by Felicien | Jan 29, 2018 | Education
There’s some good news for the 1.4 million people of Ontario: The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148) was passed into law on November 22, 2017, and took effect on January 1, 2018. The bill includes better wages and working conditions for workers in Ontario. Lawmakers say that this is the most significant change to workplace standards in several decades.
General provisions of the new bill
The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act:
Raised Ontario’s minimum wage to $14 per hour on January 1, 2018.
Raises it to $15 on January 1, 2019, followed by annual increases at the rate of inflation.
Gives workers two government-paid sick days per year.
Increases the holiday entitlement.
Provides greater protection to temporary employees.
Requires employers to pay part-time, temporary and seasonal employees the same wages as regular employees.
Exceptions to this rule include situations where wage differences can be attributed to factors such as a merit system or a seniority system. Employees can ask for a review of their pay rate if they believe that discrimination has occurred.
Two studies may have impacted legislative decisions
The Bill is a result of years of hard work from workers’ advocacy groups. For some time, these groups have lobbied on behalf of workers, pushing for better government-sponsored leave time and better pay.
The landmark Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, amends several essential pieces of employment legislation, including:
The Labour Relations Act, 1995 (LRA)
The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
Many believe the bill’s successful passage was primarily due to two recent studies performed by McMaster University and United Way. For two years these institutes studied the conditions and pay of Ontario’s thousands of workers. The studies revealed that many workers consider their jobs at risk and feel that their livelihood could be cut off without warning by corporate leaders looking to cut costs.
Employees need better job security
Because of today’s competitive marketplace, companies sometimes move portions of their organization to foreign countries where cheap labor is abundantly available. Though moves like this can cut a business’s monthly expenditures, they can be unsettling to workers. Worker advocacy groups see this as a big win for Ontario’s workforce. They will now have better job security, along with stronger benefits.
The Canadian labour market has experienced solid growth in recent years, performing well in 2017. The annual unemployment rate fell to its lowest since 2008 to 6.4 percent. An incredible 93 percent of the job gains were for full-time positions. Officials expect these numbers to improve more over the next few years.
The following are some of the most important amendments to the law:
Vacation time is increased to three weeks per year once an employee has been with the same company for at least five years.
Employees will now have ten days of Personal Emergency Leave each year, and the first two will be paid work days. In the past, Personal Emergency Leave was only available to those who worked at a business with over 50 employees. In addition, employees were required to present a doctor’s note explaining their sickness. These two latter stipulations are now removed.
The Pregnancy Leave Entitlement was extended from 35 weeks to 61 weeks. Additional amendments are pending that would allow employees to spread their pregnancy leave over a period of time.
Several important family and personal leave of absences have been added, including leave for domestic violence, child death or disappearance, family medical issues, and critical illness.
How independent contractors are affected
Other amendments include changes to overtime and public holiday pay rules. These new changes better outline how and when employees get paid. Changes also prohibit an employer from misclassifying employees as “independent contractors.” As an independent contractor, workers cannot receive job protection benefits from the ESA. The changes even affect workers from temp agencies. They are now eligible for additional pay if an assignment is cut short. This change will provide partial compensation to temporary workers who were expecting an assignment to last a certain length of time but was inadvertently cut short.
Canceled Shifts
The Canceled Shifts (3-Hour Rule) requires employers to pay workers for 3 hours of work if the person shows up for work and the shift is canceled. This applies even when the shift is canceled the day before. Under the new labour law, employers must give their employees at least 48 hours’ notice of a shift cancellation. The three hours of pay must be calculated at the regular hourly rate, and if premiums were expected (as with holidays) these must also be paid.
Right to Refuse Work
The Right to Refuse Work makes it possible for employees to refuse a shift where they are being called on to work someone’s shift. The employer is not allowed to discipline any employee who refuses to work. 96 hours (4 days) of notice is required.
Minimum On-Call Pay
Employees “on-call” who are not eventually called into work, must be paid for three hours of work at their regular rate. These rates are figured by each 24-hour period that an employee is on-call.
Schedule Changes/Work Location
After three months of employment, employees are eligible to request changes to their work location or schedule. Though employers are responsible for discussing the matter with the employee, they are not forced to grant it. However, the employee can ask about the reasons for denial without any fear of reprimand.
New Record-Keeping Requirements
This will force employers to maintain separate records regarding the changes listed above. For instance, where employees are scheduled to work a shift that is canceled when the worker gets there. New record-keeping requirements also include events where employees were on call for 24 hours and therefore qualify for the three hours of pay for that day. The ESA may feel the need to document incidents like this in case of lawsuits. Many employers already document changes to work schedules or work locations.
Miscellaneous items
A number of other miscellaneous items were included in the Bill that would require Union Certification for those in construction, those in the home care industry, temporary help agencies and community service industries. A few of these miscellaneous items pertain to actions of employees, employers and the union.
