On March 20, 2020, the union representing Air Canada’s flight attendants has announced that they will be temporarily laying off over 5,000 workers due to the coronavirus pandemic, as travel has been limited. This layoff includes approximately 3,600 Air Canada members and all 1,549 Air Canada Rouge members (CTV NEWS, 2020). Effective immediately, the layoffs will last at least through April, “this has been the most challenging time any of us will likely ever experience as flight attendants” said Wesley Lesosky, Air Canada Component of CUPE (CTV NEWS, 2020). He goes on by stating that “our members have been on the front lines of this crisis since day 1, and it has been a tough journey ever since. Our hearts go out to all of our members, especially those who fell sick while doing their job”. Air Canada mentioned that they do not have a final count on the number of pilots, flight attendants, technical and cargo workers and customer service agents that will be affected. However, CUPE stated that Air Canada members that are being laid-off will be able to collect employment insurance and access benefits till mid-April. (CTV NEWS, 2020). As part of the Canadian Government’s economic response plan due to the events of COVID-19, they are establishing Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), that will give Canadians a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month for four months (Government of Canada, 2020). After their employee benefits are done in mid-April, Air Canada workers will begin receiving CERB, which will greatly be affecting all employees. Many Canadian employees have expressed their concerns all over social media stating that many of them are living pay-cheque to pay-cheque and that this amount of money will not be sufficient in helping them pay their bills, buy groceries, and be able to afford their families’ needs. I believe that the Canadian government should consider the fact that not every employee at Air Canada earns the same salary, lives on their own or has a family, and that all employees are in different age brackets. The government should pay employees based on the elements aforementioned by creating a chart that lists every employees’ average salary, whether they have children or not, and whether they live in a home or an apartment. Not all Canadians are able to live-off $2000 a month, especially if they have a whole family to sustain. Furthermore, the government should keep into consideration whether some workers have children above the age of 18 who will not be needing child-benefit tax and are able to have their own jobs and afford their own lives. The CERB is a flawed system since it does not keep in mind all the different circumstances presented to them, and they should be listening to the complaints occurring on social media. This pandemic has caused many people stress and anxiety within their lives especially since they have no idea how long they will be laid-off for. 

CTV News. Air Canada lays off more than 5,000 flight attendants amid COVID-19 pandemic, 2020. 

Government of Canada. Government introduces Canada Emergency Response Benefit to help workers and businesses, 2020.

The article I have chosen is titled “Workplace mental health programs deliver healthier bottom lines”. Written by Brandie Weikle, the article discusses how a new analysis from Deloitte Insights found that “for every $1 invested in workplace mental health, the median yearly return was $1.62, a figure that rises to $2.18 for programs that have been in place for three or years or more” (Weikle, 2019). After examining 10 Canadian companies that have implemented mental health initiatives, they have discovered that more than 500,000 Canadian employees per week call in sick to work due to mental health issues, essentially causing a loss in productivity and negatively affecting the companies they work for (Weikle, 2019). According to research by Deloitte, “the estimated economic cost of poor mental health in Canadian workplaces is $50 billion annually” which does not include the added $6.3 billion due to losing productivity in the workplace (Weikle, 2019). Sarah Champan, director of Deloitte’s sustainability and social impact advisory practice, stated that even though the stigma around mental health has gone down, businesses should keep incorporating mental wellness programs because not only do they help employees, but they are good for business too (Weikle, 2019). Deloitte’s research revealed that corporations and their workers perform to the best of their abilities when they chose to invest their money in programs that promote good mental wellness instead of just providing these resources to treat their issues when they arise (Weikle, 2019). These programs can help alleviate stress by encouraging employees around the office to begin meditating and exercising (Weikle, 2019). According to Healthline, meditation helps in reducing stress, controlling anxiety, improving self-awareness, increasing attention span, improving sleep, decreasing blood pressure, and generating kindness (Healthline, 2017). Furthermore, Chapman suggested that providing a workshop related to helping identify mental health issues before they worsen is a great way to improve mental wellness in employees (Weikle, 2019). Additionally, workplaces should also include ‘return-to-work’ policies to make sure that those who have been absent due to mental health related problems are able to return and eventually build their full-time hours (Weikle, 2019). Companies should use data to establish a baseline in order to track their progress and figure out whether or not investing in mental health programs are having a positive impact (Weikle, 2019). In order to do so, companies should: track the amount of short- and long-term health-related claims, track employee participation in these new initiatives, track the number of people who have been trained in preventing mental health, and conduct surveys for employee feedback (Weikle, 2019). In 2013, the Canadian government released a framework called “The National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace”, which seeks to help companies encourage mental wellness and prevent any psychological harm in the workforce (Weikle, 2019). Sevuan Palvetzian, CEO of CivicAction, stated that “we need to appreciate that people aren’t just employees. They are also sons, mothers, sisters, children and our mental health travels with us wherever we go” (Weikle, 2019).  

Thrope, M., 12 Science-Based Benefits of Meditation, Healthline, 2017. 

Weikle, B., Workplace Mental Health Programs Deliver Healthier Bottom Lines, CBC News, 2019. 

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.