[Newsbot]

Title: Shaw broke employment law with contract workers
Category: Business
Posted By: Regina
Date: 2013-03-12 07:52:18
Canadian

[Benn]

This is happening more and more and not just with Private sector. The city of Winnipeg is doing it as well. While not quite the same thing they have created a number of |Seperte Operating Agencies" to which they can pay lower wages and benefits, not have to worry about unionized staff etc. Yet these SOA employees are given City email's, stationary, marked city vehicles to do their work and have to operate within city designed rules and regulations. The only way you can tell an SOA employee from a regular city employee is by their paycheque. The SOA cannot provide services to anyone other than the city either. For example the Winnipeg Parking Authority can't offer its services to a private mall.

[bootlegga]

And to think I thought Shaw was a pretty good company - guess you learn something new everyday!

[martin14]

I'm surprised this isn't more common in Canada.. yet.

Yes it can save a lot of money for companies, people acting as contractors
can benefit too, when they know what they are doing.

[saturn_656]

bootlegga bootlegga:

8O

And to think I thought Shaw was a pretty good company - guess you learn something new everyday!

I find them a great company as far as their product and support goes. Light years beyond Bell unarguably (the only other game in town here). They've been my ISP for 5 or 6 years. I can count the times on one hand that service has gone down. One quick call to customer support is all it takes to fix it, and I can actually understand what their support staff are telling me. Good luck if you're on Bell and you get transferred to Bell Philippines or Bell Bangalore.

[BartSimpson]

Contractors can sometimes make more money than their full-time-employee counterparts. I know the times when I've been between jobs and available for gigs I've often made more money than before. Can't imagine that some folks up your way haven't done the same.

[Regina]

BartSimpson BartSimpson:

Contractors can sometimes make more money than their full-time-employee counterparts. I know the times when I've been between jobs and available for gigs I've often made more money than before. Can't imagine that some folks up your way haven't done the same.

I agree there are advantages to being a contractor but under the law, a worker is an employee if their earnings, schedule, duties and place of work are determined and controlled by the employer. Being a contractor should give you flexabilty to be independent yet this was just a way to save money. Shaw is a huge company and far from being poor. Shame on Shaw!

[Benn]

Certainly being an independent contractor has some advantages. But when it comes to money made you have to make sure you factor in lack of benefits, disability leave, guaranteed vacation time, pension payments, cost of materials and vehicles etc etc.and lets not forget job security. I'd not even look at it unless I was making at least 50% more in wages.

My MTS (Cable phone etc.) installer was independent and told me he loved it. He was a younger guy with no family yet. Said he loved setting his hours and making easy 25% more than actual MTS Techs. I talked a bit with him about it and he saves nothing for retirement, does not have Blue Cross, and has to pay 100% of his vehicle costs all with no grantee of work. Plus for some reason he could only work for MTS. Would not be a good deal to me, but he liked it, for now.

[DrCaleb]

bootlegga bootlegga:

8O

And to think I thought Shaw was a pretty good company - guess you learn something new everyday!

I haven't had an IT job in 10 years that wasn't 'contract'. And the new rules all apply to every job I have had. I contract through a third party, to my random numbered company and they control when and where I work, and what I work on.

I've been hoping that the rules would tighten so that this practce would stop. Sure, contractors earn more up front, but by the time we buy benefit packages like a regular employee has and counting the time we have to do our own accounting or pay someone to do it; we come out behind moneywise.

[CanadianJeff]

If this is the way Shaw plays ball then these folks should have been able to determine their own hours and rate of pay as "independents". This is just Shaw being dirty. Then again I'm sure if it ever reaches government we will be told that Shaw is just "too big to fail" or some other corporate apologetic nonsense lobbyists are being paid to pander for years.

[Thanos]

I don't know which contractors out there are allowed to set their own hours. I sure haven't. My daily schedule and activities are determined by whoever I've signed the contract with. And my rates are always negotiated. I've never once gone into a contract with a "pay me this or fuck you" attitude.

It seems with this one that Shaw found some grey area and exploited it for their own benefit. There's no way that these people shouldn't have been made aware of their daily/hourly rates or been gypped so badly on their overtime/backpay. If Shaw had followed the rules they would have saved more money than they're going to have to pay out once all these crooked "contracts" have been settled. Shit, none of this is that hard to figure out, especially not for an outfit like Shaw that one would assume has a big and experienced enough payroll and HR department to handle these things. 1) Establish pay rate and hours, 2) Contract employee submits time sheets, 3) Contract employee gets paid, 4) Lather/rinse/repeat twice a month or every second week or whatever.

Shaw customers will also get this on their invoices soon: "Due to government requirements that we not treat our workstaff like a bunch of dogs and idiots we will unfortunately have to raise the cost of your package of Shaw services". Yay?

[Zipperfish]

Sounds like they need a union over there at Shaw.