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Research indicates that relationship‐oriented HR practices can increase organizational knowledge, yet we know little about the effects of relationship‐oriented HR practices on employee knowledge management behaviors. Drawing from affective events theory, we examine the indirect effect of participation in one type of relationship‐oriented HR practice (i.e., organizational social activities) on three knowledge management behaviors (i.e., knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding, and knowledge manipulating) via positive affect, as well as the conditional indirect effect of intrinsic motivation for organizational social activities on these relationships. Utilizing a time‐separated field study (n = 163), our analysis reveals positive affect fully mediates the relationship between participation in organizational social activities and (a) knowledge sharing and (b) knowledge hiding, and partially mediates the relationship between participation in organizational social activities, and (c) knowledge manipulating. Most interestingly, we unexpectedly found a positive direct effect of participation in organizational social activities on knowledge manipulation, even though the indirect effect via positive affect was negative. The results also indicate that, for individuals with high intrinsic motivation for social activities, there is a significant indirect effect of participation in organizational social activities on all three knowledge management behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In light of the deleterious consequences associated with workplace bullying, it is important to identify the work‐related factors that can contribute to the presence of bullying behaviors over time. Up to now, most research on the topic has investigated job characteristics (presence of job demands, absence of job resources) as contributing factors of workplace bullying. Given the key role leadership plays in shaping employees' work environment, this study aims to better understand how harmful forms of leadership relate to bullying behaviors over time and, subsequently, to employee functioning. Methods: More specifically, this longitudinal study (two data collections over a 3‐month period) conducted among a sample of Canadian employees (T1 n = 600, T2 n = 422) assesses the temporal relationship between tyrannical leadership, exposure to bullying behaviors, and turnover intention, as well as the moderating role of perceived coworker support in the relationship between tyrannical leadership and bullying behaviors. Results: Results from cross‐lagged analyses show that, controlling for baseline effects, T1 tyrannical leadership positively predicts T2 exposure to bullying behaviors and that T1 bullying behaviors positively predict T2 turnover intention. T1 coworker support did not significantly buffer the relationship between T1 tyrannical leadership and T2 exposure to bullying behaviors, although it did significantly predict, negatively so, T2 turnover intention. Conclusion: The present study provides valuable insight into the social contextual determinants of bullying behaviors and highlights the destructive nature of tyrannical leadership. Furthermore, this study illustrates the importance of fostering supportive behaviors between colleagues, as this important social resource can play a key role in reducing turnover intention over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation is integral to the employment accessibility and sustainability of people with disabilities. This study aims to identify barriers, facilitators, and solutions to commuting for people with disabilities, drawing from their perspectives as well as those of employers and transportation providers. Through semi-structured individual interviews, insights were gathered from sixteen individuals with disabilities, seven employers, two job integration agents, and four transporters. Qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts revealed factors influencing commuting, including personal attributes and environmental factors. This study underscores the significant impact of environmental factors, particularly the role of social networks and transport infrastructure in either supporting or hindering public transportation use for people with disabilities who commute to work. For example, employers' limited awareness of their employees' commuting challenges contrasts with their recognition of their potential role in supporting it. Training and disability awareness initiatives emerge as pivotal solutions to empower individuals within the social network, including transport personnel, fellow passengers, and employers, to facilitate public transportation use by people with disabilities for work commutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Union communication and framing are important for how union members, as well as how unions as organizations, are represented. In the context of declining union density and therefore fewer direct union members, unions' daily communication material on social media may be one of the most common interactions people have with unions. This case study focuses on United Nurses of Alberta, the union for most registered nurses in Alberta, Canada, where unionization rates are among the lowest in Canada. This case study shows how United Nurses of Alberta uses two collective action frames, nurses-as-distinct and nurses-as-advocates, in their daily communication to members and the public. In creating and promoting these frames, United Nurses of Alberta draws from and pushes against the industrial relations framework under which they operate and the historical narrative of nurses as caring and self-sacrificing, which may reinforce common understandings of nursing and also limit United Nurses of Alberta's ability to represent their members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on flexibilization documents the decline of the standard employment relationships, resulting in greater job insecurity. Consequently, the stability of career trajectories is expected to have decreased. However, existing studies in many countries pose a significant challenge: the available evidence shows no clear downward trend and possibly even an increase in job stability since the 1970s, as measured by trends in job tenure duration or job separations. This article highlights important limitations of such studies and provides novel evidence on the transformation of career trajectories. It is the first to