We have a problem at Lumsden Beach Camp (LBC) – we badly need a new dining hall. Let us explain. At LBC, we proudly welcome and celebrate everyone, no matter their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. This inclusivity is a big part of why campers come back year after year, and why our camp continues to grow. While this growth is exciting, it also highlights our problem: our 70-year-old dining hall simply cannot hold everyone anymore,and the building has reached its structural maturity.
Support LBC’s Heart and Soul Eating is more than just fueling up, and this is especially true at summer Lumsden Beach Camp. Campers sit family style, passing bread and building community. Meals are prepared to be healthy, delicious, and to please discerning young palates. Many camp traditions and events are food-focused, which has led to the dining hall being the center of camp life.
The LBC dining hall often fills with singing and silliness while life-long friendships are made over shared meals. Our dining hall feeds more than hungry little campers – it feeds friendships. The LBC dining hall truly is the heart and soul of our camp. Your gift to this project helps this new building become reality.
Quarry Tech is a one-day workshop focused on the latest technologies designed for optimizing quarry and pit operations.
This one-day event, exclusively for quarry and pit owners and operators, will offer attendees case studies and panel sessions presented by industry experts covering a wide variety of topics.
The Canadian Construction Documents Committee (CCDC) has completed a robust development/review process of four documents, and has now approached the Canadian Construction Association for an endorsement of:
CCDC 4 – “Unit Price Contract”
CCDC 16 – “A Guide to Changes in the Contract” – NEW
CCDC 18 – “Civil Works Contract”
CCDC 20 – “A Guide to Construction Administration”
As valued members and colleagues, we invite you to identify any potential risks for general and trade contractors in these proposed industry standard documents. Your comments will be considered prior to the documents being sent to the CCA Board of Directors for their endorsement. Please email info@ccdc.org to receive a copy for your review. We ask that feedback be provided no later than Oct. 7, 2022.
Gary Mar President and CEO, Canada West Foundation The Role Western Canada Should Play in Global Trade President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation since April 2020, Gary Mar is an accomplished and respected leader. He brings deep experience in government and business, and established expertise in CWF’s key policy areas: natural resources, trade and investment and human capital.
Jessica Holmes Celebrated Comedian, Author, Mental Health Advocate The Comedy: A Tale of Perseverance Beloved comedian Jessica Holmes has been a perennial favourite on Royal Canadian Air Farce for 15 years, and has brought the house down opening for giants such as Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Peters, Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah Winfrey. Her hilarious takes on life’s challenges are always a hit.
As 2022 continues to move ahead, one word keeps popping up again and again as businesses and households review their finances: inflation.
As costs increase, everyone is having to find ways to make ends meet. What that means for our industry has been calculated in an economic impact analysis done for the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association.
That analysis found that the industry is expected to face a further $426.7 million in new costs. The analysis looks at what that would mean for the profitability of the industry. It finds the industry profits $670 million per year on sales of $9 billion. Subtract $426.7 million in new costs and profits are squeezed to $243.4 million.
Knowing that profits are not distributed uniformly among all companies in the industry, reducing an industry’s profits by more than half would be too difficult for some companies to survive. It would also mean far fewer jobs in the industry as employment numbers could drop by more than half.
One of those additional costs that our members face is an increase in the price of diesel. That increase in fuel has been difficult for many of our members under the existing contracts they have with the Ministry of Highways.
You might recall that in July, I said in my President’s Message in The Interchange that we were discussing this situation with the Ministry of Highways. Seeing that the increase in fuel was estimated by the ministry to be around 69 per cent, it was important that we find a way to resolve the issue.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Highways presented our association with some proposed adjustments to the fuel escalation clause.
The ministry had proposed expanding the scope to include additional types of work. It is also looking at the consumption rate and applying the existing consumption rates more broadly in some areas of work. It is looking at better options to address fuel consumption for haul. Then, there is payment. The ministry is using a monthly adjustment to apply interim adjustments in advance of a final calculation.
