With a school day due to the solar eclipse, you might as well have employees and their children in the office. The Quebec specialist in flight simulators and training CAE has put in place everything necessary to witness the phenomenon.
“We ordered 1,000 pairs of glasses and they were completely distributed,” said Samantha Golinski, vice-president of public affairs and global communications at CAE, in a telephone interview.
More than a thousand people participated in the gathering organized by the multinational at its facilities located in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent. The facility’s cafeteria hosted a presentation on the phenomenon, followed by safety explanations – primarily when to wear eclipse glasses and when to remove them.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CAE
CAE employees watch the eclipse near the company’s offices in Montreal.
It was the park located a stone’s throw from the CAE complex – and which belongs to the company – which served as a gathering place for the employees present.
“The families who moved, they could have experienced this moment alone in their courtyard,” said M.me Golinski. We are really proud and happy to have created a moment of gathering to experience it as a team. The CAE health and safety team was on site at the park just in case. »
“We often look for these moments of activity, of team building : there, it was offered to us on a silver platter,” analyzes Manon Poirier, general director of the Order of approved human resources advisors of Quebec. Many companies had organized an event, activities, bought glasses for everyone, a snack, etc.
According to the president of the Order, as happened at CAE, most employers had planned for Monday afternoon. Few worried about a loss of productivity.
People are expected to perform their work within the given latitude. We give the person autonomy and confidence,” she adds.
Manon Poirier, general director of the Order of Certified Human Resources Advisors of Quebec
At CAE, many employees can adjust their schedule to telework. There were therefore no particular constraints and requests for company employees with children who found themselves on school leave.
According to Manon Poirier, even in these situations, the eclipse should not have caused any problems for businesses, quite the contrary. Employees exchanged photos of themselves with their glasses. “It’s a unifying moment that we have all just experienced collectively,” explains Manon Poirier, contacted late Monday afternoon.
In Valcourt, in Estrie, BRP decided to light up its factory to give its employees the opportunity to take some time to watch the eclipse. Some 2,000 people assemble snowmobiles and three-wheeled motorcycles in this factory.
“We were waiting to know the state of our production and the weather conditions,” emphasizes Émilie Proulx, spokesperson for BRP. This morning, we agreed to release our factory employees from 2:30 p.m. so that they can participate in the event with their loved ones. For office workers, participation was either from home or from work. »
Forgiving retailers
In the 10 Sports Experts stores owned by Paul-André Goulet, employees did not request more leave than usual. “On the other hand, I asked my directors to be lenient and tolerant during the eclipse,” indicated Mr. Goulet, a few hours before the start of the eclipse. The watchword: allow employees who want to admire the show outside to do so “without being hassled”. “Obviously, common sense prevails,” he adds. Employees also didn’t have the green light to spend two hours outside looking at the sky.
Same scenario for Groupe Marie Claire. The retailer, which brings together the brands Marie Claire Boutiques, Grenier, Claire France, San Francisco, Livøm and Dans un Jardin, also intended to allow its employees to leave the floor to admire the show, assured the president of the company, Sylvain Lafrance.
Although he did not have any special requests from his employees, Dominique Bélanger, owner of Quincaillerie C. Bélanger, feared, shortly before the eclipse, that the store would be empty… of customers between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. “ [Ça sera suivi] of a rush afterwards, like after storms or intermittent rains. »
At Mouvement Desjardins, whose 669 service centers cover most of inhabited Quebec and part of Ontario, nothing special was put in place for the event which affected a significant, but unspecified, number of people. establishments in the total eclipse zone.
“We ask managers to show flexibility – schools closed, business travel – towards employees,” its spokesperson Chantal Corbeil told us.
However, the branches had to remain open. The majority of employees have a hybrid work mode, most often three days teleworking and two days in the office.
“They can therefore plan their week around this unique event without having an impact on their productivity,” she said.
Only cashiers are in 100% face-to-face mode.