provide evidence of a decrease in average job tenure duration for men in Canada and a decrease in five-year and 10-year retention rates over the four decades between 1976 and 2015, adjusting for sociodemographic shifts unrelated to flexibilization. We also find that average job tenure has increased for women, while their long-term job retention rates declined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the auto industry's 2008 crisis, the decades-long trend toward outsourcing by the Detroit Three automakers has stalled. During and after the crisis, original equipment manufacturers moved work inside their corporate boundaries, including the purchase of eight previously spun-off parts plants. Why has this happened? Drawing on 77 interviews in the United States and Canada and 27 insourcing cases, the authors explore how and why insourcing has taken place. Past literature has considered the costs and benefits of creating the vertically integrated corporation, the managerial politics behind vertical disintegration, and the labor–management relations that shape both. While much industrial relations scholarship points to decentralized plant-level partnerships as a union strategy to win investment, the authors find that local unionists are intervening in the politics of the corporation above the plant level to influence the purchasing, manufacturing, and engineering functions that determine the sourcing decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The annual cost of mental illnesses in Canada is estimated to be $50 billion. Research from other countries have suggested that employment status is associated with mental and physical health. Within the Canadian context, there is a dearth of research on the relationship between employment and mental health. Objective: To explore the relationships between age, gender, income, and employment status on mental and physical health. Methods: The 2021 Canadian Digital Health Survey dataset was used for this study. Data records, which included responses for the questions on age, gender, income, employment status, mental, and physical health, were used in the analysis. Ordinal logistics regression was applied to investigate the associations that may exist between mental and physical health with the various sociodemographic factors. Descriptive statistics were also provided for the data. Results: The total sample size included in the analysis was 10,630. When compared to respondents who had full-time employment, those who were unemployed were more likely to have lower self-perceived mental health (OR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.55-2.34). Retired respondents were less likely to have worse mental health than respondents who were employed full-time (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.68-0.90). Self-perceived physical health was more likely to be lower for those who were unemployed (OR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.41-2.14) or retired (OR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.12-1.48) when compared to respondents employed full-time. The likelihood of worsening mental and physical health was also found to be associated with age, gender, and income. Conclusion: Our findings support the evidence that different factors contribute to worsening mental and physical health. Full-time employment may confer some protective effects or attributes leading to an increased likelihood of having improved mental health compared to those who are unemployed. Understanding the complex relationships on how various factors impact mental health will help better inform policymakers, clinicians, and other stakeholders on how to allocate its limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Work addiction is not contingent on personality alone; it is also impacted by social contextual factors. Work addiction influences the perceived quality of care and intention to remain in healthcare sector. The current study seeks to understand the role of ethical climate as a potential organisational lever to reduce such addiction, especially among newcomers. Design We contacted a sample of Canadian healthcare organisations to collect quantitative data using an online questionnaire from November 2021 to February 2022. All constructs (ethical climate, work addiction, perceived quality of care, intention to quit the profession) were measured using validated psychometric scales. 860 respondents provided complete questionnaires. We analysed the data using structural equation modelling and regression analysis. Results Work addiction mediated the indirect relationship between ethical climate and the intention to quit the profession (β=-0.053; 95% CI (-0.083 to -0.029); p<0.001) and with quality of care (β=0.049; 95% CI (0.028, 0.077); p<0.001). For each increase of 1 SD of ethical climate, the total effects regarding the variations in the outcomes were more important at low rather than high levels of tenure for work addiction (-11%, -2%), perceived quality of care (23%, 11%) and intention to quit the profession (-30%, -23%), respectively. Conclusion Ethical climate in healthcare organisations has a significant and beneficial relationship with healthcare workers' (HCWs) work addiction behaviours. In turn, this relationship is related to greater perceived quality of care and higher intention to remain, especially for HCWs with lower tenure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workplace violence against nurses is a significant global occupational health problem, with incidents of violence increasing in frequency since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In this article, we provide a review of recent legislative amendments meant to bolster workplace safety in health care in Canada, analyze legal cases where nurses were the victims of violence, and discuss what these legal reforms and decisions reveal about how nurses' work is treated within the Canadian legal system. Under criminal law, the limited number of cases we could find with oral or written sentencing decisions show that, historically, the fact a victim was a nurse was not always considered an aggravating factor on sentencing. Recent legislative amendments make this a specified aggravating factor and it is important to track the impact of these amendments when judges exercise their discretion in sentencing. Under employment law, it appears that, despite the government's efforts to increase the deterrence factor under legislation with significantly increased fines for employers who fail to