Perry Work Report for the Week of January 14, 2008
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Alberta Teachers Pension Agreement: Alberta Teachers and the Alberta Government reached a framework agreement on November 24, 2007 in which the government has agreed to cover the $2.1 billion of the teachers' unfunded pension liability in return for five years without strikes. The ratification of the agreement depends upon all Alberta school boards, composed of 62 bargaining units, having their new five-year collective agreements in place by the end of January 2008.
Links: The Alberta's Teachers Association and the Alberta Government – Memorandum of Agreement (13 pages, PDF), Summary of Memorandum of Agreement (2 pages, PDF); The Alberta Teachers Association – Pension Agreement Updates and Collective Bargaining Updates.
Job Satisfaction: A recent Ipsos Reid survey conducted for RBC shows that thirty-six percent of Canadians are very satisfied with their job, fifty percent are ‘somewhat satisfied' and fourteen percent are not satisfied with their employer. This is a significant change from 1998 when the survey found that almost fifty percent of the working population was very satisfied with their jobs.
Links: The Competition for Canadian Talent, RBC Study, conducted by Ipsos Reid, December 20, 2007, (7 pages, PDF ); Working Canadians give employers a "B" grade in year-end performance review : RBC study; “Bored stiff: many find work ‘extremely boring'”, by Virginia Galt, December 20, 2007, Globe & Mail.
The Rotman Journal, Winter, 2008: The most recent issue of the online journal of the Rotman School of Management is devoted to the theme of “thinking about thinking”. Among the articles is one titled “Inner Work Life: Understanding the Subtext of Workplace Performance” and another “Integration: The Value of Managerial Thinking in an Age of Technical Reason”. It also contains short interviews with numerous academics, including Chris Argyris, Henry Mintzberg and Jeffery Pfeffer.
Link: Rotman: The Magazine of the Rotman School of Management, Winter 2008 (128pages, PDF).
Ivey Business Journal Online: The January/February issue of the Ivey Business Journal is devoted to corporate social responsibility. In addition there is an article titled, “Leaders and Followers: How to Build Greater Trust and Commitment.”
Link: Ivey Business Journal Online January/February 2008 (PDF).
Baby Boomers' Retirement Impact: Robert Half International has released the results of a survey which asked over 150 senior executives in North America what they saw as the key issue shaping the future of the workforce. Almost one out of two responded that baby boomer retirements will have the greatest impact on the workforce over the next decade.
Link: Baby Boomers Stand Alone: Executives: Baby Boomer Retirements Most Significant Workforce Trend in Next 10 Years, January 10, 2008, Robert Half International.
The Canada Pension Plan Reforms Ten Years After: Lessons and Prospects: Several major speeches are available from the C.D. Howe Institute Policy Conference The Canada Pension Plan Reforms Ten Years After: Lessons and Prospects, December 10, 2007. The goal of the conference was to evaluate the C/QPP reforms of the 1990s.
Links: Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, “ Canada Pension Plan Reforms Ten Years after: Lessons and Prospects.” Keynote luncheon address.
Estelle James, “The International Experience with Social Stresses and Reform.”
Pierre Plamondon, “The Experience and Outlook from Quebec.”
Michael Gourley, “Ontario Perspective on the Reform Package: Where the Province and Where it Ended Up.”
Jean-Claude Menard, “The Benefit Picture: Current and Future Pressures.”
Anne Maher, “Social Security fund Investment Returns and Governance: Lessons from Abroad.”
Pension Plan Surpluses and Funding: Although Canadian pension plans will be posting surpluses for 2007, Watson Wyatt warns that the surpluses should be used to restructure plan investment portfolios to reduce risk.
Links: “ Canadian Pension Funded Ratios Post Net Improvement in 2007, Watson Wyatt Finds: Managing Risk Should Remain a Priority,” January 10, 2008, Watson Wyatt News; “Pension gauge predicts 6% surplus in plans,” by James Daw, January 11, 2008, Toronto Star.
Protection for Defined-Contribution Pension Plan Sponsors: A recent paper by the C.D. Howe Institute offers solutions for the protection of sponsors of defined-contribution pension plans and group RRSPs. Pension-related litigation is on the rise, and according to the author, the possibility of litigation could affect the availability of these plans for employees.
Link: Safe Harbours: Providing Protection for Canada's Money-Purchase Plan Sponsors, by William B. P. Robson, President and CEO, C.D. Howe Institute, January 15, 2008, (12 pages, PDF).
Measuring Productivity in the Health Care Sector in Canada : A recent report prepared for the Canadian Medical Association by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards finds that official Canadian output and productivity figures for the health care sector underestimate the true contribution of the health care sector.
Link: The Measurement of Output and Productivity in the Health Care Sector in Canada: An Overview, by Andrew Sharpe, Celeste Bradley, and Hans Messinger, Centre for the Study of Living Standards, December 27, 2007, (58 pages, PDF)
Federal Public Service Employees: A recent study released by Statistics Canada is the third in a series that has profiled changes in the Core Public Administration over the past eleven years. The first two studies showed that the CPA is smaller than it used to be and that its composition has changed -- employees are now more knowledge-based, there are proportionally more women in the group and the average age of employees is increasing. This third study examines employment trends in the CPA on a geographical basis.
Link: Employment Trends in the Core Public Administration: A Geographical Profile, by Katarzyna Naczk, Public Institutions Division, Statistics Canada, Analytical Paper, (19 pages, PDF).
Employment Guidance Services for People with Disabilities: The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has created a database of employment services for people with disabilities. The database consists of examples of new employment guidance services developed by sixteen EU countries.
Link: The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Employment guidance services for people with disabilities database.