Running a Business----Canada vs USA differences in business practices
 

My friends say that running a business in Vancouver is different than in the States due to increased employee rights. They say that if you get a sour employee with a bad attitude, they are harder to get rid of in Canada and that the employees, in general, think they are on equal footing with the owners in terms of operating authority of the business. This can lead to frustration for USA business people opening shop in Canada.:(

Yes/No? Good/Bad?

Any other differences to consider?

if you are in the USA and paying your employees medical premiums, then you can treat them like crap and they wont quit...in Canada, that wont work...

Ive never heard of anything like that and ive been running an office here for 5 years now (vancouver). Granted my setup isnt the norm and the way ive structured and managed my company leaves room for a book to be written based on my inter-office operations which would be taught for centuries in business schools lol

My ethics say no matter what country youre in, treat employees AS equals and value their opinions, input and work. a company is nothing with it's employees so they should always be treated with respect and shown appreciation for their work.

In any case, if you have a shitty employee with a bad attitude it doesnt mean you need to speak down to them, yell at them or degrade them... sit them down as an equal and talk to them about it... explain the problem and why and ask whats causing the problems for them and try solving it with them. If nothing changes and they are a shit employee, then you can sit them down again, explain the position theyve put you in by not changing anything since your last discussion and tell them that unfortunately you have to let them go, but you'll be happy to write them a letter of recommendation... tell them that they obviously arent happy within your company, and their happiness is whats most important, and so you want them to find a place they can be happy.

Pretty hard for someone to kick up a stink about that.... especially if you record both conversations for security purposes lol