protect their employees from injury, courts remain reluctant to impose such sanctions. In these cases, it is also important to track the impact of harsher penalties. We conclude that combating the widespread normalization of workplace violence in health care, and specifically against nurses, is acutely needed to help ensure that these ongoing legal reforms aimed at improving the safety of health workers are effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health promoters recognize the social determinants of health (SDOH) shape health outcomes yet generally neglect how unionization and collective agreements (CAs) shape these SDOH. This is surprising since extensive evidence indicates unions and CAs influence wages and benefits, job security, working conditions and income inequality, which go on to affect additional SDOH of food and housing security, child development and social exclusion. We argue unions and CAs should be a health promotion focus by examining how they influence the SDOH and health outcomes in wealthy developed nations in four ways. First, we consider how union density (UD) and CA coverage (CAC) are associated with differences between wealthy western nations in percentage of low-waged workers, extent of income inequality, and low birthweight and infant mortality rates. Second, we bring together literature that shows greater UD and CAC within national sub-jurisdictions are associated over time with more equitable distribution of the SDOH and better health outcomes. Third, we document—also using available literature—how within nations, union membership and working under a CA shape the SDOH one experiences. Fourth, we carry out a Canadian case study—applying a political economy lens—to examine how power relations, working through economic and political systems, determine extent of unionization and CAC and the inclination of health promoters to consider these issues. Implications for health promoters are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People affected by rarer forms of dementia often have a long and difficult experience obtaining a diagnosis and appropriate support, impacting family, employment and social relationships, quality of life and wellbeing. For this population progressive cognitive symptoms affect skills other than memory and disproportionately occur under the age of 65 years, often resulting in misdiagnosis and lack of appropriate care pathways. The objective of this study will be to better understand the subjective experience of the time period from first noticing symptoms to obtaining a formal diagnosis, through to accessing support, and onward to the present time. Through the concurrent use of line drawings and video-recorded interviews we will collect the stories of people living with different rarer dementias and/or family members who are care partners in Canada and the United Kingdom. Narrative and visual analysis will be used in parallel to methodologically explore how line drawing and verbal discourse interact and inform each other to construct knowledge, and how the use of drawing lines might enrich research interviews and increase accessibility of research participation. This novel research approach may also have implications for clinical interviewing, support services, and public engagement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to retrospectively explore over time the experiences of people affected by rarer forms of dementia from initial symptoms—to diagnosis—to accessing support—to the present, using visual and verbal methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this integrative review is to identify the educational needs of rural nurses and the strategies that have been effective in meeting those education needs. Sample: The literature search yielded 1388 articles to be screened after 930 duplicates were removed. Two researchers screened by title and abstract and full-text review, yielding ten articles. Four were qualitative, four were quantitative and two studies were mixed methods. Method: An integrative review using Whittemore and Knafl's method was conducted. CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus databases were searched. Studies about registered nurses' practice from Canada, the United States and Australia were included as these countries are geographically large with rural areas at a distance from larger, urban centres. Inductive content analysis was used to develop themes. Findings: The themes of educational needs, educational delivery, and barriers to education were developed from data analysis. Educational needs of rural nurses are well established, although multiple barriers impede access to education. Various educational delivery methods have been attempted; it is unclear as to which method is most effective. Conclusions: Rural nurses must continue to advocate for education opportunities specific to their needs and the demands related to working within the rural context. It's essential employers and accrediting bodies of hospitals work together to ensure that rural and remote nurses have the essential skills to care for rural and remote populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Family caregivers provide the majority of palliative care. The impact of family caregiving on employment and finances has received little research attention in the field of palliative care. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore perspectives and experiences of combining paid employment with palliative care family caregiving, and to assess the availability and suitability of employment support across three countries – the United Kingdom (UK), Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada. Design: A qualitative descriptive study design was used. Semi-structured interviews were held with 30 key informants with professional or personal experience in palliative care from the UK (n = 15), Aotearoa New Zealand (n = 6) and Canada (n = 9). Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using the principles of thematic analysis. Results: Four main themes were identified: (1) significant changes to working practices are required to enable end of life family carers to remain in work; (2) the negative consequences of combining caregiving and employment are significant, for both patient and carer; (3) employer support for working end of life caregivers is crucial but variable and; (4) national, federal and government benefits for working end of life family carers are necessary. Conclusion: Supporting carers to retain employment whilst providing care has potential benefits for the patient at end of life, the caregiver, and the wider economy and labour market. Employers, policymakers and governments have a role to play in developing and implementing policies to support working carers to remain in employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in economic geography has focused on the shift away from the standard employment relationship in the West; yet within these debates, non‐standard work is an amorphous stand‐in for many kinds of labour. Our aim is to account for absences and ambiguities within one form of non‐standard work – freelancing – to make the contours of this work more visible and to understand why a growing sector of the labour market is not well measured, protected or understood. Working from a Canadian case study, we first examine the conflicting ways freelancing is statistically measured, using an umbrella of intersecting terms that refer to labour or workers. Second, we critically review how freelancing is (not) legislated, organised and protected, areas of mediation which often still presume a standard employment relationship. Finally, we consider how the identity of 'freelancer' is lived, through freelancers' complex yet partial definitions that embrace flexibility and constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Depression is the most common mental disorder worldwide, yet many individuals with this disorder still face labor market marginalization. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore both implicit and explicit attitudes of human resources directors/employers regarding potential employees who have experienced depression. Methods 219 human resources directors/employers answered a semi-structured interview, as well as self-report questionnaires, assessing their implicit and explicit attitudes on hiring people who have experienced depression. Explicit attitudes were assessed with self-report measures (questionnaire), whereas implicit attitudes were measured by qualitatively rating automatic mental associations (free associations). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted on implicit and explicit attitudes. Results For implicit attitudes, both stereotypes and normalization attitudes were mentioned by employers. In order to ensure the validity of the explicit attitudes measure, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted, and revealed that employers and HR's attitudes were, as expected, described by the 12 items spread out on three conceptual dimensions—Stereotypes, Organizational Burden, and Normalization, with satisfactory alpha coefficients for all subscales. ANOVA results showed that implicit and explicit attitudes of employers were not related. Finally, ANOVA results on employers' implicit attitudes showed that hiring apprehensions regarding depression were higher for employers depicting more stereotypes, whereas regression analysis on explicit attitudes showed that Organizational Burden and Normalization were only the significant predictors of employers' hiring apprehensions. Conclusion The results were consistent with previous findings from the general population underlying the ambivalence of attitudes associated with depression. Indeed, stereotypes, organizational burden, and normalization attitudes appear as distinct and complementary facets of depression stigma at work. We suggest anti-stigma training targeting employers' hiring apprehensions and encompassing both explicit and implicit attitudes regarding depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to 2018, Canadian parents had access to 35 weeks of parental leave; but leave use is persistently gendered. We examine employee, employment, and organizational characteristics that influence use of parental leave by men in a Canadian law enforcement organization. Data from 97 managers and 234 male employees were analyzed using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach. Employees received a top up to 93 percent of their salary when on leave, therefore illuminating factors, other than income loss, that influence fathers' leave use. Logistic regression analysis showed that men who were younger, more educated, had a partner who was not in the labor force, and who had a positive attitude toward leave use were more likely to take parental leave. Managers' were less positive than employees about men's leave use. Thematic analysis of comments revealed a gendered perception, negative impact on the workplace, and concerns over misuse of parental leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The decline in the prevalence of the Standard Employment Relationship in Canada has created challenges for Canadian unions. This article reviews the available estimates of the prevalence of precarious employment and gig work in Canada. Using data from the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group it evaluates both the success of unions in organising workers in precarious employment and bargaining for them. The last section reviews recent union strategies to organise workers in precarious employment with a focus on the subset of precarious employment referred to as gig work. Organising gig workers presents unique challenges for unions as many are deemed by their employers as independent contractors and as a result not covered by existing Canadian labour legislation and hence not eligible for union membership. The paper concludes by arguing that organising precarious workers is a work in progress, whose ultimate outcome remains uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to psychological trauma can cause disruptions in employment; however, program-level return to work (RTW) best practices for clients with trauma-related mental health conditions are limited. We completed an environmental scan to identify RTW programs for this population. English-language webpages from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA were included in the scan. Resources were reviewed and informed a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis. The environmental scan found 35 programs that provide RTW services for this population. Further research, including studies that focus on the efficacy of RTW programs for this population, is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is growing focus on graduating global citizens who can advocate for and operationalize sustainable futures by advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the high volume of internships the University of Waterloo facilitates, there