Bulletin – April 13, 2020
Scribe: Bill Clarkson
Guests April Terreau - Guest Speaker; Shanda Hunter-Trottier of Speechworks (former speaker at our Club Meeting a couple of years ago).
Announcements
- Bryce Leggatt is having a major operation today.
- Terry Sedore has resigned from the club making it 5 so far this year with the others being Catherine Brady, Marni Alexander, Bernie Hanna and Randy Smallbone.
- No morning meeting next week – instead BBQ at 5 locations.
- August 2th meeting will deal with the presentation and approval of the Club Budget.
- There is an Eagle Ride (Motorcycle) for youth in support of Liberty For Youth on August 22nd.
- Bruce Maybury is the Chair of the Rotary Foundation – see him if you have any questions.
- Ron Lambert has offered storage space related to any of our Fundraising projects.
- Joe Watson stated that there were no festivals in parks this year and maybe next year. He reported that a letter was going out to past Lakeside attendees requesting a donation.
- The Board is considering meeting at the Burlington G & CC – in person. Before a decision is made a questionnaire would be sent out to members for their comment.
- Rotary Masks will be sold at next week’s BBQs.
- The Golf Tournament is slated for September 10th with tee times between 10 and 1:30. Cost is $100 but players will receive a tax receipt for $30+.
- Karmel reported that his committee is exploring ways to engage youth and are trying to come up with a plan.
Sergeant at Arms Dave Beckett willingly donated $94 in honour of his father’s 94th birthday. A 1.75 litre bottle of Chivas Regal was auctioned off (my notes are missing who donated this – maybe Joe Watson?, who paid the most for it and how much it went for – sorry folks). Lawrence Leung won the $50:50 of $65.
Guest Speaker – April Terreau April heads up her company called Navigating Integrity Associates which is a firm that does workplace investigations dealing with harassment. They also focus on creating healthy workplaces by dealing effectively with harassment. April pointed out that just as people’s attitudes have changed regarding smoking at home, in the car or at work, so too has harassment and bullying in the workplace where it is no longer tolerated. Companies or employers are now obligated to provide an environment free of harassment. Once you have more than 5 employees you have to have policies on harassment in place. As of September 2016, employers are legally obligated to conduct investigations into incidents and complaints of workplace harassment according to the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). It is up to the employer to choose to investigate these complaints internally or hire an external investigator. These policies have to be in writing, reviewed annually, procedures spelled out regarding investigations, a person designated to whom any complaints are made to and the procedure regarding investigations. An investigation is required. The situation cannot be ignored. Types of harassment include humiliation, threatening, spreading rumours, yelling, sexual harassment, violence, misconduct and/or violations of policy, toxic work environments, discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights code, failure to accommodate disabilities and anonymous complaints.
80% of all harassment incidents go unreported. Results are dysfunctional teams, leadership issues, lower productivity, bad morale, high employee turnover, gossip issues. It is important to be proactive. If you get a complaint write it down in an email and send it to yourself to document the case and date. Talk to the person and evaluate the seriousness of the case. April’s firm does investigations and offer an outside and unbiased view of the complaint and can make recommendations according to their analysis and experience.
Glenn Warnica thanked April for her presentation commenting that the workplace is an evolution and she outlined one of the changing components.
