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![Page 1: Leah F. Vosko, Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender & Work and Professor of Political Science, York University Capitalism and Good.](https://reader036.fdocuments.us/reader036/viewer/2022062309/56649ca45503460f94965817/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Leah F. Vosko, Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy
of Gender & Work andProfessor of Political Science,
York University
Capitalism and Good Jobs October 15, 2014
Employment Standards: Coverage, Claims, and Enforcement Practices
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Why Employment Standards (ES) Matter?
• Declining rates of unionization
• Growth of precarious employment
• ES legislating minimum conditions in areas such as wages, overtime, vacations are the only source of workplace protection for a mounting number of workers
• State inspectorates are experimenting with new models of enforcement
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Three Key Areas Where Further Progress is Needed
1) Coverage – expanding the population of workers who are actually covered by ES
2) Improvements to workers’ access to the enforcement system
3) Further investment in proactive and deterrence measures
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1. Expanding Coverage
• Several large categories of workers are formally exempted from the ESA entirely, including workers who are not formally classified as employees
• Migrant live-in caregivers and temporary agency workers poorly served by ESA protections historically, extended better protection in 2009
• Different levels of coverage for workers assumed to be formally covered undermine the ESA (e.g., farmworkers, supervisors)
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Low-income workers are less likely to be fully covered by all ESA provisions
Statistics Canada, Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), 2011, Public Use Microdata File
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Young workers are less likely to be fully covered by all ESA provisions
Statistics Canada, Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), 2011, Public Use Microdata File
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2.Improving Access to ES: Enforcement
• Laws on the books mean very little if workers aren’t able to effectively see their enforcement
• The ESA enforcement system is more accessible than in the past, but remains reactive, primarily triggered by complaints
• Often inaccessible for workers who remain on the job and fear employer retaliation, which can be subtle and difficult to substantiate.
• In Ontario, there is no provision for anonymous or confidential complaints
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Claims decline while labour force grows
Ontario Ministry of Labour Results Based Plan 2013http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/rbp/2013/rbp_2.php
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3. Investing in Proactive and Deterrence Measures
• Ontario’s enforcement system is driven by complaints
• Complaints are only the tip of the iceberg
• Weil estimates 130 ES violations for every single complaint filed in the U.S.
• Many sectors characterized by high rates of ES violations generate few complaints
• Proactive enforcement is necessary
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Proactive Inspections
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Employment Standards/Practices Branch,Fiscal Year Reports, 1980-81 to 2006-07; Ontario Ministry of Labour, Employment Standards Program, Annual Reports, 2007-13; see also: Thomas 2009.
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The Enforcement Pyramid
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Conclusion
• Employment standards are increasingly critical to ensuring the quality of jobs
• Effective employment standards require further improvements to the scope of their coverage
• Workers require access to enforcement activities that are both proactive and deterrent when necessary
• Opportunities exist to build on best practices developed in other jurisdictions