery and drug store chains, medical supply makers, some cleaning and security services and IT firms that enable remote work.

The pockets of expansion aren’t nearly enough to offset massive losses. The speed and scale of the job losses have been “breathtaking,” said Jeff Aplin, Calgary-based president and chief executive officer of recruiting firm David Aplin Group. That said “there is a very small, narrow band that is experiencing increased demand and a surge in services.”

Employers fall into three categories, he said: those that have been devastated by the impact of the pandemic and may not survive; those hunkered down on the sidelines, trying to conserve cash with temporary layoffs; and the minority that are growing.

“There are very small flecks of light in the labour market, and there are people getting jobs in this situation. There’s not many..but there is a little bit of hiring.”

The pandemic is creating a spike in near-term demand for crucial goods and services.

Grocery shelves still need to be stocked, pizza needs delivery and packages have to be dropped in mailboxes. In many cases, this reflects changing consumption patterns: courier and logistics services are busy along with some bread makers, meat producers and pizza chains.

Canadians stocked up on so much white and wheat bread last week that Canada Bread reduced production of some items to keep up with demand for its bestsellers. “I don’t know how we compare to the toilet paper numbers, but we were definitely a very, very popular item last week,” said Marie-Eve Royer, senior vice-president of business transformation. The company, owned by the Mexico-based Grupo Bimbo, saw record sales, and while demand has tapered, sales are still significantly higher than the same period last year.

As a result, the company is looking to fill 300 positions at its 16 bakeries and 14 distribution centres in Canada. This period marks a busy hiring season for Canada Bread ordinarily, “but we’re hiring a lot more than we would normally,” Ms. Royer said.

The food sector will have to adjust to massive changes in consumption, given the closing of many restaurants and that people are staying in – and cooking – at home, said Sylvain Charlebois, professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University. This has resulted in booming demand for milk, eggs, flour and chicken.

“The demand for these products is unprecedented, which means that, if you think about labour, these sectors are going to grow,” he said.

Online job ads have plunged - but not everywhere. Positions still listed on job-posting site Indeed.ca include software developers, security guards, health care aides and personal care workers, said economist Brendon Bernard.

Goodfood Market Corp. is hiring more than 500 people – a 25-per-cent increase to its employee base – after seeing more orders from existing customers, as well as new signups in recent weeks. Goodfood, which primarily assembles and delivers meal kits, is hiring associates, drivers and customer service agents. 

“There’s a lot of Canadians being laid off, so we’re excited to be creating some opportunities for them,” said chief executive officer Jonathan Ferrari, adding he’s reached out to other companies that have laid off workers to recruit for temporary positions at Goodfood.

Walmart Canada implemented a rapid hiring process to bring on 10,000 new people at its stores and distribution centres. While the company has undertaken large waves of hiring before, it’s rarely moved so quickly. “We can turn around offers within about four hours,” said Michael Watson, vice-president of people, field operations and strategy. Since making the hiring announcement last week and posting jobs over the weekend, Walmart has received 13,000 applications.

Amazon expects to hire another 1,000 workers in Canada at its fulfillment centres and delivery network, while Loblaw Cos. Ltd. set up a site to recruit temporary workers last week, and said it’s received thousands of applications and placed hundreds of people already. The company is hiring store clerks, and pharmacists and pharmacy assistants at its Shoppers Drug Mart stores, in addition to other positions. 

Anticipating more demand for delivery, Domino’s Pizza of Canada is hiring between 2,500 and 3,000 new employees for its 528 stores.

With more Canadians relying on online shopping rather than braving grocery stores, delivery service Instacart said it expects to bring on 30,000 new personal shoppers in Canada over the next three months.

In eastern Quebec, Umano Medical, a hospital bed manufacturer, has received more orders In the past two weeks than it did in all of 2019. One month ago, company president Christian Cariou was wrestling with the labour shortage that has plagued his company, based in I’Islet, about 100 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, and the entire region.

“Sadly, the candidate bank is enormous now,” Mr. Cariou said.

The company is in the process of adding 40 production staff to try to increase production by 50 per cent in the next three weeks. The company will employ 240 people when the expansion is complete.

“It’s put us in this weird situation where we’re one of the few places growing. It’s a strange time for everyone,” Mr. Cariou said. “These aren’t easy times.”

The federal government said Friday it will boost wage subsidies for small businesses, though it’s unclear how much they will rehire. Already, nearly one million Canadians applied for employment insurance last week, as retailers, restaurants and many hotels closed their doors and cut employees loose. 

Ironically, that in itself is creating job opportunities. Employment and Social Development Canada said it’s in the process of hiring additional staff to help deal with the massive number of EI applications. and ensure that other programs, such as the Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security, are not disrupted. A spokesperson could not say how many new workers are required, however.

Adding staff remains the rare exception. Hiring plans among small businesses “have ground to a halt,” the CFIB’s survey this week showed, with just 5 per cent of business owners planning to add full-time staff in the next three months.

While job openings are a rare bit of good news amid the unending torrent of layoffs, these new positions are, at best, a buffer against further economic devastation. “I don’t think this is going to be enough for the massive amount of people that we’re seeing unemployed,” said Andrew Agopsowicz, a senior economist at RBC.

Job quality is an issue, too. Some of the openings are just temporary, while others, such as those with Instacart, are independent contractor positions. Personal shoppers don’t receive benefits, as would full-time employees.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-amid-the-jobs-implosion-some-companies-are-rapidly-hiring/

WebbSean 1 day ago

Implosion doesn't mean really big or strong explosion. It simply means pulling in rather than throwing out. You traffic in words. Please don't demean them. 