Our industry has reviewed the proposal and several SHCA members provided additional improvements they would like to see beyond what the ministry has proposed.
We provided actual figures and examples of how the industry has been impacted by the price of diesel fuel escalating. We asked for compensation for our members that currently provide asphalt concrete products that go into making the binder materials for crushing, micro-surfacing, paving and more. Then, there are the various types of work that also consume diesel fuel that the ministry didn’t include in its presentation, such as rock excavation and hauling used for dirt excavation.
We have been working with the ministry on revising the industry consumption rates to reflect more realistic figures. It should be reasonable and fair to both industry and government.
The result of all that work is that there have been updates that will be included in fall tenders. Look for updates to the specifications for bid requirements and conditions, measurement and payment (which includes details on payment for extra work, partial payments, final payments and diesel fuel adjustments) and site occupancy, which will be incorporated into all contracts with a tender close date of Sept. 19 or later.
Also, a dating error has been corrected in the Weekly Diesel Fuel Prices document and the payment schedule has been changed to monthly instead of at the completion of each phase of the project. All of this should help contractors with their cash flow.
Having this situation addressed by the provincial government was important and I am pleased we have been able to make this progress.
I must say that I have enjoyed getting to know the new Minister of Highways, Jeremy Cockrill, who moved into the role in May. I appreciate the interest he has in getting to know the industry, its pressures and successes as well as its people.
I appreciate all of you who contributed input so that we could provide the government accurate and meaningful information so your need could be addressed.
A refresher on WCB claims as we head into a busy construction season
By Cliff Gerow, Injury Solutions Canada
Spring has sprung, the grass is green and we wonder where the construction is? It’s everywhere! Thank goodness it’s construction season again.
With construction season comes seasonal work and seasonal workers, so we thought it was time to do some quick reminders for employers about the pitfalls that face us during the short season as it pertains to workers and injuries.
We have gone over this topic before, but a quick refresher is never a bad thing.
Do you have a solid hiring plan? What? Yes, a hiring plan. Besides the obvious questions – are they qualified for the job, do they fit your organization, etc. – have you considered a fit for duty assessment for all new employees? This is a screening, usually by a physical therapist, that takes about an hour, costs approximately $100 and provides very objective findings about whether the applicants are physically able to fulfill the role you are asking them to do. It is amazing how much this small investment can save you in the long haul in lost time and downtime.
Have you considered a fit for duty assessment for all new employees? This is a screening, usually by a physical therapist, that takes about an hour, costs approximately $100 and provides very objective findings about whether the applicants are physically able to fulfill the role you are asking them to do.
Do you have an established, documented return to work (RTW) program? It is required by the WCB Act and is vital for your company to react quickly in the event there is an injury in the workplace and to prevent unnecessary lost time incidents that could have been prevented. This plan, if you have one, is of no value if no one knows about it and it is collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. Every employee, no matter their level, must be made aware of it. That includes what the program involves, what each employee’s responsibilities are and what their individual expectations are, as well as the expectations of all other stakeholders within the program to make it operate properly. We suggest, in the strongest terms possible, that every employee be made aware of the program and that their participation in it is a condition of their employment. Do this during each employee’s onboarding event, document it and have the employee sign off. We also suggest that this be repeated on at least a semi-annual basis and mention the program regularly at toolbox meetings or other safety discussions.
Have a functioning safety program on site – again, not just on paper but as part of the culture of your company. This means that once everyone has been instructed on the safety of the site, ensure that all infractions, no matter how small, are documented and take the opportunity to educate. I know this can be a pain at times, but as we have always said, documentation will set you free! This is true if it comes to a WCB claim, a harassment claim or any other such dilemma you find yourself in. Photographs speak volumes and you can’t have enough, trust me, so take them from all angles and have something with a scale in them to prove size and shape, if necessary.