was need to better understand how these internships might be contributing to the SDGs in deeper, more meaningful ways. The researchers conducted a pilot study to classify a sample of international internships in terms of their impact on one or more of the 17 SDGs (Ivkovic et al., 2020). A key outcome of the study is that there is need to build greater awareness of the SDGs and better assess actual impact on the SDGs. This paper explains the design and development of a low-resource activity, based on a guided-conversation exploration instrument for interns and organizations to recognize how their roles could contribute to advancing the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies structural barriers faced by postsecondary students from diverse groups (women, racialized people, people with disabilities, and Indigenous peoples) when accessing work-integrated learning (WIL) programs. Drawing on the ecological model approach, this paper examines the challenges to inclusive WIL in Canada at the macro-level by looking at government funding for WIL programs; the meso-level by considering employer participation in WIL programs; and at the micro-level, by analyzing individual students' demographic characteristics. In considering micro-level factors, a quantitative approach is used to analyze the demographic characteristics of WIL applicants, while for meso-level factors, the paper utilizes a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews designed to capture employer perspectives. The study provides recommendations for policy-making, considers practical implications, and makes suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "alt-labour" refers to a wide range of unconventional labour organizations that advocate for workers' interests without engaging in state-sanctioned collective bargaining. Characterized by a bottom-up structure and an emphasis on direct, grass-roots action, alt-labour utilizes modern communications technology, branding strategies and progressive interpretations of the law to challenge established norms of industrial relations -- sometimes with striking success, as shown by Justice for Janitors and the Fight for $15. There are many reasons for the rise of alt-labour, including the growth of the gig economy and the fissured workplace, the obsolescence of the Wagner model of unionization that leaves many workers without a realistic prospect of obtaining collective representation, and changing workforce demographics that have highlighted the racial dimensions of economic disparity. To date, alt-labour has been largely an American phenomenon, and remains much less developed in Canada, even though Canada and the United States share the same Wagner model of labour law, and Canadian workers face many of the same challenges as their American counterparts, including a precipitous decline in unionization rates. The author argues, however, that alt-labour has a role to play in the Canadian workplace. Like the U.S., Canada has an acute need for new and different forms of labour power rooted in broad-based collectivism and social bargaining that aims for political as well as contractual power. To this end, the author urges that Canadian labour law should be reformed to provide unrepresented workers with more robust protection against reprisals on account of labour action at work, modelled on the protection for "concerted activities" in section 7 of the U.S. National Labor Relations Act. In addition, he outlines a proposal for what he calls "alt-labour law," that is, a legal framework integrated into the Wagner regime but geared specifically to enabling alt-labour action by providing all workers in unrepresented workplaces with a basic right of collection action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Barry Eidlin's book, Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada (Cambridge University Press, 2018) explains why unions are weaker in the United States than they are in Canada, but have not always been that way. Indeed, unionization rates were virtually identical for much of the twentieth century, then diverged in the 1960s. Against dominant accounts focused on long-standing differences in political cultures and institutions, Eidlin argues that the divergence resulted from different ruling party responses to working class upsurge in both countries during the Great Depression and World War II. In Canada, an initially more hostile state response ended up embedding "the class idea"—the idea of class as a salient, legitimate political category—more deeply in policies, policies, and practices than in the United States, where class interests were reduced to "special interests." In this symposium, three noted labor scholars engage critically with the book. Cedric de Leon interrogates Eidlin's account of the role of racial divisions in explaining divergence, noting "more persistence and convergence than there is rupture and divergence" between these two countries on this issue. Nelson Lichtenstein's critique focuses on the exceptionally vociferous character of US employer hostility, which he argues that Eidlin downplays. And Judith Stepan-Norris notes the surprising lack of actual class actors in a book about class organization, while raising interpretive questions about the relation between labor and the Communist Party in both countries. Eidlin concludes the symposium with a response to the critics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research reports an empirical analysis of a path model linking job insecurity to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) via two mediators, that is, intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction. The aim is to evaluate the path model invariance across three generational cohorts, that is, generation X, generation Y, and generation Z. A sample of employees in service companies based in Canada was surveyed. We utilized a partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) approach, which included path analysis and multi‐group analysis (MGA) to test proposed hypotheses. We found that job insecurity negatively predicted intrinsic motivation which positively related to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction influenced OCBs positively. Both intrinsic motivation and job satisfaction mediated the indirect effects of job insecurity onto OCBs. Generation X was more pronounced in their reaction to job insecurity than later generations given the strong negative effects on intrinsic motivation and hence on their