Mar. 20, 2020  "Looking to temporarily lay off staff during the coronavirus crisis?  Wait, that's illegal": Today I found this article by Howard Levitt in the Financial Post website:

In 41 years of practice, I have never encountered this degree of palpable fear. It’s no longer just fear of COVID-19, as economic fear may have become even more pronounced.

Canadian businesses have ground to an unparalleled halt with most employees sent home to work — or just sent home. With no business, employers are concerned about meeting their financial obligations and even surviving.

To the extent employers are imperilled, employees are even more so. Anticipating the depth of the problem, many employers are already turning to layoffs as well as outright dismissals of employees. Given the depth of this economic dislocation, it will be difficult for workers to find other forms of employment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s initiatives, helpful as many are, barely address the depths of this dilemma.

Many employers will find that working from home, for many jobs, is not feasible and provides comparatively limited economic benefit. But with employers exposed to potential massive litigation by anyone who contracts the virus in their workplace if they fail to take appropriate steps to keep it virus-free, employers are concerned about letting employees, as well as customers and the public, into their offices.

The steps employers have to take, before anyone should be allowed to attend work, include continuing to pay the salaries of any employees experiencing viral symptoms, those who have had contact with anyone who did and any employee who returned in the past two weeks from abroad. They also must ensure their offices are disinfected and employees are practicing social distancing at work.

But there is an even more vital issue employers are dealing with today, which has the most immediate impact on Canadian employees: Employers are turning to temporary layoffs for the duration of the crisis, while employees, believing they have no choice in the matter, are accepting those layoffs.

The employment standards legislation in most provinces provide for temporary layoffs of various lengths depending upon whether benefits are continued or not for their duration.

But the courts are clear. A temporary layoff of a non-union employee is, by law, a dismissal and employees who are laid off are entitled to full wrongful dismissal damages of up to 24 months or more depending upon their circumstances.

As one court put it: “At common law, an employer has no right to lay off an employee. Absent an agreement to the contrary, a unilateral layoff by an employer is a substantial change in the employee’s employment, and would be a constructive dismissal.”

This case illustrates the point. Giuseppe Bevilacqua was 59 years old and had worked for 15 years for Gracious Living as a facilities manager. Giuseppe had personal friendships with the owners of the family business. But Gracious Living, at the time, was in economic difficulty and downsized accordingly.

Bevilacqua knew that the layoff was not personal but still felt shocked when it occurred. The owners told Bevilacqua to apply for employment insurance and maintained his company benefits and phone. Both parties expected the layoff to be temporary and, at one point, he even returned to work for a day to fill in for another employee. As his boss testified, “He was a trusted employee, so he was there to stay.”

But Bevilacqua refused to accept being laid off and sued.

As the court noted: “This attitude on the part of Gracious Living is borne out by its actions (at the end of the layoff), they simply offered Mr. Bevilacqua his job back, with no demotion, no change, and apparently no hard feelings. During the entire layoff period, everyone at Gracious Living had remained on friendly terms with (him) and, indeed, continued to call him for advice and information on matters pertaining to the company. The relationship between him and his employer was, and continued to be, quite friendly.”

The court noted: “The Ontario Court of Appeal has held that a unilateral layoff by an employer is, absent agreement to the contrary, a substantial change in employment, and that it therefore constitutes a constructive dismissal: An employer has no right to impose a layoff either by statute or common law, unless that right is specifically agreed upon in the contract of employment. The fact that a layoff may be conducted in accordance with the Employment Standards Act is irrelevant to the question of whether it is a constructive dismissal. Gracious Living was not legally authorized to simply place (Bevilacqua’s) employment status on hold without pay and expect that this will not constitute a constructive dismissal.”

“This lack of a right to lay off an employee applies even or where the layoff is temporary in nature.”

This does not mean that an employee cannot agree with their employer to be laid off subject to recall. They are entitled to some time to consider their choice.

As the court in the case noted, citing another decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, “an employee in Mr. Bevilaqua’s position is entitled to the opportunity to assess his newfound situation for a reasonable period of time in order to come to a decision as to whether to accept it.”

Ironically, if an employee refuses to accept the layoff and sues, they may find themselves offered their job back much more quickly than if they had accepted the layoff. Since Gracious Living offered Bevilaqua his job back after three months, his damages were limited to that even though he chose not to return. Ironically, a claim for wrongful dismissal incentivizes employers to offer employees their jobs back as early as possible to reduce their damage claim.

There are circumstances in which a layoff is not a constructive dismissal. The first is if the employee has signed a contract permitting the employer to lay her off subject to recall. 

Few Canadian employers have that in their contracts, but it’s something they should consider. The second is a seasonal or other business, such as a summer camp or the construction industry, where layoffs are anticipated. The last is if that employer has a well-known practice of layoffs and recall.

I would think that a government compulsory shutdown would also permit a layoff of employees without recourse. But that only applies to relatively few industries, such as restaurants, which the government has specifically ordered be shut down, not to the majority of employed Canadians.

So layoffs, work-sharing, reduced hours and wages, which is the natural response of employers trying to preserve jobs, are all potential constructive dismissals. It’s very tough on employers who generally wish to do the right thing. But without severance, and with new jobs a distant prospect in the current environment, employees also need — and legally have — protection.

Many other issues have arisen, including rights of employees to pay if they are sent home to quarantine; the position of cashiers or front line medical workers who cannot perform their jobs while maintaining a distance of six feet from other workers or members of the public, and the private arrangements employees can make with their employers who are ordered to work from the office but are uncomfortable doing so.

https://business.financialpost.com/legal-post/looking-to-temporarily-lay-off-staff-during-the-coronavirus-crisis-wait-thats-illegal

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