https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-health-care-aide-alcohol-nrha-1.5485281

The article discusses whether the Supreme Court of Canada wrongfully terminated a member of the Northern Manitoba health authority.

This legal battle began in 2011 where an employee of the Northern Regional Health Authority personal care home in Flin Flon signed an agreement to stop drinking. This was after facing a suspension for being drunk on the job. In 2012 the health care aid who was being seen drunk outside their workplace, was terminated.

The case was brought to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission. The commission ruled that the employee was discriminated against based on her alcoholism/alcohol use disorder. They agreed that the health authority failed to accommodate her addiction and instead decided to fire her.

This brings up the question; What is the difference between casual drinking, alcohol abuse and alcoholism?

Alcoholism is the dependence or addiction of alcohol while, Alcohol abuse is the pattern of binge drinking or drinking excessively.

There are many warning signs of alcoholism some include; drinking alone or in secrecy, making drinking a priority over all responsbilities and continuing to drink despite financial, health and family problems.

This verdict on this case has gone back and forth for years. “The health authority challenged the ruling, arguing the commission didn’t have the authority to wade into the issue at all, because the employee was a unionized worker” (Geary 2020).

While the use of unions is important I believe that the The Human Rights Commission should be open to all workers who feel mistreated or discriminated against as they deserve to have their voice heard.

There are many thoughts that are raised after reading this article:

Do you believe this woman was wrongfully terminated? I personally believe that alcoholism is a disorder and as time goes on work places should pay more attention to both mental disorders, eating disorders as well as substance abuse and the disorders that come along with them. In an ever evolving world it is the employers duty to support their staff rather than finding means to discriminate against them or terminate them.

I also feel as though this article would be richer and we would get a better undertstanding if they were able to get in contact with the victim. To hear someones personal struggle would also paint a better picture of if she was was wrongfully terminated or not.

I believe that after breaching the contract there should have been employer mandated rehabilitation or support groups in place with a three-strike system before giving the employee leave.

Lastly, I believe that the employers should be given access to the human rights commission is they are not feeling as though they are receiving representation or resources they need from their union. As it is most important to ensure that everyones treated with worth and dignity.

Having employees in Human Resources aware of the different disorders and how to deal with them would have helped this case to have been handled correctly rather than making it to the Supreme Court.

In this case specifically i feel as though it was the employers responsibility to value their workers more and provide them with instead of using alcohol abuse as grounds for firing an employee.

Sources:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-health-care-aide-alcohol-nrha-1.5485281

https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/alcohol-abuse/faq/am-i-an-alcoholic/#gref

https://www.verywellmind.com/alcohol-abuse-vs-alcohol-dependence-63101

In this blog I will be discussing the primary issue in question, should the federal minimum wage be increased to fifteen dollars an hour?  The minimum wage rate can be defined as the lowest hourly pay that can be awarded to workers. This is also sometimes called the pay floor.

When examining the wage issues in the United States, in theory a raise in the federal minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour would positively benefit the lower class or minimum wage workers. As many people throughout America work at support their families through waged work an increase in pay/hour will allow for people working minimum wage jobs to better support themselves and their families.

That being said, the current federal minimum wage in the United States is approximately $7.25, raising it to 15 dollars would be nearly doubling the fees of workers. This would cause a relatively large loss of jobs for those who are at the lower end of the wage spectrum, as large corporations will not be able to/willing to employ the same number of employees paying double the amount in salary. This loss in jobs would hit young adults and students the hardest.

According to the United States’ congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 2009 establishing that non tipped employees are paid roughly seven dollars. Although President Barrack Obama proposed the increase of a federal minimum wage in 2014 from $7.25 to $10.10. He claimed that this wage increase would not reduce the number of available jobs while still improving the economy in the United States, the government did not budge on this move.

An opposing viewpoint challenges this proposition by stating that the wage increase would put nearly 500,000 people out of work, as seen in the report from the Congressional Budget Office.

The FLSA also known as the Fair Labor Standards Act determines the minimum wage for the employees in both the public and private sectors. There is a varying minimum wage rate between the United States while many states like Wisconsin and Wyoming choose to follow the federal minimum wage rate states such as Arizona, California and Washington pay anywhere from $12.00 to $13.50. Approximately 29 out of the 50 states in America have a higher minimum wage than the federal rate.

The Democratic party believes in battling to raise the minimum wage to $15 but a centrist bill that institutes regional minimum wage stands as a roadblock. The United States’ Senate is Republican controlled.

I believe that prior to introducing a jump in wages that is nearly double what it is today, a slower steadier increase would be much more beneficial to the job market and will pass better in senate. If following Obama’s proposal have the federal minimum wage to around ten dollars by 2022 and then have a goal by 2025 for it to reach 15 dollars. This would allow analysists to examine how the increase in wages is affecting the economy and the job market before committing to a 15-dollar wage.

References: https://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/federal-minimum-wage-research/

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/2018-19-federal-state-minimum-wage-rates-2061043

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Labor_Standards_Act_of_1938

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.

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• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
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• 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.