As the new changes, requirements, and stipulations unfold, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 may require some interpretation. Employers are already studying the bill to learn exactly how it will affect their employees. They want to fully comprehend how to properly implement the Bill’s provisions. Employees are encouraged to become familiar with the changes as well.
by Felicien | Jan 28, 2018 | Education
January 28th, 2018 is Data Privacy Day, an international effort led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) annually for the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of safeguarding data. Data Privacy Day commemorates the signing of Convention 108, which took place on January 28th, 1981 as the first legally binding international treaty regarding data protection.
Your data is your most important business asset, and when it’s lost or stolen, your company faces serious direct financial losses – from legal fines to decreased productivity to lost sales and a damaged reputation. You simply can’t afford to leave your data vulnerable to the sophisticated cybercriminals out there patiently waiting to get their hands on it. {company} has always put data security first and foremost – helping our clients stay as secure as possible.
Data security is becoming more important than ever before as we bank, shop, and communicate online…
That’s why we’ve compiled 6 great tips to help you better protect the privacy of your data online:
Encrypt as much and as often as possible: Encryption acts as an extra layer of security; scrambling sensitive information so it’s unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have the authorization to read it. There are tons of tools available to encrypt your sensitive information at rest and in transit.
Keep your operating system up-to-date: You’ll hear this tip time and time again because it’s so important. Those operating system and software updates might be annoying, but they’re absolutely vital to ensure you have the latest security updates and vulnerability patches installed.
Run anti-virus software periodically: There’s a wide range of dangerous threats out there waiting to attack your system at any given moment. As a result, it’s crucial for you to install a reliable anti-virus software and make sure you’re performing scans on a periodic basis.
Use unique, complex passwords for accounts: Reusing passwords on accounts and/or services is a huge risk. You need to ensure you’re using a unique, complex password for every account and/or service you own. Your passwords need a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters for optimal protection.
Keep up with managing your privacy settings: While it’s daunting to look into the privacy settings of every application and account you have, it’s important to ensure you’re not providing anyone with access to sensitive information you’d rather keep private.
Avoid using free Wi-Fi networks: Almost every restaurant or shopping center offers free Wi-Fi access nowadays, but it’s not entirely safe, especially when you’re doing online banking. At an absolute minimum, never check your bank account on a free Wi-Fi network, but it’s preferable to avoid them altogether.
Need help implementing the 6 tips listed above? {company} is your trusted team of IT security experts in {city}. We put data security first and foremost on our priority list – helping our clients stay as secure as possible. Call {phone} or email us at {email}.
by Felicien | Jan 28, 2018 | Education
If you’re not doing everything in your power to protect your data, you’re leaving your most valuable business asset open to cybercriminals!
January 28th, 2018 is Data Privacy Day, an international effort led by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) annually for the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of safeguarding data. Data Privacy Day commemorates the signing of Convention 108, which took place on January 28th, 1981 as the first legally binding international treaty regarding data protection.
Are You Keeping Your Customer’s Sensitive Information Private?
As your company continues to grow, you’re creating and storing more information than ever before – and a lot of that information happens to be incredibly confidential, such as financial account numbers, home addresses, and credit card numbers. Are you keeping your customer’s sensitive information private? What about your business’s sensitive information?
{company} helps our clients protect confidential information of all types because we know it’s vital in today’s increasingly unsafe business environment. We make sure our clients are able to:
Handle departing employees appropriately: Unfortunately, departing employees pose a huge risk to your organization. That’s why it’s important to ensure proper access control measures are in place to keep track of who’s able to access that information. It’s also important to perform a complete wipe of all data on corporate-owned devices after they’ve left the company.
Keep hackers out of the network: We all know hackers are getting more and more sophisticated by the day. Installing the proper firewalls and anti-virus software is vital to keeping malicious programs away from your network. Educating your staff members is also crucial so they’re aware of the latest threats.
Properly maintain hardware and software: If your hardware and software aren’t properly up-to-date with the latest patches, it’s easy for cybercriminals to attack vulnerabilities or weak points waiting to be exploited. That’s why properly maintaining hardware and software in a proactive manner is necessary.
If you’re not confident that whoever handles your information technology is handling departing employees appropriately, keeping hackers out of your network, or properly maintaining your hardware and software, get in touch with us. We’ll perform an in-depth review to make sure you’re protecting your data properly.
In the meantime, feel free to download our handy data security tip sheet! It’s filled with simple, easy-to-follow tips that will help you AND your staff start protecting your data.
In honor of Data Privacy Day this year, why not take charge of protecting your data? Call {phone} or email us at {email} to talk about what {company} can do for you.
by Felicien | Jan 26, 2018 | Education
With every New Year comes the chance to reset priorities. Unfortunately, when the topic of implementing a data recovery plan comes up, the comment we most often hear is “I know I should, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet…”
So…what if the pilot on the next flight you’re on announces right after takeoff, “I know we should have run through our preflight checklist, but we haven’t gotten around to it yet…”???