Ensure all equipment is safe. Employees must follow proper procedures for use and maintenance. Early Monday mornings or late Friday afternoons are always the “danger hours,” when it can be tempting to try get things done before deadlines or before the end of the day, but we all want to go home in one piece. Take the time to take the time.
An unseen injury is a difficult injury to work with. Discussing psychological injuries could be an article in and of itself, but for now, we’ll let you know that the WCB in Saskatchewan has assigned a single point of contact in dealing with these types of injuries. All stakeholders will have the same person to contact, so we are hoping that should streamline the process and make communication easier, although for employers, that has not yet been the experience to date, but we are hopeful.
The Saskatchewan WCB is also ending its COVID-19 cost relief in June and that will have direct impact on employers; you will have to deal with COVID-related claims as any other communicable disease, which will make them much more difficult to claim. This is just an FYI for all.
Now I know what you are all thinking, and we hear this all the time, “I am not in the business of doing all this kind of stuff, I am in the business of building things. How do I do all of this and do what I love to do?”
That is where we and other third-party operators come into play. Like you, we are good at preparing all these plans, presenting them to you and your staff and dealing with all the other headaches in your life.
Progressive discipline is a straightforward concept that is frequently underutilized or misapplied. Employers often run into problems where they plan to terminate an employee for just cause but realize that they have not properly engaged the progressive discipline process. Failing to engage in progressive discipline can have the further unintended consequence of giving an employee the expectation that the employer has condoned a particular type of behaviour. Accordingly, progressive discipline is an important tool that should remain front of mind for employers and be utilized where appropriate.
In a nutshell, progressive discipline requires that an employer engage in a series of increasingly severe disciplinary steps designed to modify an employee’s behaviour. The underlying principle is one of preventative and corrective action – the intention is that the employee will learn through experience and will face the threat of more serious discipline if their behaviour is not corrected.
Progressive discipline can be beneficial for employers in two regards. Generally speaking, progressive discipline allows an employer to:
Intervene and communicate to an employee that their behaviour or actions are unacceptable and to correct issues early; and
Create documentation to demonstrate that an employee was treated fairly and was appropriately warned of the consequences of their actions.
Where progressive discipline eventually leads to a termination for just cause, documentation confirming that an employee was made aware of the issues and was clearly warned of the consequences for failure to correct problematic actions or behaviour may provide the employer with a defensible argument for termination for cause.
Progressive discipline is more commonly used where a single incident of misconduct is not so egregious to justify termination for just cause.
Managing employees who continuously violate a workplace policy or fail to perform their job duties can undoubtedly be a frustrating process for employers. When progressing down the path of progressive discipline, employers should be mindful that if an employee repeatedly engages in the same type of misconduct, it may be appropriate for the employer to move through the progressive discipline process more quickly than if the employee engages in different, unrelated types of misconduct. Ultimately, each case of progressive discipline should be assessed individually, based on the specific circumstances of the case.
The law of progressive discipline
Courts are typically more likely to uphold a just cause termination where the employer had previously warned the employee that a particular type of conduct is unacceptable and clearly and unequivocally warned the employee of the consequences for repeated conduct, namely the potential termination of employment.
Written documentation of the progressive discipline steps is particularly important.
The underlying principle is one of preventative and corrective action – the intention is that the employee will learn through experience and will face the threat of more serious discipline if their behaviour is not corrected.
An example of a case where an employer’s termination of an employee for just cause for incompetence was upheld is the Saskatchewan case of Schutte v Radio CJVR Ltd., 2009 SKCA 92 (“Radio CJVR”). In that case, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned what it held to be an overly stringent test imposed by the trial judge, ultimately holding that the applicable standard for just cause termination for incompetence is not one of an employee being “incapable” of performing their job duties, but a question of whether the individual was “consistently failing to meet a reasonable standard of performance” (Radio CJVR at para 17).
A key takeaway from the Radio CJVR case is that the Court of Appeal noted that while the standard of deficiency necessary to constitute grounds for summary dismissal is stringent where there is no significant misconduct such as dishonesty or gross insubordination, the standard of incompetence to constitute grounds for summary dismissal for incompetence is less stringent where the employee has been provided repeated notice that their performance is deficient, considerable assistance has been given to help them improve and clear warning was provided that failure to improve will result in termination of employment.
The Court of Appeal ultimately held that the employer’s expectations regarding job performance were reasonable, the employee failed to meet the reasonable standard of performance, the employer provided clear and unequivocal warnings, and the warnings clearly indicated that the employee would be dismissed if the standard was not met. Given these factors, the test for just cause dismissal was met and the employer was entitled to terminate the employee for just cause.
Another case that is illustrative of the importance of progressive discipline is Parent v Spielo Manufacturing Incorporated, 2013 NBQB 394, where the court upheld a just cause termination on the basis of incompetence. In that case, the employee’s job performance was addressed on a regular basis and the employer communicated concerns and gave suitable instructions to the employee to meet its standards. The employee was also given warning that a failure to meet the employer’s standards would result in dismissal. The court stated, “[i]t seems clear that [the employee] was not listening to the constant message that she had to improve her performance to maintain her employment at [the employer], otherwise she would be dismissed.”
The two case law examples above arise in non-unionized settings. The principles of progressive discipline for non-unionized employers addressed in this article are similar in unionized environments, subject to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union.
Creating a progressive discipline policy
A proper progressive discipline policy is one that allows an employer to track an employee’s progress by implementing a step system, or formalized set of stages. Common stages of progressive discipline that can be formalized into a progressive discipline policy can include:
Verbal warning
Written warning
Suspension (with or without pay, depending on whether the employee’s employment agreement or the employer’s policy allows for suspension without pay, or potentially any applicable collective bargaining agreement terms)
Final warning
Discharge
It is typically recommended that an employer’s progressive discipline policy include a general clause that indicates that the employer retains the discretion to deviate from the discipline policy based on a review of the individual circumstances of each case.
It is recommended that employers obtain legal advice with respect to the appropriate approach to the progressive disciplinary process. The appropriate approach may depend on an organization’s progressive discipline policy.
Ashton Butler is a management-side labour and employment lawyer with MLT Aikins LLP in Regina.
This article was originally published in the Spring/Summer 2022 edition of HR Saskatchewan magazine and is reprinted with permission from CPHR Saskatchewan and the author.
The B.C. Builders Code, created in 2019 by the BC Construction Association (BCCA) and its partners, is a new and powerful tool helping the construction industry grow and prosper into the future.
The industry is facing an ominous deficit of construction workers in the coming years. Yet BuildForce Canada reports that of the one million tradespeople employed in the construction industry in 2021, only five per cent of the on-site construction workforce were women. It isn’t much better for Indigenous people and new Canadians.
Looking for solutions, BCCA applied to the provincial government to fund development of a project to improve retention of tradeswomen in the industry. In 2018, they received funding and expertise from the provincial and federal governments, stakeholders in the industry as well as project owner LNG Canada.
Building the Code
Lisa Stevens, chief strategy officer at BCCA took the lead on the project.
“In the course of speaking to hundreds of tradeswomen, we heard clearly that they did not want us to create a program that would further shine a spotlight on them or make it appear there was any preferential treatment,” said Stevens. “They just want to be able to do their work like everyone else. We were well aware of the lack of diversity in construction and overall skilled workforce shortage, along with high turnover of all workers in the first year. We soon realized the need to provide an effective tool for employers looking to attract and retain not just tradeswomen, but to build an overall diverse and inclusive workforce.”
This led to the idea of a Code of Conduct for everyone on a worksite.
“The approach we took was that we know safety is extremely important in the construction industry,” said Stevens. “We needed to work on cultural understanding and acceptance of the idea that if you allow negative behaviours on your worksite, you don’t have a safe worksite.