job. However, generation Z employees followed their parents from generation X regarding engaging more in OCBs when they are satisfied with their job than generation Y. In general, therefore, it should come as no surprise that generation X employees' OCBs can be expected to plummet due to the elevated levels of job insecurity during pandemic times (e.g., COVID‐19) more intensely than Generation Y. Clearly, with COVID‐19 having led many organizations around the world to adopt virtual workplace environments, generational differences amongst employees have to be considered as a matter of crucial concern for these organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supervisors of human service organizations can support violence prevention or contribute to experiences of workplace violence. This qualitative study sought to explore the ways in which supervisors prevent opportunities for workplace violence through their relationships with workers. Interviews with 81 workers in publicly administered human services in a Canadian province were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Results show that supervisor attentiveness, supervisor support, involvement by one's supervisor, and treating workers equally all contributed to workplace violence prevention. Findings provide important practical considerations that detail how supervisors play a critical role in supporting health and safety in human service workplace environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug coverage in Canada is a patchwork; an inequitable inefficient and unsustainable patchwork with no coherence or purpose. Some people think that we can solve the problem by adding more patches, but the core of the problem is that it is a patchwork. For the working population, access to medicines is still organized as privileges offered by employers to their employees. Universal pharmacare would not only provide better access to needed prescription drugs, but also eliminate waste, ensure value-for-money and help improve drug safety and appropriate prescribing. Opponents fear that a universal pharmacare plan would ration drugs, and impede drug access for some patients. However, these claims misunderstand the reality of drug coverage, pricing and access. Opponents propose, instead, to "fill the gap" of current drug coverage by implementing catastrophic coverage, which would serve commercial interests without maximizing health outcomes for the Canadian population. In spite of overwhelming evidence and consensus in the academic community in favour of universal pharmacare, the battle is far from over. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite broad debates surrounding how the human resource management occupation can increase its legitimacy, researchers have yet to examine the collective steps HR practitioners are taking in this regard and the extent to which they have been successful. We conduct a case study of the HR professionalization project in Canada via multisource qualitative and quantitative data, which we analyze using a unique integration of the trait and control models from the sociology of professions, as well as isomorphism from institutional theory. Viewed through the lens of these frameworks, we find that HR practitioners are attempting to emulate traits that define traditional notions of professions, and are aspiring to transcendent values associated with balancing the sometimes conflicting interests of employers and employees. Objective data from external stakeholders and institutions show that these collective strategies have been somewhat successful in garnering greater legitimacy thus far, particularly when comparisons are made with the HR professional project in the United States. We highlight numerous implications for future research and practice surrounding the legitimacy of the HR profession. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on the impact of immigration on productivity in developed countries remain inconclusive, and most analyses are abstracted from firms where production actually takes place. This study examines the empirical relationship between immigration and firm-level productivity in Canada. It uses the Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database that tracks firms over time and matches firms with their employees. The study finds that there is a positive association between changes in the share of immigrants in a firm and changes in firm productivity. This positive effect of immigration on firm productivity is small, but it is stronger over a longer period. The effect tends to be larger for low-skilled immigrants as compared with highly-skilled workers, as firm productivity growth is more strongly associated with changes in the share of recent immigrants (relative to established immigrants), and immigrants who intended to work in non-high skilled occupations (relative to immigrants who intended to work in high-skilled occupations). Those differences are more pronounced in technology-intensive and knowledge-based industries. Immigration is found to have little estimated effects on capital intensity in a firm. Finally, this study finds that high skill and lower skill immigrants have similar effects on average worker earnings arising from the positive productivity effect of immigration, but only skilled immigrants are associated with higher firm profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The labor climate of an organization can have a great impact on productivity and efficiency. Managing this climate is often left to union stewards and management-side labor relations representatives. While there is a large literature on the role of union stewards, little is written about the role that management-side labor relations representatives play in establishing or maintaining positive labor-management relations. Building from a series of interviews with labor relations representatives in Canada and a nationwide pilot study of frontline industrial relations workers, we model the role of the labor relations representatives and their specific job actions in the established model of labor climate. Considering personal, structural, and attitudinal antecedents and measures of individual effectiveness, the study reveals that flexibility and informality matter more than formal education in industrial relations for creating positive labor climate. The study results indicate that labor relations representatives have the potential to play an important role in maintaining positive labor climate, if given more opportunity to take