Weekly Work Report December 11, 2006

These highlights of the week's HR/IR news are prepared by the Librarians at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources for our subscribers, alumni, faculty and students, and are intended for their individual use only. Please visit the CIRHR website for terms of use and information about organizational subscriptions. This message is composed in MS Outlook Express and contains hyperlinks that require an HTML-enabled email program.

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AMENDMENTS TO ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS CODE PASSED: A vote in the Ontario legislature on December 5 has brought an end to the controversial process of amending Ontario's Human Rights Code, begun when the Attorney General introduced Bill 107 on April 26th, 2006 . While most agreed that Ontario 's system needed reform and welcomed the creation of an anti-racism secretariat and a disability rights secretariat at the Ontario Human Rights Commission, stakeholders, including the Ontario Human Rights Commissioner, expressed concern about the changes that call for citizens to go directly to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal with their complaints. The controversial legislation was made even more controversial when the government invoked closure on third Reading debate -- the vote on December 5 passed the bill by a margin of 58 to 29. No date has been set for Royal Assent.

LINKS:

Archive of documents, including the text of Bill 107 and submissions to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy, at the Ontario Legislative Library website at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/bills/382/107382.htm

“Why liberals chose to win ugly on rights bill,” in the Toronto Star (Dec. 4) at: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1165157410255

Defend Human Rights website at: http://www.defendhumanrights.org/index.htm

Ontario Human Rights Tribunal website at http://www.hrto.ca/ and Ontario Human Rights Commission website at: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/index.shtml

CALL FOR REGULATION OF EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES IN ONTARIO: A private member's bill, proposing a licensing system that will regulate employment agencies passed second reading on December 7 and will go to committee for further discussion. According to Statistics Canada about 13%, or 1.7 million workers, in Canada are classified as temporary and one in five new hires is a temporary worker. There are approximately 1,300 employment agencies in Ontario . This private members bill is a response to reported abuses by employment agencies.

Currently the only body that watches over employment agencies is the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services (ACSESS) whose mandate is to represent all facets of the employment, recruitment and staffing services industry by promoting best business practices, and adherence to all applicable employment legislation and regulations, but membership is voluntary. ACSESS at: http://www.acsess.org/ABOUT/default.asp

LINKS:

Bill 161, Protecting Vulnerable Workers Act (Employment Agencies), 2006

View First Reading November 22 (8 pages, PDF) at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/documents/Bills/38_Parliament/session2/b161.pdf

Ontario Legislative Assembly, Debates and Progress at: http://www.ontla.on.ca/library/bills/382/161382.htm

“Mpps target ‘temp' boom,” by Rita Daly, in the Toronto Star , December 8 at:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1165531811111

REMINDERS: January 1, 2007 : New Brunswick minimum wage increases. The minimum wage will increase to $7 per hour on Jan. 1, 2007, up from the current $6.70 per hour. The minimum wage will increase to $7.25 per hour on July 1, 2007.

See: http://www.gnb.ca/0308/FactSheets/03c.pdf

January 1, 2007 : Newfoundland and Labrador Minimum Wage Increase of 25 cent per hour will bring the minimum wage up to $7.00 per hour.

See: http://www.hrle.gov.nl.ca/lra/labourstandards/faq.htm

RETIREMENT: The Ontario “Ending Mandatory Retirement Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005,” comes into effect on, December 12, 2006. Articles of interest follow:

To determine if HR professionals are prepared and support the change in legislation related to mandatory retirement the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario did an on-line survey of 173 human resources professionals in Ontario in November 2006.

End of mandatory retirement survey summary (3pages HTML) at the HRPAO website: http://www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/Retirement.htm

Ontarians now have the right to choose when to retire : People Will No Longer Be Forced To Leave Their Jobs At 65 , Ontario Ministry of Labour, Dec. 11, press release at: http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/news/2006/06-126.html

“Hard at work, even in retirement,” by Tavia Grant in the Globe & Mail (December 11)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061211.wretirement1211/BNStory/Business/home

BMO Retirement Trends Study Overview (6 pages, PDF) at: http://www.bmonesbittburns.com/personalinvest/retirementyourway/pdf/Retirement_Trend_Study_EN.pdf

“If you work in retirement, are you still retired? Fidelity survey finds Canadian baby boomers want to retire early and... then keep working,” (3 pages HTML) at CNW Group website:

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/December2006/11/c5502.html

AGING WELL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: A Premier's Council report released December 1, states that a new view of aging and of the role of older people in the province Is necessary. A key recommendation of the report is that the B.C. government immediately change the Human Rights Code to extend human rights protections to those over the age of 65, thereby eliminating mandatory retirement in B.C.

LINKS:

Report Summary – Aging Well in British Columbia, (5 pages HTML) at: http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/seniors/council/summary.htm#Transforming_work

Complete report: Aging Well in British Columbia, (100 pages PDF) at: http://www.cserv.gov.bc.ca/seniors/council/docs/Aging_Well_in_BC.pdf

DIVERSITY IN CANADIAN ORGANIZATIONS: The first edition of a biennial report from the Conference Board of Canada, released on December 8, discusses the results of a survey on diversity related policies and practices in Canadian organizations. The survey found that most organizations have not achieved representation rates that match or exceed Canadian labour force availability rates for the four designated groups—aboriginal people, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and women—identified in the Employment Equity Act. The report also found that for organizations that have diversity policies and programs, there is room for improvement in the strategies used to identify, retain and develop a diverse workforce, and in the way these strategies are linked to performance outcomes and success.