Without a solid backup and recovery plan in place, just one mission-critical file that gets lost or stolen could put your company in a world of serious hurt. When you compare the high cost of replacement, repair, and recovery to the relatively trivial price of keeping good backups, the choice is an absolute no-brainer.
Why Disaster Recovery Planning Matters More Than You Think
Let’s face it; data is the nucleus of your business. That means that a single ransomware attack could wipe you out in a matter of minutes. Today’s cybercriminals are raking in literally billions of dollars (yes, billions) preying on the unwary, the poorly protected, and those who “haven’t gotten around to it yet”.
Let’s consider the facts… Ninety-seven percent of IT services providers surveyed by Datto, a data protection company, report that ransomware attacks on small businesses are becoming more frequent, and they expect that trend to continue. These attacks are taking place despite anti-virus and anti-malware measures in effect at the time of the attack.
Windows operating systems are most often infected, followed by MacOS. Cloud-based applications, particularly Dropbox, Office 365, and Google Apps, are also being targeted.
Ransom demands typically run between $500 and $2,000. About 10% of those, however, exceed $5,000. And even at that, paying a ransom demand is no guarantee that encrypted files will be released. For a typical SMB, downtime from ransomware can cost around $8,500 per hour and will take an average of 18.5 hours of the company’s time. That’s a hit to your bottom line somewhere in the neighborhood of $157,250. Yet in many cases, the ultimate cost has reached multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In a recent survey of 6,000 IT professionals by the Ponemon Institute, 86% of companies had one or more incidents causing downtime in the past 12 months. Typical downtime was 2.2 days, with an average cost of $366,363. And that’s just the average. Could your company survive that kind of hit? It’s no wonder that 81% of smaller businesses suffering such an attack close their doors within three years.
What’s behind these costly incidents? Here’s the breakdown of contributing factors:
Human error: 60%
Unexpected updates and patches: 56%
Fire, explosion or Natural Disaster: 36%
Power outages: 29%
Note that human error accounts for 60% of the breaches. It’s no wonder then that ransomware attacks are on the rise since they can be triggered by just one employee inadvertently clicking a bad link in an e-mail or on a social media site. Human behavior is hard to control. However, the #1 antidote for a ransomware attack is having a secure backup ready and waiting to replace encrypted files.
And when you scan through the rest of the list above, it becomes clear that, while you need to implement a comprehensive set of data security measures, having a solid and reliable data recovery plan in place and ready to go the moment disaster strikes is still your best defense.
Protect Your Company From A Knockout Blow In 2018
Cyber threats are proliferating, and are expected to grow throughout 2018 and beyond. Will this be the year you finally get your data backup and recovery plan DONE?
The choice is yours—exposure to a devastating loss… or rock-solid security. Let us help. Call us at {phone} or email {email} and let’s schedule a thorough Backup And Recovery Plan Audit for your company.
Do NOT wait until disaster strikes. Let’s make 2018 the year you finally get this DONE. Contact me TODAY so we can keep your company’s story from becoming yet another unfortunate statistic.
by Felicien | Jan 26, 2018 | Education
With Mardi Gras fast approaching, there will be a million people in New Orleans all looking for fun times, and good Internet connections. (Okay, maybe not all one million of them — but enough to keep you on your toes.) Using public WiFi safely during Mardi Gras will require using your common sense and following some basic rules.
Here are the top 5 ways to use public Wi-Fi safely during Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans:
1. Turn Off Wi-Fi When Not in Use
This is a must. Don’t stay connected to a network if you don’t need to. Turn off your Wi-Fi after completing your online activities. This is especially important when accessing public Wi-Fi. This includes your smartphone as well. Another plus? It will save your battery life.
2. Install Privacy-Protecting Browser Extensions
Secure your browser with tools designed to safeguard your privacy. Using antimalware only protects you from the items you download and execute. An adblocker like uBlock Origin can be customized to give you control over what you block, and when. Disconnect is another option to consider. This will protect you from same-network attacks like session hijacking and clickjacking. These have the potential to give cybercriminals access to things like your Facebook or Amazon accounts, even when you’re using a secure browser.
3. Use HTTPS Whenever Possible
You should only access sites that begin with HTTPS. This is a secure version of HTTP.
When you connect to secure sites, you can prevent people from looking at your communications and retrieving your confidential information.
4. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)
The best way to bypass untrusted networks is to only access encrypted ones. This means using a VPN when you’re out and about. Using one makes sure that all your data is encrypted between you and the service provider, locking out anyone using the same network as you who might be snooping around.
5. Bring Your Own Wi-Fi Instead
The “best” protection? – Never use an untrusted network. Access your private mobile hotspot, tethering to your smartphone via your wireless carrier’s data. These options ensure your browsing remains private.
So, there you have it. These are the top 5 ways to safely use public Wi-Fi during Mardi Gras we came up with. Stay safe out there, and have fun!
