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Source: cbc.ca

How some companies are making work-spaces safer in preparation for more staff returning to the office

Countless office towers, offices, boardrooms and cubicles have been sitting empty throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As people cautiously negotiate heading back to the office over the coming months, they’re likely to see a lot of changes.

“The central issue is there’s a push and a pull between an employer and an employee,” says Robert Palter, senior partner at consulting management firm McKinsey & Company.

Source: www.collingwoodtoday.ca

Catching a glimpse of a co-worker’s baby or pet can help humanize workplaces and make colleagues more understanding and empathetic — one positive byproduct of the pandemic-fuelled remote work phenomenon

The COVID-19 lockdown has become synonymous with working from home for many people. While some research has suggested that remote work can be isolating, it also makes the competing priorities that workers are juggling very visible — even sometimes literally so due to the popularity of video calls.

Source: www.bnnbloomberg.ca

As many Canadians are settling into their work-from-home lifestyle amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey shows most workers are ready for this temporary change to become a permanent reality.

A report by ADP Canada and Maru/Blue found 45 per cent of working Canadians would prefer to work remotely for at least three days a week. The idea of changing the traditional workplace is particularly popular with younger employees, as 61 per cent aged 18 and 34 say they would support the split week between the office and their house.

Source: www.cbc.ca

From the commute to chats at the water cooler, there are ways to minimize risk of exposure to COVID-19

COVID-19 put millions of Canadians out of work and sent millions of others home to work from kitchen tables and sofas.

Staying healthy as work resumes for some and others leave their homes for more formal work settings is going to require employees to not only strictly adhere to preventative measures — like hand hygiene and physical distancing — but to know their rights, say experts in infectious disease and occupational health and safety law.

Source: www.ohscanada.com

Staff should be educated on all elements of COVID-19 plan and receive training where necessary

Now that most workplaces have opened and children are set to return to schools across the country this September, some experts are warning of a potential second wave of COVID-19.

Businesses have already endured their share of challenges throughout the past several months and will no doubt continue to be affected if the number of new cases of the virus begin to rise.

Source: www.bnnbloomberg.ca

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to change the nature of the workplace, Canadians now working from home are being forced to consider how never leaving the office could be a detriment to their mental health.

The shutdown that has forced many employees to stay put and do their jobs remotely is erasing the divisions between work and their personal lives.

Source: www.ctvnews.ca

OTTAWA — A months-long COVID-19 lockdown means the majority of Canada’s workforce that has transitioned from an office space to a makeshift remote set-up could be eligible for a work-from-home tax deduction.

A tax expert with CIBC told CTVNews.ca that “hundreds of thousands, if not millions” of Canadians will be able to apply for the “work-space-in-the-home” deduction, similar to the one that applies to the self-employed.

Source: www.cbc.ca

Economy will suffer if women can’t return to the workforce at pre-COVID levels, say experts

Charlotte Schwartz has four children under the age of 10, one with special needs. She also has a full-time career as a legal clerk at a busy family law practice in Toronto, and since the pandemic forced people into their homes in March, she’s been doing both her jobs around the clock with little reprieve.

Source: www.benefitscanada.com

The coronavirus pandemic has been disruptive for all and sadly, devastating and difficult for many.

In the pandemic’s early days, we saw a great deal of change and upheaval very swiftly — both for organizations and our communities. The way in which we live our lives day to day changed very quickly. And for many Canadian employers, the beginning of the pandemic created a flurry of activity, as organizations put business continuity plans into action and pivoted their businesses.

Health Canada alerts consumers to dangerous ethanol fire pots through release of safety testimonial video.