letter from the editor
Eldercare in
the Workplace
In our September issue of HR Professional, we’re revisiting a top-ic
that we wrote about often a couple of years ago: Eldercare.
More specifically, the implications of eldercare on employees
in caregiving situations, and what employers can do to support
their workforce. This isn’t a concern that will be going away any
time soon in Canada, and yet few employers have a formal pro-gram
or strategic plan in place.
For our cover feature, starting on page 20, writer Sarah B. Hood
spoke to several Canadian organizations about how eldercare affects
the workplace, and what HR professionals and business leaders can
do. There are many ways in which an employer can be flexible and ac-commodating
in order to support its employees. Adrian Ishak with
Rubin Thomlinson LLP also offers accommodation strategies and
information for employers from a legal point of view for this issue’s
Legal Words column. That article starts on page 17.
Our secondary feature discusses another scenario in which em-ployers
must support their employees. Cancer is now considered a
chronic disease in Canada with more than 810,000 10-year survivors;
this is of great importance to employers, as 43 per cent of all cancer
diagnoses occur in working-age Canadians. Employers must have an
accommodation strategy, as well as an effective return-to-work plan
that makes sense for the business, the diagnosed employee and co-workers.
Read the article, starting on page 24.
I hope that you learn something from this issue of HR Professional,
and we’ll be back again in October with our annual Legal Issue. More
than a dozen of Ontario’s top employment lawyers are weighing in on
Bill 148, Bill 127 and myriad other issues that affect HR profession-als.
You won’t want to miss it.
As always, I look forward to your thoughts, ideas and feedback on
this issue.
Happy reading,
Jill Harris
866-953-2182
jharris@lesterpublications.com ■
THE MAGAZINE OF
HUMAN RESOURCES
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 2017
Publisher: Jill Harris, Lester Communications Inc.
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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Jason Beeho, Levitt LLP
Dean Bulloch, MBA, CHRE,
School of Business & Hospitality,
Conestoga College Institute
Cheryl Fullerton, Corus Entertainment Inc.
Julie Giraldi, OMERS
John Hamovitch, Intelex Technologies
Paul Klein, Impakt
Dr. Claudette Knight, DBA, Msc., MBA,
Meridian
Charles Marful, Ernst & Young
Nan Oldroyd
Anthony Papa, Federal-Mogul Motorparts
Laura L. Randell, B.A., CHRE, SEEC
Schulich School of Business
Jose Tolovi Neto, Great
Place to Work® Canada
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4 ❚ SEPTEMBER 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL