MANSOOR HASSAN KHAN

Strategies to Manage Labor Surpluses

Voluntary Severance and Leaves of Absence

The Voluntary Leave of Absence Program (VLOA) allows permanent employees (except those on probation) to
apply for unpaid leave without impact to the benefits and vacation entitlements that they currently receive. Union
seniority is adjusted according to the number of days taken and in accordance with the provisions of the respective
collective agreements. Permanent full-time employees are eligible to apply for up to 20 unpaid days and permanent
part-time employees can apply for up to a maximum 10 unpaid days. The Voluntary Leave of Absence Program
(VLOA) allows permanent employees (except those on probation) to apply for unpaid leave without impact to the
benefits and vacation entitlements that they currently receive.

The program is an excellent option for anyone seeking time away from work in addition to their vacation days. It is
also an excellent way of using unpaid leave days for family or personal obligations or to help balance your working
life with your home life.

Example 1 - In 2011 the part-time employee worked 910 or half of the annual hours worked by a
full time employee [1820 hrs/yr], the employee is eligible for up 10 unpaid days.Example 2 – In
2011 the part-time employee work 1248 hours, the employee is still only eligible for up to 10
days.
Across-The-Board Pay Cuts

Cutting Salaries Instead of Jobs

Companies usually avoid reducing base pay for fear of demoralizing staff and
undermining productivity.Imagine this: Your employer says you're going to get a pay cut.
Short of quitting, what can you do? Is there any room to negotiate before accepting the reduction?
And how do you deal with the anxiety that comes with a smaller salary?Make a list of questions to
ask your manager. For example:

How long will the reduction in compensation last?

Will the decrease adversely affect any of your benefits?

Will the decrease be across the board or just within certain departments?

When will the reduction take effect? 

Another point to investigate is whether bonuses will be affected?

Reducing Outsourced Work

In order to reduce outsourcing , what is needed is reduced or eliminated government interference and
punitive regulations and lower taxation. Recently
outsourcing has become big news because white-
collar jobs in areas such as telecommunications and information technology have been
outsourced to foreign workers. American workers with high-paying easy jobs have had the
proverbial rug pulled out from beneath them and are crying foul, far and wide. It is quite
natural that they would not be interested in the economic fact that such outsourcing is vital to
the economy and their own long-run economic interest. Outsourcing, both foreign and
domestic, is crucial not only for saving current jobs, but also for new job creation. By outlawing
or restricting the outsourcing of jobs to cheap foreign labor you would greatly discourage the
establishment of new jobs and encourage current employers to move overseas.

Employee Training

Typical Reasons for Employee Training and Development

Training and development can be initiated for a variety of reasons for an employee or group
of employees, e.g.,:

When a performance appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed

To "benchmark" the status of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort

As part of an overall professional development program

As part of succession planning to help an employee be eligible for a planned change in role
in the organization

To "pilot", or test, the operation of a new performance management system

To train about a specific topic.

Typical Topics of Employee Training

Communications: The increasing diversity of today's workforce brings a wide variety of
languages and customs.

Computer skills: Computer skills are becoming a necessity for conducting administrative and
office tasks.

Customer service: Increased competition in today's global marketplace makes it critical that

employees understand and meet the needs of customers.

Diversity: Diversity training usually includes explanation about how people have different
perspectives and views, and includes techniques to value diversity

Ethics: Today's society has increasing expectations about corporate social responsibility.

Also, today's diverse workforce brings a wide variety of values and morals to the workplace.

Human relations: The increased stresses of today's workplace can include

misunderstandings and conflict. Training can people to get along in the workplace.

Quality initiatives: Initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Quality Circles,

benchmarking, etc., require basic training about quality concepts, guidelines and standards.

MANSOOR HASSAN KHAN