Friday March 19th, 2021 Newsletter

More small businesses compliant with COVID-19 regulations The Ontario government is seeing a greater number of small businesses complying with COVID-19 safety requirements. During follow-up visits for educational workplace safety campaigns, provincial offences officers found that approximately 73 per cent of businesses were in compliance with public health measures and compliance increased by 20 per cent. Workplace inspections continue to focus on educating small businesses across the province to help them reopen safely. Where needed, follow-up visits were conducted with a focus on enforcement. Follow-up visits are currently taking place in Eastern Ontario, Durham Region and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, and are scheduled for York Region, Waterloo Region and Windsor-Essex. Businesses can access free training and assistance, including the workplace safety plan toolkit, live webinars on how to operate a business safely and comply with COVID-19 health and safety requirements, and a 30-minute online course on infection prevention and control provided by the Public Services Health and Safety Association. Assistance and support for small businesses is available from the Provincial Employment Standards Information Centre and Occupational Health and Safety Contact Centre.

Staying Mindful When You’re Working Remotely, Alyson Meister, Amanda Sinclair, Harvard Business Review It’s no surprise that online work is depleting our energy and resilience. The evidence shows that many of us are working longer hours, suffering chronic stress, and burning out at levels the world has never witnessed. At the same time, we’re longing for and losing our social connections and sometimes experiencing profound loneliness and grief in solitude. To regain energy, find renewed pleasure in our work, and truly connect with colleagues and friends, we need to find ways to block out the noise in our virtual reality. One way we can do that is through cultivating mindfulness — online. Mindfulness is the choice we make to be present in the here and now: This moment, in this meeting, with this person or group of people. Research shows that most activities of our working lives, from working on an independent task to team meetings and one on ones, benefit from being conducted with mindfulness. By pausing, checking in with others, or starting meetings with a few moments of meditation or reflection, stress levels drop and we feel more connected to our purpose and to others in the room. We listen better and feel happier. But how can we be mindful in an online working world? How can we be truly present for others when we couldn’t be (physically) farther from one another?

Niagara Region seeks residents to sit on new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee Niagara Region is seeking interested community members to join its newly approved Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. Approved in early 2021, the committee will play an important role in carrying out Regional Council’s commitment to making Niagara a more diverse and welcoming community. Members will work with Regional and municipal staff and the Niagara community to provide Regional Council with recommendations to address bias, racism, and discrimination, and promote understanding and inclusion. The committee will include 10 members of the public and one Regional Councillor. The Region is particularly seeking residents from across Niagara who represent the growing linguistic, racial, cultural, sexual and spiritual diversity of our community, including: Indigenous individuals People of colour and members of racialized communities Francophones New immigrants Members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community Individuals with disabilities Seniors Individuals living with low income or experiencing homelessness Post-secondary students and youth Members of various religious communities People of all genders Interested residents can ap​ply online for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee until 4 p.m. on Friday, April 9, 2021.

Employment Insurance (EI) program reforms receive royal assent The Government of Canada put forward legislation to increase the maximum number of weeks available to workers through EI regular benefits. Last night, this legislation, Bill C-24, received Royal Assent. Workers claiming EI regular benefits can now access up to a maximum of 50 weeks for claims established between September 27, 2020 to September 25, 2021. In addition, self-employed workers who have opted in to the EI program to access special benefits are now able to use a 2020 earnings threshold of $5,000, compared to the previous threshold of $7,555. This change is retroactive for claims established as of January 3, 2021 and applies until September 25, 2021. In addition to Bill C-24, new regulations to increase the number of weeks available under the Canada Recovery Benefits have come into effect. This includes an increase in the number of weeks available under the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) by 12 weeks, extending the maximum duration of the benefits from 26 weeks to 38 weeks. It also includes an increase in the number of weeks available under the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB) from 2 weeks to 4 weeks. Individuals can access these additional weeks through the Canada Revenue Agency beginning on March 18, 2021.