HR Professional - February/March 2008 - (Page 18)

UPFRONT INTERNET | HARASSMENT | ETHICS NEWS SASKATCHEWAN BOLSTERS HARASSMENT LEGISLATION THE SASKATCHEWAN GOVERNMENT HAS EXPANDED THE DEFINITION OF HARASSMENT UNDER THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT. THE NEW DEFINITION OF HARASSMENT NOW INCLUDES LANGUAGE TO ADDRESS PERSONAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE, SUCH AS ABUSE OF POWER AND BULLYING. THE LEGISLATION ALSO ALLOWS FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT ADJUDICATOR TO HEAR APPEALS ARISING FROM HARASSMENT COMPLAINTS. IMPLEMENTATION WILL BEGIN WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW HARASSMENT PREVENTION UNIT WITHIN THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY DIVISION OF SASKATCHEWAN LABOUR. THE NEW UNIT, WHICH IS TO BE FULLY OPERATIONAL BY THE SPRING OF 2008, WILL FOCUS ON ENFORCING THE ANTI-HARASSMENT LEGISLATION AND EDUCATING WORKPLACES ON THE NEW DEFINITION AND COMPLAINT PROCESS. Ethics CEOs responsible for ethics The CEO is the most important ﬁgure in creating and maintaining an ethical culture in an organization, according to a recent Conference Board of Canada study. The study, Ethics and Compliance Functions: Canadian Corporate Leaders’ Views, was based on interviews with 20 senior executives and directors. “By their words and actions, CEOs are directly responsible for their company’s ethical culture,” said Prem Benimadhu, vice-president, governance and human resources management with the Conference Board of Canada. “Canadian leaders say that while complying with legislative and regulatory obligations is a must, an ethical organizational culture is key to preventing misconduct. CEOs must move organizations beyond compliance to make ethical behaviour a fundamental trait of their company’s culture.” Some respondents support a dedicated ethics and compliance position in organizations, saying it is unrealistic for the board or CEO to manage the full range of ethics issues without the support of a high-level executive in charge of the function. Those opposed to a dedicated position made three main arguments: the board and CEO cannot delegate ethics and compliance responsibilities; a dedicated position replicates existing functions; and assigning responsibility to a single person or office might confuse or weaken accountability. The publication, which is publicly available at e-library.ca, includes an ethical leadership checklist. Source: Conference Board of Canada WORLD WATCH J A PA N E S E C I V I L S E R VA N T S S T U N G F O R N E T U S E Six bureaucrats from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture got their hands slapped recently after it was discovered they’d been logging much of their workday posting Wikipedia contributions—including more than 250 entries about cartoon robots. Together, the six workers made 400 entries on the public web encyclopedia, none of which had anything to do with Japanese agriculture. About half focused exclusively on Gundam, a Japanese cartoon about giant robots. Adult Gundam enthusiasts are known as “otaku,” roughly translated “geeks” in Japanese. “The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam,” said ministry official Tsutomu Shimomura. Other favoured topics included movies, typos on roadside signs and local politics. HR P R OF E S S I ON A L 18 F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 0 8 ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ONUR DÖNGEL

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Professional - February/March 2008

HR Professional - February/March 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Contributors Leadership Matters Boards By the Numbers Did You Know Sustainability Education News: E-Recycling Communications News: HR Study FYI Ethics World Watch News: Legislation Legal Compensation Focus Strategy The Colour of Money Sustainable Skills From Brown to Green HR Trends: From Winners to Also-Rans Branding Human Capital HR 101 Interview with David Suzuki Off the Shelf The Last Word

HR Professional - February/March 2008

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