LINKS:

Report on Diversity: Priorities, Practices and Performance in Canadian Organizations (43 pages PDF) at the Conference Board's e-Library at: http://www.conferenceboard.ca/boardwiseii/temp/BoardWise2GIKILNABCLLFMLJPPPJJABFE200612111211/067-07-Diversity%20Outlook%202006-web.pdf

“Nice talk but little action on diversity, Conference Board contends,” by Virginia Galt in the Globe & Mail , (December 8) at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/freeheadlines/LAC/20061208/CADIVERSITY08/business/ROB_Managing

WORK AND HEALTH OF NURSES SURVEY: Released by Statistics Canada on December 11, this is the first nationally representative survey to focus on the working conditions and health of Canada's nurses. Registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, and licensed practical nurses in all provinces and territories shared their perceptions on: workload, working overtime, adverse events such as medication errors and patient falls, support and respect from co-workers and supervisors, staffing adequacy, working relations with physicians, and their own experience of chronic diseases, injuries, and mental health. Data from the survey will provide a resource for researchers, health care providers, and policy makers.

LINKS:

The 2005 National Survey of the Work and Health of Nurses, Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 83-003-XIE (189 pages PDF) at: http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/83-003-XIE/83-003-XIE2006001.pdf

“Stress and job strain higher for nurses,” by Tenille Bonoguore in the Globe & Mail , (December 11) at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061211.wnurses1211/BNStory/National/home

PARENTS AND PRODUCTIVITY: Fathers and mothers are less productive on the job when they have concerns about what their children are doing in the after-school hours, according to a new Catalyst study conducted with the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. According to this U.S. study, released December 6, this concern, experienced by one third of the labour force, leads to stress that costs businesses up to $300 billion a year in lost output. Organizational supports and workplace flexibility are rated by working parents as the most effective means of addressing this problem.

LINK:

After-School Worries: Tough on Parents, Bad for Business (56 pages, PDF) at: http://www.catalystwomen.org/files/full/PCAST%20report.pdf

MALE-FEMALE WAGE DIFFERENTIALS OF CANADIAN UNIVERSITY FACULTY: A research paper released December 4, analyses Statistics Canada data collected from 1970 to 2001 from all universities in Canada. The study finds that female professors in Canada have lower earnings on average than their male counterparts, but that gender differences in salaries have declined over time. The results of a cohort-based analysis indicate that the decline is not because of an increase in female professors' salaries, but from a decline in the earnings of all male professors.

LINK:

The Evolution of Male-Female Wages Differentials in Canadian Universities: 1970-2001 (53 pages, PDF) at: http://www.econ.queensu.ca/working_papers/papers/qed_wp_1099.pdf

NON-PROFITS AND VOULUNTEERING: A recent study by Statistics Canada reveals the important role played by the non-profit sector. In 2003 this sector accounted for 7.1 per cent of the economy and has grown, on average, faster over the past seven years than the total economy. The study, which also examined volunteering, found that volunteer work was more important to non-profit organizations than individual donations.

LINK:

Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering , (64 pages, PDF) is available on the Statistics Canada website at:

http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/13-015-XIE/13-015-XIE2006000.pdf

NATIONAL REPORT ON POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION: The Canadian Council on Learning released a report on December 7, on how well Canada's post-secondary education and training sector is meeting Canadians' social and economic objectives, is responding to the fast-changing global environment, and how Canada's approach to higher education compares with other major developed countries. The report emphasizes that Canada's approach to post-secondary education must include university and college education, apprenticeships, adult literacy, workplace learning, technical skills training and university research. It calls for concerted national action and warns that without action, the country's long-term productivity and continued prosperity are at risk.

LINKS:

Canadian Post Secondary Education: A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future (163 pages, PDF) at:

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/NR/rdonlyres/BD46F091-D856-4EEB-B361-D83780BFE78C/0/PSEReport2006EN.pdf

Canadian Post Secondary Education: A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future - Summary (12 pages, PDF) at:

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/NR/rdonlyres/E42E41B2-1122-46CE-A11C-45F877F7DE84/0/PSEBrochure2006EN.pdf

Canadian Council on Learning news release at: http://www.ccl-cca.ca/NR/rdonlyres/2C09CAE8-8F68-4FDD-BE31-D8FDE883C69D/0/PSEReportNewsReleaseE.pdf

WORKPLACE FATALITIES IN CANADA: On December 12, The Centre for the Study of Living Standards released a research report on workplace fatalities in Canada from 1993-2005. This report provides a detailed analysis of the characteristics of persons who died on the job and the reasons they died. The results show that despite problems defining and measuring workplace fatalities, the number and rate of these fatalities in Canada is unacceptably high and very little progress is being made to reduce the rate.

LINKS:

Five Deaths a Day: Workplace Fatalities in Canada , 1993-2005 by Andrew Sharpe and Jill Hardt (132 pages PDF) at: http://www.csls.ca/reports/csls2006-04.pdf

"Workplace deaths spiking, study finds average of five people die each work day," by Andre Picard in the Globe & Mail (December 12) at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061212.WORK12/TPStory/?query=workplace+deaths

OECD PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: The OECD recently released a report titled Methodology for Assessing Implementation of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. This report specifies the criteria to be applied to the principles contained in the 2004 document OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. The methodology is intended for the self assessment of organizations and for the use of academics, researchers, investor associations, etc.

LINKS:

A news release describing both reports is available on the OECD website: http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,2340,en_2649_201185_37780169_1_1_1_1,00.html

The complete 99-page report, Methodology for Assessing Implementation of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance is available on the website at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/58/12/37776417.pdf

The earlier 69-page report, OECD Principles of Corporate Governance available at: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/32/18/31557724.pdf