Founded in 1988, Atlantech® Companies, a design / build engineering firm with established operations in Canada and Chile is seeking a Chief Financial Officer for its Head Office in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information about our business, visit our website: www.atlantech.ca.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Reporting to the CEO, you will assume a strategic role in the financial management and future direction of Atlantech®. You will be a hands-on, dynamic individual, who will have day-to-day responsibility for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial related activities of the corporation in Canada and Chile.

Possessing a University degree with a professional accounting designation, you will have a minimum of 10 years progressive senior financial and management experience. Your organizational skills will enable you to manage the company’s financial responsibilities with industry officials, financial institutions and government representatives while it is delivering on multiple projects and services. As a key member of the Senior Management team you will prepare budgets, institute financial controls and help manage business risk. Experience in the design / build manufacturing and / or construction sectors would be an asset.

Atlantech® Companies offer a competitive salary and benefit package for this position. Qualified candidates are invited to submit a detailed resume and covering letter, in confidence, by Thursday, May 31st, 2012, 1:00 pm to:

HRA
1 Harbourside, Brecken Building
Charlottetown, PE C1A 8R4
email: atlantech@hra.ca
fax: 029-626-2532

We thank you for your interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Future Group of Companies, an Atlantic Canada Newfoundland based multi-faceted Corporation,
specializes in the investment and development of land, the construction of new homes, condominium development,
realty sales, water and sewer and related infrastructure, and commercial general contracting,
with a growing client base of institutional, industrial and commercial accounts.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The incumbent will have a wide range of responsibilities and accountabilities that contribute to the overall achievement of the group of companies.  Working with the executive team and company managers you will scrutinize financial statements, develop policy and budgets, ensuring cost effectiveness.

The successful candidate should be comfortable shifting focus from finance to construction and budget concepts to time management.

As the ideal candidate, you have an MBA or a combination of a post-secondary education with a strong business and project management background and progressive senior management experience. The incumbent should possess excellent communication skills and have the ability to create sustainable working relationships with members of the community. Your organizational skills should enable you to manage multiple projects effectively. Experience in the construction industry is an asset.

The company uses state of the art equipment and processes, and our personnel have consistently demonstrated their capabilities and service to clients through excellence in work habits, ethics and attitude.We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, including performance and incentive bonuses based on results. Interested candidates may forward a resume and cover letter in confidence by 5:00 pm, May 23, 2012, to the following:

HRA
email: future@hra.ca
fax: 709-722-3399

We thank you for your interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Future Group of Companies, an Atlantic Canada Newfoundland based multi-faceted Corporation,
specializes in the investment and development of land, the construction of new homes, condominium development,
realty sales, water and sewer and related infrastructure, and commercial general contracting,
with a growing client base of institutional, industrial and commercial accounts.

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Working with the CFO and operating company managers, the successful candidate will be responsible for preparing and submitting an annual operational budget and to manage effectively within this budget and report accurately on progress made and challenges encountered.

The incumbent will lead, develop and retain a high performance management team with an emphasis on developing capacity, strategic analysis, planning and program budgeting.

As the ideal candidate, you have an MBA or a combination of a post-secondary education with a strong business and project management background and progressive senior management experience. The incumbent should possess excellent communication skills and have the ability to create sustainable working relationships with members of the community. Your organizational skills should enable you to manage multiple projects effectively. Experience in the construction industry is an asset.

The company uses state of the art equipment and processes, and our personnel have consistently demonstrated their capabilities and service to clients through excellence in work habits, ethics and attitude.We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, including performance and incentive bonuses based on results. Interested candidates may forward a resume and cover letter in confidence by 5:00 pm, May 23, 2012, to the following:

HRA
email: future@hra.ca
fax: 709-722-3399

We thank you for your interest, but only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

RECEPTIONIST

ServiceMaster is seeking a confident, self-motivated full-time Receptionist. Reporting to the Office Manager, you will represent the organization as the first point of contact for customers and visitors. Responsibilities include answering and directing incoming calls, greeting customers and visitors, scheduling appointments, filing and clerical duties.

As the successful candidate, you have post-secondary training in office administration with 3 – 5 years relevant experience. This position requires working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and WordPerfect. The ideal candidate will be personable, outgoing, will have excellent organization, communication and customer service skills with the ability to multi-task and work independently.

