– January 2018 CRA Ontario Newsletter –

– Presidents Message – 

Happy New Years to all!

As we enter another brand new year we look forward to an upcoming year of endless new opportunities in this amazing industry we are all a part of.

For most of us it is a slower time of the year ,which is a great time to reflect upon past the past year. What has worked well, what has not worked so well and what can be done to improve our systems and processes for the coming year. Thanks to today’s technology it is quite easy to fire up our computers and look at past revenue generated, or missed rentals on a particular piece/s of equipment making the decision making process to add inventory to your fleet much easier.

We have several exciting  events coming up this year, the ARA Show in New Orleans in February and the Rental Mart in March in Toronto to name a few. Both are great events with fantastic networking opportunities with your suppliers and fellow peers. The Rental Mart has some new training events and some world class speakers on stage , followed by an evening of entertainment after the show which promises to make a packed day with education and fun you will not want to miss out on! So get registered today before the seats are all gone!

In April we have an election for our CRA Ontario executive board. If you are anyone in your organization has an interest in running for a seat, I highly encourage you to speak to someone on the board for more information. I can truly testify that what you learn, the networking and the friends you make, more than compensate for the time you put in.

We hope to see you all in sunny New Orleans!

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The Rental Show 2018 is almost here. Don’t miss out!

The Rental Show® is a little more than a month away. If you haven’t already registered, do it now.

Why? Take a look at what you can’t afford to miss:

• A full day of high-energy education.
• More than 700 exhibitors on the trade show floor, with hundreds of Show-Only Specials.
• Premium networking events that connect you with peers from around the world.
• The keynote address featuring the Scott Brothers, Jonathan and Drew, stars of “Property Brothers” on HGTV.
• Canadian Rental Association events, from the hospitality event to the general meeting.

If that isn’t enough, go for purely selfish reasons, says Doron Broadfoot, president of The Rent-It Store in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Broadfoot has been attending The Rental Show for years. “Initially, we went to Show to see new products and purchase new products at the best prices we could find,” he says.

While that is still important, “the education and networking portions of the Show are now of more paramount importance to us. Things in our industry are changing so fast. With social media and so much of business conducted in that way now, the seminars that ARA provides on this and other topics have helped us tremendously. The whole gamut of topics that ARA presents, from human resources to new business methodology and financial tracking, they are so important. We make sure we cover as many topics as we can. We go to get something for our business. I admit that these are purely selfish reasons, but that is why everyone should go. If you don’t go, it is like sticking your head in the sand, oblivious to what it is going on around you. This Show gives you a place to see all that is relevant and new in our industry. There is no better venue anywhere,” he says.

So, be selfish — for yourself and your business. Sign up now at TheRentalShow.com/Register for full or exhibits only registration. Just go so you don’t miss out.

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5 Things Your Rental Business Should Do Now To Prepare for a Winter Disaster

By Diane Gouge, GAL Power

It was 20 years ago this past December that a crippling ice storm rendered Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec powerless for weeks.  It had cities like Ottawa and Montreal declare states of emergency and left thousands of people and businesses without not only power, but heat and other essentials.  Fast forward to December 22, 2013, and the Greater Toronto Area had its own crippling ice storm with over a quarter of a million people and businesses again without power and heat, many for weeks.

If there’s one thing that we should learn from these events and others that we hear about daily in the news, it is to be more proactive, so we are not caught off-guard when a winter disaster strikes.  Lessons from these ice storms alone have endured years later and knowing how to plan for longer recovery periods for your business is essential when hours stretch into days or weeks.

If you haven’t already done so, you can begin by putting a basic plan together and following some of the tips below to ensure your business is prepared and will still be “open for business” when your customers need you!

Review Your Insurance Policy

Review your insurance coverage to see if there are any areas that may need attention.  These could include areas that have been omitted in coverage or even the value of your equipment that need to be adjusted. Make sure that you have a copy of your policy in a secure location that is easily accessible in the event of a disaster.  It is also important to ensure that you have the phone number to contact your insurance company in the event you need to begin the claim process.

Have an Emergency Fund or Look at Business Continuity Coverage

Often in emergencies, you need to be sure you can get money for expenses to tide you over should your business operations be interrupted.  Ensure that you have an emergency fund or business interruption coverage for additional expenses that are sure to rise when a disaster strikes as insurance funds are often not paid out until well after the crisis is over.

Inventory Valuable Equipment

It’s always good to have an up to date inventory list of all your equipment, but it is especially important to inventory your most valuable equipment and have photos taken of this equipment.  It is just as important to take photos of the outside of your building and internal main areas of your building so that you have both before and after images once a disaster has occurred.  This helps to streamline the insurance process and can help your business keep track of what areas to focus on first for repairs, etc.

Protect Against the Cold Weather

Be Proactive!  Cover exposed piping so that you can prevent things like burst pipes.  (This can help immensely if you lose heat and power.)  Maintain your roof to ensure that you do not have heavy rooftop snow loads.  Keep trees trimmed and remove branches close to your business to minimize the risk of damage from high winds and storms.  Ensure drainage areas are kept clear for melting snow to drain away from your building to mitigate flooding issues and always store important business papers at least 3 feet from ground level. If you have a back-up generator, ensure it is properly maintained, so when you need it, you will have power.

Have a Contingency Plan

This is a must!  Your plan should include where you could set up a temporary shop, get additional equipment, get power or heat if needed and where employees can work from if a disaster strikes so that you can continue to run your business.  Keep in mind that this could also include employees working from their homes or setting up a back up location for everyone to work from.  It is also critical to have access to any of your key systems that you need to run your business which may include software and computer systems and data that you can access that is stored on a cloud or remotely.  More importantly, ensure your employees are aware of what the plan entails and can execute it.