a proactive approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology has fundamentally altered how individuals contact and connect with each other. This has troubling ramifications for the employment sector, as employees may receive electronic communications from their employer outside of their scheduled work hours. Employees may feel various professional or societal pressures to answer these communications, resulting in the employee engaging in unpaid labour. This paper asks if Canada should seek to regulate after-hours communications between employers and employees by conducting an international analysis of approaches taken by other jurisdictions. Three potential methods of reform are examined, and a recommendation is made for Canada to implement a "right to disconnect." The right to disconnect means that employees cannot be penalized for ignoring communications received after-hours. The right to disconnect could be legislated through the Employment Standards Act and the Canada Labour Code to provide additional protections to employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns a case study in labor history which represents an interesting example of union action in a workers' community characterized by intersections between ethnic and class belonging. The focus of the article is on labor conflicts in Toronto's construction industry between 1968 and 1973. In that period, the Torontonian residential sector represented a sort of ethnic niche dominated by Italian immigrants, who populated this industry both as workers and as contractors. At the same time, important economic, technological, and organizational innovations formed part of this niche. In particular, it refers to the new Toronto real estate boom and to the introduction of new building techniques such as the drywall technique, or concrete forming, as well as business innovations such as the flying form or the creation of teamwork. This article tells the story of successful unionization in a peculiar industry dominated by continuous formal and informal bargaining. Moreover, the powerful presence of the phenomenon of mafiosi and widespread racism made the context still more difficult. In this situation, despite the ambiguities, the final result was the unionization of thousands of workers and the successful signing of collective contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a survey of Canadian city managers during the period 2002 -2003 modeled on the U.S. International Cities and Counties Management Association surveys, the authors examine a range of union responses to proposals to privatize city services. When confronted with possible member losses, unions adopted a number of strategies: a) they reacted not at all or they supported the proposal; b) they engaged in collective action; c) they attempted arbitration and litigation; d) they negotiated to reduce adverse effects; or e) they suggested alternatives to privatization. Though unionized cities attracted a greater number of new privatization proposals, unions effectively rejected them, the most successful strategy being to suggest alternatives. Conversely,initiating strikes and other industrial actions were not as effective. Cities in which multiple strategies were adopted had lower long-term privatization rates. These results support a pragmatic view of union-management relations illustrating how unions and city managers found mutually acceptable alternatives to privatization or adjustment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author estimates the impact of compulsory election laws on certification success using data on over 6,500 private sector certifications from British Columbia over the years 1978-98. A unique quasi-experimental design is used by exploiting two changes in the union recognition law: first, in 1984, the introduction of mandatory elections; and second, in 1993, the repeal of elections and their replacement by the original card-check procedure. The author also estimates the effectiveness of management opposition tactics across union recognition regimes. Success rates declined by an average of 19 percentage points during the voting regime, and then increased by about the same amount when card-checks were re-instituted. The results indicate that the mandatory election law can account for virtually the entire decline. In addition, the findings suggest that management opposition was twice as effective under elections as under card-checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine three phases in the unionization process among Imperial Oil Limited employees in Canada who, in 1993, decided to withdraw from a long-standing nonunion employee representation plan: the conditions leading to the propensity to unionize; the transformation into a bargaining unit; and post-certification behaviors and practices. The unionization process in this case study differed from that suggested by literature based on unionization among workers without a previous history of collective representation. In the pre-campaign phase, workers experienced a significant loss of perceived power due to changes in company practices and managerial style. Elected worker delegates to the nonunion representation plan spearheaded the union campaign. The union organizing phase allowed the company multiple opportunities for redress without unionization. Subsequent union attachment was diminished by continuing loyalty to aspects of the old system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the operation of gender and industrial relations in long‐term care work or nursing home work, 'from within' the experience of the predominantly female workforce in seven unionized facilities in Canada. Drawing on qualitative case study data in non‐profit facilities, the article argues that the main industrial relations challenges facing long‐term care workers are that their workplace priorities do not fit within existing, gendered, industrial relations processes and institutions. This article starts from the experience of women and threads this experience through other layers of social organization such as: global and local policy directions including austerity, New Public Management, and social and healthcare funding; industrial relations mechanisms and policy; and workers' formal [union] and informal efforts to represent their interests in the workplace. The strongest themes in the reported experience of the women include: manufacturing conditions for unpaid work; increasing management and state dependence on unpaid care work; fostering loose boundaries; and limiting respect and autonomy as aspects of care work. The article extends the feminist political economy by analysing the links between the policies noted above and frontline care work. Building on gendered organizational theory the article also introduces the concept of non‐job work and suggests a fourth industrial relations institution, namely the needs and gendered expectations of residents, families and workers themselves, operating within the liminal spaces in care work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study aimed to estimate firm-level expenditures on occupational health and safety (OHS) for a representative sample of Canadian employers. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 334 employers with ≥20 employees in 18 economic sectors in the Ontario economy. Participants provided information on five dimensions of OHS expenditures: (i) organizational management and supervision; (ii) staff training in health and safety; (iii) personal protective equipment; (iv) professional services and, (v) estimates of the share of new capital investment that could be attributed to improved OHS performance. Expenditures for each of the five dimensions were summed for each organization and divided by the number of employees, resulting in an estimate of OHS expenditure per employee per year. Results The average OHS expenditure per worker per year was Can$1303 [95% confidence interval (CI) Can$1167-1454]. Expenditures were three times higher in the goods-producing sectors (Can$2417, 95% CI Can$2026-2809) relative to the service sectors (Can$847, 95% CI Can$777-915). The proportion of expenditures allocated to each of the five dimensions was generally consistent across economic sectors: 58% to organizational management and supervision, 22% to staff training in health and safety and 14% to personal protective equipment. On average, <5% of OHS expenditures per worker per year were allocated to professional services or estimated as the share of new capital investment attributed to OHS. Conclusions Employer expenditures on OHS are substantial. The results of this study are consistent with recent European estimates and strengthen understanding of the scale of employer financial expenditures to protect the health of workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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WIL practitioners encounter ethical issues, dilemmas, or conflicts ('risks') in the delivery of work-integrated learning (WIL) programs. Ethical risks which are not properly managed can have reputational, legal, and financial consequences for the higher education institution (HEI). Whilst students' experiences of ethical risks, particularly in health-related WIL programs, have been extensively reported in the literature, there is no known systematic study that has explored ethical risks in WIL from the sole perspective of WIL practitioners. A case study of 10 Canadian practitioners identifies five key characteristics of ethics underpinning the delivery of co-operative education programs, as well as ethical risks that they have experienced relating to the conduct of WIL practitioners, students, and employers. The findings can be applied by WIL stakeholders to enhance their ethical awareness, and to improve management of ethical risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Compared to groups with other disabilities, people with a severe mental illness face the greatest stigma and barriers to employment opportunities. This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between workplace social support and work productivity in people with severe mental illness working in Social Enterprises by taking into account the mediating role of self-stigma and job tenure self-efficacy. Method: A total of 170 individuals with a severe mental disorder employed in a Social Enterprise filled out questionnaires assessing personal and work-related variables at Phase-1 (baseline) and Phase-2 (6-month follow-up). Process modeling was used to test for serial mediation. Results: In the Social Enterprise workplace, social support yields better perceptions of work productivity through lower levels of internalized stigma and higher confidence in facing job-related problems. When testing serial multiple mediations, the specific indirect effect of high workplace social support on work productivity through both low internalized stigma and high job tenure self-efficacy was significant with a point estimate of 1.01 (95% CI = 0.42, 2.28). Conclusions: Continued work in this area can provide guidance for organizations in the open labor market addressing the challenges posed by the work integration of people with severe mental illness. Implications for Rehabilitation:: Work integration of people with severe mental disorders is difficult because of limited access to supportive and nondiscriminatory workplaces. Social enterprise represents an effective model for supporting people with severe mental disorders to integrate the labor market. In the social enterprise workplace, social support yields better perceptions of work productivity through lower levels of internalized stigma and higher confidence in facing job-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This article provides insights into the role of management relations on nurses' career satisfaction across different career stages. Background: Managers and positive relations with staff are critical to improving job satisfaction, career development, and retention for new graduates to mid- to late-career nurses. Methods: Using a descriptive qualitative approach, we conducted a thematic analysis of 18 focus groups held in 8 Canadian provinces with 185 student, early-career, and mid- to late-career nurse participants. Results: Student participants expressed the need for a supportive environment to enable successful transition to practice. Early-career nurses expected effective leadership at the unit level, effective communication, and positive working relationships to enable best care outcomes. Mid- to late-career nurses were most dissatisfied with management interactions and relationships. Conclusions: Management relations are important across all career stages, affecting patient care and job satisfaction. Findings provide insight into how nurse-manager relations can be enhanced from new graduate support to guidance in career development and ongoing recognition and respect for nurses throughout their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]