“This concept that safety is about psychological hazards, as well as physical, has generally been accepted in the industry, and a lot of employers and crews are there already. But what the Builders Code does is give them the language and ability to profile this priority in a way everybody understands. We’re used to working with building to code in our industry, so the idea that we have a code for behaviour fits the vernacular.”
One of the biggest issues in developing an inclusive culture is for individuals to become aware of their own behaviour, to realize that something they might be doing or saying is harmful to other people.
“A big part of adopting the Builders Code is about unlearning,” said Stevens. “Maybe I offer to carry something for someone because it’s heavy, but they don’t need me to make that offer. I feel like I’m being kind, but maybe it’s demeaning to that person. There’s so much behaviour that we do, and don’t understand how it might affect others.”
Left to right: Chelle Wright, Jaret Swanson and Kathy Tull of WorkSafeBC
One of the biggest issues in developing an inclusive culture is for individuals to become aware of their own behaviour, to realize that something they might be doing or saying is harmful to other people.
An acceptable worksite
The Builders Code sets a standard code of conduct through defining an “Acceptable Worksite” for reducing risk and ensuring a safe and productive environment for all workers. At www.builderscode.ca/signthepledge, employers can download and sign a personalized pledge indicating their commitment to build a workforce where all employees are able to perform at their best and reach their full potential.
“We encourage employers to sign the pledge,” said Stevens. “It isn’t mandatory, but if they do, we’ll promote their company on our website. This is a powerful way to show potential employees and clients they support the Builders Code Acceptable Worksite standards. We’re finding that tradespeople seeking work are looking for a Builders Code company where they’ll be treated with respect and given opportunities.
“We have different-sized companies on board, but recently, Teck Resources, Ltd., a very large mining company, signed the Builders Code [Acceptable Worksite] Pledge. BC Hydro also signed and went further by having all their main contractors on their Site C Project sign the pledge.”
Benefits of adopting the Builders Code
“The construction industry is one of many industries that suffer from the impacts of mental health issues,” said Jaret Swanson, manager of Consultation & Education Services for Construction at WorkSafeBC. “We see that taking the Builders Code [Acceptable Worksite] Pledge and committing to building a more inclusive ‘construction community,’ will result in a psychologically safer and more accepting work environment with all the value-added benefits that brings.”
Chelle Wright, an occupational safety officer on WorkSafeBC’s construction team, has worked in construction for more than 20 years and recalls that when she started, positions for women were very limited.
“As time passed, the idea that women do not belong in construction began to change, and I was able to expand my knowledge and experience within a world that had previously been very gender-biased,” said Wright.
Wright credits the Builders Code, BCCA, WorkSafeBC and other partners with assisting in these changes and raising awareness of the need for them to continue.
“The best ideas don’t come from an individual, but from the collaboration of many. Promoting psychological health and safety in the workplace allows all workers to have a fulfilling and safe work environment regardless of gender, ethnic background or sexual identity,” she said.
It isn’t only workers who benefit from changing perceptions and actions. According to a 2018 article, “Delivering through Diversity,” by McKinsey & Company, “Companies have increasingly begun to regard inclusion and diversity as a source of competitive advantage and specifically as a key enabler of growth.” In “The Value of Diversity and Inclusion in the Canadian Construction Industry,” the Canadian Construction Industry (CCA) concludes that this advantage touches on many dimensions: productivity, revenue, market share, employee retention, innovation and more – resulting in an improved bottom line.
Acceptable worksite policies
The Builders Code team has developed two Worksite Policy models: one from smaller employers and those new to workplace culture, and another for larger employers or those interested in more developed policies. The policies are written in real language and can be changed in any way that works best for each company. These policies are free and have already been downloaded thousands of times.
“We needed to work on cultural understanding and acceptance of the idea that if you allow negative behaviours on your worksite, you don’t have a safe worksite.”