ServiceMaster offers a competitive salary and benefits package. If you are interested in becoming a key part of the ServiceMaster team, please forward your resume by Wednesday, May 16th, 1:00 pm to:

HRA
1 Harbourside, Brecken Building
Charlottetown, PE C1A 8R4

In the Fossum decision,  the Tribunal frowned on a professional association when it required a member to give an undertaking to remain sober, indicating that a ‘last chance agreement’ would have been the appropriate course of action.   The Tribunal awarded Fossum a $5,000 damages award against the Society.

Fossum’s Story

Fossum was a Notary Public with a history of alcohol abuse.  Over the years, the Society of Notaries Public of British Columbia had received several complaints from lawyers regarding Fossum’s unexplained absences from his office, resulting in  Fossum  being suspended from practice three times between 1997 and 2006.

Following his second suspension, Fossum gave the Society an undertaking to attend Alcoholics Anonymous regularly.  He was reinstated on the condition that this undertaking continue.  Less than three months after making this undertaking, Fossum relapsed and was suspended for the third time.  The Society accommodated him by finding coverage for his practice while he attended a recovery program.  When Fossum returned, he was informed that the Society was considering taking disciplinary measures against him, despite receiving a report from his addictions counselor stating that his prognosis for recovery was excellent.   Fossum proposed that he be reinstated with strict conditions that he attend AA regularly, report monthly to the Society and provide random urinalysis tests.  Fossum also undertook to voluntarily resign if he failed to maintain sobriety and was fined $1,500.  The Society then posted information concerning Fossum’s alcohol addiction and treatment on its website.

Fossum suffered two subsequent relapses and the Society asked for his resignation.  Fossum unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a different outcome with the Society, but he was ultimately terminated in December 2008.  Fossum filed a complaint with the BC Human Rights Tribunal in which he alleged that he was discriminated against on the grounds of physical and mental disability.

The Tribunal’s Decision

On the evidence presented at the hearing, the Tribunal accepted that a breach of a professional undertaking was considered by the Society to be the most serious offence it could address and was subject to the most severe form of discipline under the enabling legislation.  It is a tool to ensure the proper execution of professional notarial transactions, and not a means for controlling future mental/physical disabilities.  The breach of a professional undertaking carries with it a degree of personal blameworthiness that the Tribunal did not consider appropriate to connect to a relapse into alcoholism.

The Duty to Accommodate on a Professional Regulatory Body

The duty to accommodate is well understood in an employment context, but Fossum was not “employed” by the Society; his professional practice was regulated by the Society.  The human rights legislation in BC, as in other jurisdictions, applies to professional regulatory bodies.  As a result, the duty to accommodate applies to these organizations just as it applies to employers.

The Tribunal found that Fossum had established a prima facie case of discrimination due to the finding that the Society perceived him to suffer from alcoholism and he received adverse treatment due to that disability.  The burden then shifted to the Society to justify its termination of Fossum and establish that it had satisfied the duty to accommodate.

The Society’s standard was to ensure “that professional notarial services are provided to the public”.  The Tribunal accepted that this standard was adopted in good faith and found that the Society had reasonably accommodated Fossum following his second relapse.  The Society’s decision to revoke Fossum’s license was justified on the evidence that the Society had accommodated his disability for ten years.

While the Tribunal accepted that Fossum’s conduct was problematic and that the Society had accommodated him in the past, it took exception to how the Society handled  his 2006 suspension that resulted in a professional undertaking.  The wording of the undertaking placed Fossum under an obligation to resign if he breached its terms — this removed the opportunity (and obligation) for the Society to exercise its discretion in determining whether any such breach warranted a termination.  Probably what made matters worse, was that the Society published this undertaking on its website, referring to Fossum’s alcoholism as ‘self-induced alcohol abuse’ — which denoted a prejudicial attitude that did not accept that alcholism was a disease.

As a result, while the Tribunal found that the professional undertaking was, on most grounds, a last chance agreement, it was not an appropriate framework for a last chance agreement; a failed undertaking created blameworthy conduct, whereas a failed last chance agreement is merely indicative that the accommodation did not work.  Furthermore, the language and conduct of the Society surrounding the 2006 suspensions were discriminatory.  A relatively nominal award of $5000 was given to Fossum for these breaches.  Nevertheless, the Tribunal upheld the termination, finding that the Society had met its duty to accommodate.  The Tribunal panel stated:

 334  I have considered the role of the undertaking, which I found to have a discriminatory impact on Mr. Fossum, in the Termination. While I found that the use of an undertaking was not the appropriate tool to address the issues related to Mr. Fossum’s alcoholism that does not mean the Society could not have regard to the fact that it had in essence provided Mr. Fossum with a “last chance”, so long as it considered all reasonable alternatives to the Termination.

