The Perry Work Report is protected by Canadian copyright law and should not be reproduced or forwarded without permission. The PWR is produced and edited by Bruce Pearce and Vicki Skelton, and is sent from a new email address, cirhr.library@utoronto.ca. We welcome our readers' questions and suggestions.
Labour Arbitration Conference and Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector Conference: The early bird deadline to register for these Lancaster House 2008 conferences is June 27th. They will be held in Toronto from October 28 to 31, 2008, at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel. Register early and save $200 off the regular price of each conference day and $200 off the price of each workshop.
Link: The program details are available on the Lancaster House website.
Canada's Mental Health Crisis: The Globe and Mail newspaper began a series on mental health, Saturday June 21, 2008. New material will be added daily.
Links: Breakdown: Canada's Mental Health Crisis: Globe Special Report ; “The working wounded: Mental illness is costing the Canadian economy a staggering $51-billion a year, and each day 500,000 people miss work because of psychiatric problems. What are employers doing about it? Not much,” by André Picard, Globe and Mail, June 22, 2008.
Federally Regulated Workplaces and Workplace Violence: Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour, has announced new regulations to prevent violence in federally-regulated workplaces. Under the new regulations, employers must develop a policy to prevent workplace violence -- including bullying, teasing, or abusive behaviour -- and provide training for all workers.
Link: Human Resources and Social Development Canada, June 17, 2008, news release.
Decisions of the Women's Court of Canada: The Court, Osgoode Hall Law School's online resource for debate & data about the Supreme Court, has made the first of six judgments of the Women's Court of Canada available on its website.
Link: Decisions of the Women's Court of Canada .
Farm Worker Rights: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released a study of farm work in British Columbia. The paper reveals systematic violations of employment standards and health and safety regulations, poor and often dangerous working conditions, and dismal enforcement by government agencies. The study's authors propose comprehensive policy changes that would ensure farm workers, mostly immigrants and temporary migrants, are no longer relegated to second-class status.
Link: Cultivating Farmworker Rights: Ending the Exploitation of Immigrant and Migrant Farmworkers in BC, June 18, 2008 (77 pages, PDF); Summary (8 pages, PDF).
B.C. Employers Get New Tools to Attract and Retain Workers: Work BC website has new resources available for employers -- The WorkBC Employer's Tool Kit and The Building Small Business Resource Guide and HR Quiz are online tools that will provide employers with information on how to find, attract and retain the workers.
Links: How to Attract, Retain and Engage Employees; It's About Ability - The Mature Worker; Under the Labour Radar – Aboriginal People, Women, Youth and People with Disabilities; Diversity at Work - Recruiting and Retaining Immigrants. Each title is available for downloading at: The WorkBC Employer's Tool Kit; also available for downloading: Small Business HR Quiz and Resource Guide.
Employment Insurance Financing: The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities has released its report in response to the federal government's proposal to strengthen the Employment Insurance premium rate-setting process. The Committee's report contains six recommendations that deal with the Board's structure and mandate, the size of the proposed reserve, the premium rate-setting reference period and the elimination of discretionary wording regarding advances to the Employment Insurance Account.
Links: Strengthening the Employment Insurance Premium Rate-Setting Process, Report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities June 2008 39th Parliament, 2nd session, June 16, 2008 (52 pages, PDF ); Press release.
Borderless Workforce: A recent paper from Manpower Inc. looks at today's global workforce, and how employers and governments are responding to talent shortages that are affecting today's global labour markets.
Link: The Borderless Workforce, 2008, June 2008 (28 pages, PDF); Borderless Workforce Survey: Global Results, 2008, June 2008 (4 pages, PDF)
Nursing Shortage: The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions has released a report on the nursing shortage in Canada. The report provides an overview of recent studies on the nursing crisis in Canada and makes recommendations to address the nursing shortage crisis.
Links: A Renewed Call for Action: a synthesis report on the nursing shortage in Canada, by Victor Maddalena, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, June 18, 2008 (96 pages, PDF)
Fathers Use of Paid Parental Leave: In 2001, shareable parental leave benefits under the federal Parental Benefits Program increased from 10 to 35 weeks and in 2006 Quebec introduced its Parental Insurance Program. These changes led to a significant increase in the number of fathers claiming paid parental leave benefits. Between 2000 and 2006, the proportion of fathers claiming parental benefits jumped from 3% to 20%. The most common reasons for fathers not claiming the benefits were family choice, difficulty taking time off work and financial issues.
Links: "Fathers' Use of Paid Parental Leave," by Katherine Marshall, released June 23, 2008,Perspectives on Labour and Income, June 2008 issue (10 pages PDF ); "Canadian Dads Take More Parental Leave," by Rebecca Dube, Globe and Mail , June 23, 2008.
Canada's 30 Best Pension and Benefit Plans: Hewitt Associates has used employee opinion data on benefits from more than 220 Canadian organizations to determine the list of the 30 best plans. Each of these organizations participated in the 2007 Best Employers in Canada study, the 2007 Best Small & Medium Employers in Canada study, or a custom employee engagement study conducted by Hewitt.
Links: Canada's 30 Best Pension and Benefit Plans: June 1, 2008 (6 pages, PDF ); Chart with brief description of plans, Benefits Canada.
WTO Trade and Labor Issues: Stuart Basefsky of the ILR School, Cornell University, Catherwood Library has created a ‘Best of the Web' guide on WTO Trade and Labor Issues. (scroll down to see text)