– Lisa Stevens, BC Construction Association
Further resources
Through BCCA, the Builders Code offers several two-hour training sessions and one full-day session covering topics of direct interest to construction employers looking to develop and strengthen their commitment to achieve acceptable worksites and increased employee retention.
Stevens says there is a fee for the training sessions, but the Crew Training app is free to download and covers the basics of unacceptable worksite behaviour.
“Workers onsite can download our app onto a phone, watch a quick ‘Cool or Tool’ real-life scenario each day, and answer a couple of questions about the video. We use animated tools in the videos instead of people and the use of humour makes it easier to talk about things,” said Stevens.
Builders Code Employers Advisors can help with the adoption of the Builders Code or navigating human resource situations on the worksite related to hazing, harassment and bullying with the goal to retain the tradesperson.
What’s next?
After coming off the pilot project just over a year ago, the Builders Code is self-sustaining and growing, managed fully by BCCA, and is in the process of hiring a full-time provincial manager.
“Both the Northwest Territories and Nunavut recently signed on, and we hope we can continue to grow and get more official B.C. licensees in other jurisdictions,” said Stevens. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we have received a very positive reception across the industry. When we went back to those companies that had been early signatories to see how the pilot worked, across the board, the experience in the crews has been very positive. Everybody gets it and are willing to make the changes. We’re just helping them along.”
This article was originally published in Issue 3 2022 of Piling Canada magazine and is reprinted with permission.
Submitted by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers
Jeani Ringkob founded StoryBuilt Growth Strategy & Marketing after nearly a decade in the asphalt paving business and has helped several businesses grow and develop in the construction world. In the presentation she gave during World of Asphalt 2022, “Overcoming the Bottleneck in Your Business: How to Identify It Fast and Fix It Right, Every Time,” she explained that businesses are a lot like airplanes.
Ringkob explained that both businesses and airplanes require constant attention, regular maintenance, periodic enhancement and dutiful repairs to keep themselves up in the air. Identifying bottlenecks in a business is just as important as identifying faults on an airplane – failing to do so could result in a crash.
Ringkob broke the anti-bottleneck process down to three stages:
Identify
Investigate
Implement
When it comes to identifying bottlenecks, she said a lot of it comes down to examining decision-making. Are the business’s leaders making the right decision at the right time? If not, she explains that can lead to wasted resources, missed opportunities, mediocre employees, costly mistakes – bottlenecks.
The reason inefficient decision making can lead to bottlenecks is that it can take leadership’s focus off growth, confident decision making, investment, new products and more, and instead force leaders to focus on survival. Successful businesses focus on growth, stalled companies focus on keeping the lights on tomorrow.
The reason inefficient decision-making can lead to bottlenecks is that it can take leadership’s focus off growth, confident decision making investment, new products and more, and instead force leaders to focus on survival.
Once the problem is identified, Ringkob says the next step is to investigate what has been found. Was alignment found between company, product and customer? What was found about the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and those of the competition? What does the company’s pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase strategy look like? What can be done to improve what has been found?
Whatever the investigation has found to be a potential solution to the identified bottleneck, that solution is going to need to be implemented strategically. Ringkob recommends the “O.M.E.N.” test:
Objective: Set the result the business intends to achieve
Measurement: How will progress be measured?
Evaluation: The frequency at which measurement will be reviewed
Nurture: How the business will tweak things as new data comes in
Ultimately, Ringkob emphasized that a lot hinges on communication. She says communication must be simple, and it must work, both internally and externally.
For more from Jeani Ringkob, she will present on “Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent at Every Level” and “Strategic Decision Making for Increased Margins” at CONEXPO-CON/AGG, running March 14–18, 2023 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. CONEXPO-CON/AGG offers entire education tracks to help businesses “Attract, Engage & Retain Talent” and “Business Best Practices.” Visit conexpoconagg.com to learn more. The Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association is a supporting organization to CONEXPO-CON/AGG.