335     The Society’s duty to accommodate Mr. Fossum’s relapses did not go on forever. In my view, the Society had fulfilled its duty to accommodate Mr. Fossum’s alcoholism by September 2007. Mr. Fossum failed to maintain his part of the bargain, in that he failed to maintain recovery: Renaud. No expert evidence was led to allow me to conclude that, in the circumstances of this case, further accommodation by the Society was required. I find that the Society exhausted its duty to accommodate Mr. Fossum’s alcoholism. Therefore, Mr. Fossum’s Termination was justified and does not constitute discrimination. This portion of Mr. Fossum’s complaint is dismissed.

• What should I do when there is a workplace complaint?
• When do I need to investigate?
• What steps do I need to take to ensure the investigation is fair?
• Can someone in our own organization conduct the investigation? Who should it be?
• Who do I interview? In what order?
• What questions can be asked?
• What information can be shared? With whom? What should not be shared?
• Do I need to call the police?
• When is an investigation brought to a close?

This one-day workshop is designed for non-profit and private sector employers who want an orientation to the basic considerations of how to coordinate or conduct a workplace investigation.

What will participants take away from this workshop?

• Understand the criteria for a fair investigation,
• Tools for
• Selecting the investigator,
• planning for an investigation,
• preparing for interviews,
• preparing the report,
• Recognize common pitfalls of investigations and how to avoid them

 Pre & Post workshop Activities

Registrants will be given an assignment (30 minutes commitment) to prepare in advance of the workshop.

To receive recognition for participation, registrants will be required to complete a post workshop assignment. The facilitator will review your work and provide feedback.

Logistics

8:30 – 4:00 June 1, 2012

HRA Boardroom

1 Harbourside, Charlottetown

Lunch is included

There is limited parking in front of HRA, alternative parking available at Queen Street Parkade (2 blocks) this can be saved for the registration site

Facilitator: Constance Robinson, HRA

Once you complete this registration, HRA will be in touch with you to confirm your enrollment.

Fee

$299.15 (includes 259.00+12.95 GST + 27.20 PST = 299.15) will be invoiced upon registration.

Registration

Register online by clicking the Register button below.  Once you complete the online form, you will have the option to pay online (via Paypal) or be invoiced.

Cancellation Policy

Rescheduling, Location or Cancellation HRA reserves the right to reschedule or cancel this event due to reasons outside of its control (i.e. trainer illness or weather).  HRA will provide as much advance notice of the cancellation as the circumstances permit.  In the event of cancellation or postponement by HRA, the client may register for the next available training class or any payment made for the class will be refunded. The client understands and agrees that HRA shall not, in any way, be held responsible for any costs, including loss of airfare or other transportation costs of participants, or hotel expenses or other damages, which the client may suffer in the event that HRA cancels or reschedules a class.

Individual participants:

To maximize the effectiveness of our training sessions, HRA limits the number of attendees per class.
Substitutions may be made at any time — please advise in advance.
Registrants may cancel their registration without penalty prior to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 by contacting  Theresa at 902 626 2522 or tsheehan@hra.ca.

Individuals who cancel after 4 p.m. on Tuesday, May 22, 2012 will be billed the full registration fee.

The Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the Nova Scotia Review Office, the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of PEI and New Brunswick, and the Halifax Regional Municipality are proud to present the 7th Annual Maritime Access & Privacy Workshop. This workshop is a great opportunity to meet, network and share ideas with colleagues from the access and privacy community across the Maritime Provinces. This event will be held on June 6th and 7th, 2012 and returns to Halifax, NS at the World Trade & Convention Centre.

For more information about the conference, or to register, visit: http://www.verney.ca/maritime2012/index.php

The opportunities and acceptance of women in full and equal participation in society has evolved in those 1o1 years.  Even the short time from my mother’s generation to now illustrates the changing attitudes: she was required to resign from her teaching position because she became pregnant (and then had to work as her own replacement because there weren’t any substitutes available); I had the benefit of a statutory maternity leave.

