Business

Trust essential in work-from-home era, experts say, after ‘time theft’ ruling

Published

2 years ago

January 15, 2023

VANCOUVER –

Employers and work-from-home staff must tread a fine line between trust, monitoring and micromanaging, experts say, in the new age of remote employment.

Their comments come days after British Columbia’s Civil Resolution Tribunal ordered an accountant to pay her former employer more than $2,600 after tracking software showed she engaged in “time theft” while working at home.

The worker had gone to the tribunal claiming she was fired without cause.

Sandra Robinson, an organizational psychologist and professor in the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, says that offering flexibility to ensure a happy workforce is a key reason employers continue with remote or hybrid work arrangements, long after pandemic restrictions have lifted.

Yet Robinson warns some tools that allow employers to monitor how their employees spend their time while working from home, such as software that continuously tracks a worker’s computer activity, could “backfire” by eroding trust.

“One of the things I tell managers is, you know, one of the best ways to build trust is by being trusting, that trust gets reciprocated,” she says.

She says research suggests the less trusted an employee feels, the lower their sense of responsibility may be to their work.

Adults tend not to like being constantly monitored, so computer tracking software could cause unnecessary stressors or resistance among employees, Robinson adds.

The monitoring of people working from home could also create unrealistic standards that aren’t even upheld in many office environments.

“You don’t typically have someone who’s micromanaging what you’re doing, right? People talk at the water cooler, they go to the bathroom, they get lost in thought.”

Research shows people in many professions aren’t always “on,” delivering measurable work for eight or more hours straight, even at the office, Robinson says.

“Our brains can only function so much, so do we actually end up maybe raising the standards that don’t even exist in the live workplace,because we want people to work like robots and only pay them when they’re ‘really’ delivering work?”

There are many other signals that someone isn’t keeping up with their work, says Robinson, who suggests monitoring software could be used as a last resort.

The B.C. tribunal decision, issued on Wednesday, shows the accountant initiated a claim of $5,000 for unpaid wages and severance pay, arguing she had been fired without cause last March.

But the employer, Reach CPA Inc., submitted a counterclaim for wages and a portion of an advance it had paid, saying the software data showed a 50-hour discrepancy between her timesheets and computer activity over one month.

“Time theft in the employment context is viewed as a very serious form of misconduct,” tribunal member Megan Stewart writes in the decision.

Trust and honesty are essential, especially in a remote-work environment, it says.

The woman’s misconduct led to “an irreparable breakdown in her employment relationship with Reach,” Stewart says, finding her dismissal was proportionate.

Vancouver lawyer Shafik Bhalloo, who specializes in labour and employment law, likewise says the case is serious because submitting false hours amounts to fraud.

“The act itself was serious enough to breach that duty of honesty an employee has in their relationship with the employer, and trust was broken. There’s a fracture of that relationship, and it’s not … really mendable in this particular case,” says Bhalloo, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business.

Yet Bhalloo doesn’t believe the case will open a “floodgate” of employers suing employees over time theft.

The woman’s fabrication sets her case apart from other activities, such as taking a personal call during working hours, he says.

“I’m working from home, I may have a pet, who may need my attention for a moment or two. I may get a personal call that comes in on the home line. I may have a gardener who needs instructions, or a postman who comes to the door and I take time off that I wouldn’t be doing otherwise, if I were in the office,” he says.

Such activities do not amount to just cause for firing, he says, unless they become habitual and the employee does not heed warnings to rectify their conduct.

Canadian law is still in its “developmental stages” when it comes to handling disputes over working from home, he says, and context will be key in court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2023.

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Business

Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

Published

1 day ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

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Business

Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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Business

Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

Published

2 days ago

September 12, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

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