What is a Psychologically Safe Workplace? A Psychologically Safe Workplace is one that does NOT permit harm to employee mental health in careless, negligent, reckless or intentional ways. It is one that promotes and sustains carefulness and compassion and in which psychologically harmful conduct is identified and corrected.

Our special guest Dr. Martin Shain will discuss the emergence of a new legal requirement across Canada to provide a Psychologically Safe Workplace and then lead a thought provoking, interactive session about the practical implications of these legal developments for EAP practitioners as he sees them including flagging psychologically “hot zones” within client organizations.

Dr. Martin Shain is the director and founder of the Neighbour at Work Centre. He holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Toronto and a Diploma in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. His earlier education in law was completed at the University of Oxford. This background enables him to write and speak with authority on crucial relationships between law and science in the domain of workplace mental health.

The elimination of mandatory retirement, growing interest in retaining older workers, aging of the workforce, increasing demand for work-life balance, diversification of the labour force, recruitment of 20 and 30 year olds; each of these elements, on their own or in combination, can lead to increased stress in the workplace. EAPAT helps organizations reduce and prevent that stress by providing access to insightful and informative thought leaders. Join us at the EAPAT breakfast on Oct 30 2008 as we welcome back Nora Spinks, President Work-Life Harmony Enterprises presenting “They, Them, Those! Working with Multiple Generations without Going Crazy”. Nora will offer a unique perspective on a complex topic that has been over simplified, shifting the discussion from stereotypes to science, from finger pointing to strategizing, and from focusing on differences to embracing, celebrating and embracing generational diversity. Learn to accurately interpret behaviours across generations, reduce intergenerational conflict and minimize interpersonal stress.

Nora Spinks, President of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises is an internationally recognized leader in work-life and well-being, organizational development and human resources management. She has extensive experience with EAP/EFAP providers and managers as well as employers of all sectors from across all industries.

Are you feeling the pinch of too many departing older workers and too few younger skilled replacements?

Did you know that there is a great deal of value to your organization in looking at the over-50 talent pool?

You are not alone. All provinces are now experiencing skills shortages and are looking to their older workforces to fill the gap.

Please join us for a dynamic discussion with Barbara Jaworski, BSc., MBA, who will introduce us to an innovative business model to help organizations become employers of choice by focusing on the over-50 talent pool. Barbara will also further your understanding of how workforce planning is critical for employers in their accountability to other members of the business team.

Ms. Jaworski is the President of the Workplace Institute, a Canadian centre of excellence for research and education concerning mature workers and intergenerational matters. Barbara is also the founder of the 5th annual Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians and Chair of the annual 4th annual Summit on the Mature Workforce. Organizations and governments come to Barbara for her expertise, research, consultation, and use of best practices in the emerging discipline of managing mature organizations. She is the well known author of KAA-Boom! How to Engage the 50-Plus Worker and Beat the Workforce Crisis.

We are all becoming aware that the 21st century will be marked by a dramatic increase in the size of the older population as the baby boom generation ages.

The “sandwich generation” or employees, who are faced with the challenges of providing care for an aging parent, also have the difficult task in remaining productive at work and effective in caring for their children.

It is at this intersection that many of these employees begin to feel the high levels of stress which can ultimately lead to “caregiver burnout”.

Please join us in a dynamic and informative session with Gillian Joseph on the timely topic of Work and Eldercare. Gillian will also discuss effective coping strategies for this group.

Gillian’s academic career and research interests are in the area of Gerontology, and more specifically around issues relating to aging and older workers. During her career, she has lived and worked in Canada, New Zealand and Hong Kong. For the last five years Gillian has worked as a full-time Research Associate with the Centre for Families, Work and Well-being – a dedicated research unit at the University of Guelph.

Sponsored by: Homewood Employee Health EAP

A growing trend toward respecting diversity and protecting people’s dignity in the workplace is leading to new thinking around the issue of psychological harassment. Unlike physical aggression or violence in the work setting, psychological harassment is often ambiguous and vulnerable to interpretation. In fact, many behaviours that traditionally were not thought of as ‘harassment’ can today qualify as such under most organizations’ Harassment Policies. When managers and supervisors lack information and training on how to handle these sensitive situations, there is increased risk for both employees and organizations

Please join us in a dynamic, interactive session with>Sharon Bar-David. With 20+ years of international experience as lawyer, trainer, speaker, consultant and family therapist, Sharon has helped over 20,000 people in Canada and overseas improve their work lives through keynote speeches, training sessions and coaching. Her expertise in organizational change is featured in a book she has co-authored, Awakening the Workplace and her tips-packed blog have become a destination for readers wishing to create positive work environments for themselves and others.

Whether you are a Human Resources professional or in other key positions within an organization, this session promises to be an eye-opener that will take your understanding of this issue to a new level.

Sponsored by: Ceridean EAP

One third of all absences in the workplace are due to care-giving issues.

As we all know, balancing Work/Life issues is a challenge. Many of us are part of the “sandwich generation” that has to attend to the needs of both children and older family members. At the same time, competitive demands in the workplace foster additional pressures.

Quality and a healthy workplace are intrinsically linked to a successful corporate strategy, especially in today’s highly competitive business world. Excellence through quality is less about product and service quality, and more about better focus on employee health and wellness. The healthy workplace has become a strategic issue linked to productivity and competitiveness for a growing number of companies. Join us as we welcome Janice Smith from Delta Hotels to speak on the topic of The Healthy Workplace. Janice will share information from the National Quality Institute (NQI)about the elements of a healthy workplace, and how these elements have played a role in her company’s journey towards becoming a healthier workplace, including he creation of a compelling business case to gain corporate support.

Janice is currently the Director of quality and recruitment at Delta Hotels, and facilitates quality, recruitment, and learning initiatives at Canada’s leading hotel management company. As a champion of the company’s quality initiative—in itself a strategic approach to the continuous improvement of business activities and outcomes—Janice developed the quality business assessment (QBA), a diagnostic tool for measuring hotel performance that is based on the model of excellence advocated by the NQI. She is a regular speaker on the topic of quality for the National Quality Institute, and serves as a lead verifier with the NQI in reviewing submissions from companies and organizations for the quality and health workplace designations.

Sponsored by:Family Services Employee Assistance Program

What legislation in Canada governs mandatory retirement?

What are the details of Ontario's Bill 211?

How will this new legislation impact benefit plans, and how do changes to Ontario's drug benefit system relate to the issue of providing benefits to seniors?

How can EAPs support corporation and employees on this issue?

Please join us in a lively discussion with our speaker, Amy Stahlke, Director, Legislation & Compliance, Group Benefits, Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada.

Sponsored by: Ceridean Lifeworks

The Institute for Work & Health in Toronto has recently completed a systematic review of the literature on effective return-to-work.

Jane Gibson, the Director of Knowledge Transfer and Exchange at the Institute will share the results of this review and the seven principles of successful return-to-work that emerge from this evidence.

Come learn and join in a lively discussion on how these principles may be useful for your clients and their work settings.