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.
Professor Innis Christie Q.C., one of Canada's most respected labour arbitrators, is the 2008 recipient of the University of Toronto Bora Laskin Award for Outstanding Contributions to Labour Law in Canada.
Link: Further information will be available on the CIRHR website later in the week.
Work Isn't Working for Ontario Families: A report, released jointly by Campaign 2000, the Toronto & York Region Labour Council and the Canadian Labour Congress (Ontario Region), calls for a “good jobs” strategy to be part of Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy. The paper suggests that improving labour market regulation, increasing unionization, maximizing the public benefit of public dollars and stimulating manufacturing for the developing global green economy are strategies to re-build secure livelihoods for Ontario workers and their children.
Links: Work Isn't Working for Ontario Families: The Role of Good Jobs in Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy, report by Campaign 2000, Toronto & York Region Labour Council and the Canadian Labour Congress (Ontario Region), May 12, 2008 (28 pages, PDF); “'Green' fix urged for Ontario's job blues,” by Laurie Monsebraaten, Toronto Star, May 12, 2008.
Angus Reid Poll on Support for Canadian Unions: An Angus Reid Strategies poll has found that Canadians perceive labour unions as an essential part of our society but think they have become too entangled in political activities.
Link: Angus Reid Poll: Canadians Support Unions, But Many Think They Are Too Political, May 1, 2008, Angus Reid Strategies News release.
Ivey Business Journal Online: The most recent issue of the Ivey Business Journal Online is devoted to the concept of leadership. Among the articles in this issue are ones on leadership development, leadership transitions and recruiting leaders.
Link: Ivey Business Journal Online , May/June 2008.
Healthcare in the Workplace: The 11th edition of the sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey is now available. The survey collects, analyses, and interprets Canadian benefit plan member data. This year the survey focuses on prevention, looking at stress and workplace wellness programs. A survey of employers is also included.
Link: The sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey 2008: An ounce of prevention… might save the system,May 2008, (30 pages, PDF) available for downloading from sanofi-aventis website
Canadian Pension Managers Recommendations for Retirement Savings: The Association of Canadian Pension Management has released a report with recommendations for improvements to retirement savings plans in Canada . The paper identifies three areas where the retirement regulatory environment should be improved – coverage, adequacy of retirement income and availability of retirement income alternatives.
Links: Delivering the Potential of DC Retirement Savings Plans , by the Association of Canadian Pension Management, May 7, 2008 (33 pages, PDF); Press Release.; “Fat cats ignore pension slide,” by Terence Corcoran, Financial Post, May 8, 2008.
Corporate Social Responsibility: An article published by Sirota Survey Intelligence provides guidelines for the in-house counsel in the emerging corporate social responsibility arena. The article provides a broad overview of corporate social responsibility trends, looks at why it has taken on such importance and the role of metrics in measuring its impact.
Link: A Field Guide to Corporate Social Responsibility, by Michael Irwin Meltzer, April 2008 (13 pages, PDF)
Competency Model for Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners: The role of diversity and inclusion in business is changing due to rapid technological advancements, globalization, immigration, increased demand for skills and education, and an aging workforce. Drawing from the experience of the senior executives of The Conference Board's Council on Workforce Diversity this report sets out a new and unique competency model for 21st century diversity and inclusion practitioners.
Link: Creating a Competency Model for Diversity and Inclusion Practitioners, by Indra Lahiri Conference Board New York, May 2008 (24 pages, PDF) available to the University of Toronto community by registering in the Conference Board's e-Library (scroll down to find title of report)
Federal Public Service Retirements: Retirements have been increasing rapidly in the federal public service since the start of the millennium as the leading edge of the baby boom generation retires, according to a new study by Statistics Canada. The study examines retirements since the turn of the millennium among permanent federal employees who occupy jobs subject to the Public Service Employment Act. Statistics on retirements, retirement eligibility, and pensionable years accumulated by age and sex for fiscal year 2006/2007 and other selected fiscal years are available.
Links: Federal Public Service Retirements: Trends in the New Millennium , by Dan Fox, Statistics Canada, May 9, 2008 (15 pages, PDF); Summary from The Daily, Statistics Canada, May 9, 2008.
Canada's Immigrant Labour Market: A Statistics Canada study has found that in 2007, the employment rate rose faster for the Canadian born, as their employment growth greatly outpaced their population growth, while immigrant employment increases did not match their population gains. The end result was that the employment rate gap between immigrants and the Canadian born widened from 5.4 percentage points in 2006 to 5.9 percentage points in 2007.
Links: The Canadian Immigrant Labour Market in 2007 , By Jason Gilmore (part of The Immigrant Labour Force Analysis Series, Statistics Canada, May 13, 2008 (30 pages, PDF).
Productivity Effects of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement: A paper released by Statistics Canada investigates the productivity effects of the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Canadian manufacturing. It found that Canadian tariff cuts increased exit rates among moderately productive non-exporting plants. This led to the reallocation of market share toward highly productive plants, which helps explain why aggregate productivity gains were observed when Canadian tariffs were reduced.
Link: Trade Liberalization and Productivity Dynamics: Evidence from Canada , by Alla Lileeva, Statistics Canada, May 7, 2008 (44 pages, PDF).
Corporate Tax Cuts will Increase the Economic Gap Between Provinces: A study released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that the federal government's planned corporate tax cuts will exacerbate the existing inequalities in Canada's economy – both between regions and across industries. The study analyzed the distribution of corporate profits across Canada's provinces and across 16 major industries. It found that the big winners from Conservative corporate tax cuts will be Canada's oil-producing provinces, and the oil and finance sectors. Industries and regions which are struggling will receive very little benefit.
Links: “ Picking Winners”: The Distorting Effects of Federal Corporate Tax Cuts, by Jim Stanford, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, May 8, 2008 (7 pages, PDF); Press Release.
Effective Models of Employment-based Training in Australia : A report released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research explored current and emerging models of employment-based training. The study proposes more effective models for vocational education and training qualifications that would maintain a balance between institution and work-based learning.
Links: Effective Models of Employment-based Training, National Centre for Vocational Education Research, Australia, May 8, 2008 (45 pages, PDF ); Effective models of employment-based training: Literature review and case studies—Support document, (83 page, PDF); Executive Summary