The valuing of women has evolved not only with respect to having options with respect to domestic roles and responsibilities, but also with respect to our ability to contribute to leadership in business and in politics.  As indicated by research conducted by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women, the advances made around the world are amazing and inspiring .  For example, the number of women leaders of government and heads of state has doubled since 2005, to 17.

The research also indicates that there is still lots of room for improvement:

• Less than 20% of  parliamentarians in the world today are women, and yet, in some countries women are well represented in the ranks of representatives.
• Less than 17% of parliamentary ministers in the world are women
• Seven countries on the rankings list have no female representation in parliament
• The advancement of women in political representation does not necessarily fall along the economic lines of the country.  For example, in Rwanda, 45 of the 80 seats in the lower house

The top ten countries for women representation in government, according to the Interparliamentary Union are:

1. Rwanda
2. Andorra
3. Cuba
4. Sweden
5. Seychelles
6. Finland
7. South Africa
8. Netherlands
9. Nicaragua
10. Iceland

Where does Canada rank?  At #40

And what about women leaders in business?  It seems that our representation in business leadership roles is similar to the political leadership numbers.  According to a study by Grant Thornton International,  only 20% of leadership roles in large private companies are held by women in 2011 (down 24% from 2010).  While women are well represented in the workforce in general, our representation thins significantly on the move up the corporate ladder.

As a female-dominated firm, and with a woman being the managing partner, HRA knows the value women contribute to the dynamics of their families, communities,  and organizations.  Indeed, we value the contributions of all our people and celebrate the fulfillment of their potential.  Thanks to our colleagues, our clients and readers for appreciating HRA based on the value we deliver and the values we live and work by.

Sources:

LACK OF POLITICAL WILL AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN 2011 RESULT IN TOO FEW WOMEN IN POLITICS YET AGAIN, SAYS IPU, http://www.ipu.org/press-e/gen361.htm

Proportion of women in senior management falls to 2004 levels http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/Press-room/2011/women_in-senior_management.asp

by Linda Gaudet

United Steelworkers, Local 8918 and Gerdau Ameristeel, (2011 C.L.A.S. 283)

In December 2010, a steel mill in Cambridge, Ontario l introduced a new biometric scan system to track employee attendance and work hours. The employer’s other mills already used this technology.  The Cambridge mill’s reliance on manual data was resulting in errors in pay, resulting disputes with employees, and unnecessary administration time.  The scan system introduced contained many protections against hacking, replication of the biometric data, and other risks to employee privacy. However, employees were not convinced and following the system’s introduction the union filed a policy grievance.

Earlier arbitration decisions on use of biometrics were divided on whether such employer innovations were an appropriate exercise of management rights under a collective agreement. The cases which found in favour of the employer did so based on the following criteria:

• the employer’s demonstration of a compelling business case;
• evidence that the collection of the requisite data was minimally intrusive; and
• enhanced security features, both in the design and implementation of the technology, that were responsive to any potential concerns about employees’ privacy.

Arbitrator Susan Tacon found that the biometric system used by the employer met this criteria.  Further, there was no violation of the collective agreement; thus, the introduction of the scan system was a legitimate exercise of management rights.   Tacon  identified the “principle of proportionality” as the critical factor when balancing the employer’s right to manage its employees against the new technology’s potential intrusion on employees’ privacy rights. She noted that  the system was not physically intrusive, time consuming, or painful to use and that further improvements in security protection had been made in the scan system in contention as compared with those in use in the earlier cases.

This non-profit organization provides women business owners with the resources they need to improve their growth and competitiveness. It’s mandate is to provide women with a provincial organization that will:

• Support and promote women business owners
• Provide information and educational opportunities for women business owners
• Increase community awareness regarding women active in business across the province; and,
• Be the recognized voice for women business owners in Prince Edward Island

Constance is excited by the opportunity to work with this organization.  Women continue to lead business growth in small and medium sized enterprizes.  From 1999 to 2009, the number of self-employed women grew by 13 percent compared with 10 percent for men.   However, she believes that there is still room to accelerate these numbers.  Women business owners tend to be  younger than their male counterparts. (In 2007, women owners had an average of 48.5 years of age as compared with 51.1 years of age for male counterparts.) Furthermore, women business owners tend to have less experience. (In 2007, 51 percent of women business owners had more than 10 years of management or ownership experience as compared with 74 percent for male counterparts).  Constance believes that organizations like the PEIBWA can bridge that experience gap by pooling our experiences, wisdom, and knowledge.