According to FEMA, almost 40 percent of small businesses never reopen their doors after a disaster and recent data from a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey also shows that most small business owners don’t think about the environment as a critical factor. (CNBC, 2017)

One thing is for sure, survival of your business is key and there are a lot of people that depend on it. If disaster does strike and you are prepared, you will have a much better chance that your business will not be posting an “out of business” sign.

Reference:

Morris, Chris. “Hurricane Alert: Why 40 Percent of Small Businesses Never Recover from a Disaster.” CNBC, CNBC, 18 Sept. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/09/16/hurricane-watch-40-percent-of-small-businesses-dont-reopen-after-a-disaster.html.

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– April 2018 Members’ Meeting – 

CRA Ontario Members Meeting will be hosted at Crown Verity in Brantford. Take this opportunity to see this industry leader behind the scenes and mingle with your fellow association members!

Registration form can be found here. Register early and don’t miss out!

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Personal Emergency Leave – What you need to know

On January 1^st, 2018, Bill 148, The Fair Workplace and Better Jobs Act 2017 came into effect in Ontario.  Most of us are familiar with the minimum wage provisions of the act but in addition to minimum wage increases there are a number of other things employers should be aware of, including new requirements for personal emergency leave.  We sat down with Peter Bonish, Pete’s Rentall, and CRA Ontario Secretary to discuss some of the things you need to know.

[CRA] What is Personal Emergency Leave?

[Pete] Personal Emergency Leave is a total of ten days of protected leave from work in each calendar year.  This applies to both full-time and part-time employees

[CRA] Is Personal Emergency Leave Paid?

[Pete] Of those ten days the first two days of leave are paid.  However the employee must have worked a minimum of one week to qualify for those two days of paid leave.

[CRA] Does Personal Emergency leave Accumulate each year?

[Pete] Personal emergency leave does not accumulate, instead it resets each calendar year to ten days.  Hire date does not affect personal emergency leave, an employee hired in December is entitled to ten days, and when January first arrives they will have another ten days available for that calendar year.

[CRA] What can Personal Emergency Leave be used for?

[Pete] An employee may take the leave for illness, injury, medical emergency or for an urgent matter.  The employer cannot ask the employee to provide a doctor’s note when they take the personal emergency leave.  Personal Emergency Leave does not have to be for a full day.  If an employee takes a personal emergency leave for half a day, or a third of a day, it can be counted for one of the ten days of leave.  Personal emergency leave may also be taken in groupings of days or even all ten days at once.

[CRA] What is an “Urgent Matter?” 

[Pete] An urgent matter is an event that is unplanned or out of the employee’s control, and can cause serious negative consequences, including emotional harm, if not responded to by the employee.

[CRA] How is the pay calculated?

[Pete] Depending on the method of compensation, the calculation of pay for the first two days of personal emergency leave will differ, for example a person paid an hourly wage is calculated by the number of hours they did not work during the missed shift.

[CRA] How does this effect Public Holiday Pay?

[Pete] The “last before, first after” rule still applies to public holiday pay, however if an employee takes a personal emergency leave prior to, or immediately after the statutory holiday then they still qualify for public holiday pay, because personal emergency leave will be considered a reasonable cause for missing the scheduled shift.

[CRA] What notice does an employee have to provide the employer?

[Pete] When the employee is taking personal emergency leave they should contact the employer prior to the start of the leave.  However, if it is not possible to do so then they may still take the leave and inform the employer as soon as possible.

[CRA] That’s a lot to digest in a shot period, where can I go to find more information?

[Pete] There are many other rules and conditions that apply to personal emergency leave and this article is meant to help make you aware of the new leave that your employees have available to them.

This brief review of personal emergency leave has been sourced from: https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/personal-emergency-leave .  I would recommend that anyone involved with employee scheduling, attendance and/or pay take the time to review the guide that has been released by the Ontario government.

[i]                       Government of Ontario, Your Guide to the Employment Standards Act, Updated January 2^nd 2018, Queen’s Printer for Ontario 2012-18,    https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0

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The Rental Show 2018 is almost here. Don’t miss out!

The Rental Show® is a little less than a month away. If you haven’t already registered, do it now.

Why? Take a look at what you can’t afford to miss:

• A full day of high-energy education.
• More than 700 exhibitors on the trade show floor, with hundreds of Show-Only Specials.
• Premium networking events that connect you with peers from around the world.
• The keynote address featuring the Scott Brothers, Jonathan and Drew, stars of “Property Brothers” on HGTV.
• Canadian Rental Association events, from the hospitality event to the general meeting.

If that isn’t enough, go for purely selfish reasons, says Doron Broadfoot, president of The Rent-It Store in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Broadfoot has been attending The Rental Show for years. “Initially, we went to Show to see new products and purchase new products at the best prices we could find,” he says.

While that is still important, “the education and networking portions of the Show are now of more paramount importance to us. Things in our industry are changing so fast. With social media and so much of business conducted in that way now, the seminars that ARA provides on this and other topics have helped us tremendously. The whole gamut of topics that ARA presents, from human resources to new business methodology and financial tracking, they are so important. We make sure we cover as many topics as we can. We go to get something for our business. I admit that these are purely selfish reasons, but that is why everyone should go. If you don’t go, it is like sticking your head in the sand, oblivious to what it is going on around you. This Show gives you a place to see all that is relevant and new in our industry. There is no better venue anywhere,” he says.

So, be selfish — for yourself and your business. Sign up now at TheRentalShow.com/Register for full or exhibits only registration. Just go so you don’t miss out.

 

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