Satisfied Workers, Retained Workers: Effects of Work and Work Environment on Homecare Workers' Job Satisfaction, Stress, Physical Health, and Retention

The goal of this project was to assist health system managers and policy makers develop policies and strategies to recruit and retain human resources in the homecare sector and have a satisfied, healthy workforce. The overall research question was: How do the work characteristics of homecare workers and the work environment in homecare contribute to job satisfaction, stress, physical health, and retention? The research is designed as a mixed-method approach with both qualitative and quantitative data. Results showed that restructuring and organizational change in the homecare sector has contributed to both mental and physical health problems (including job stress and musculoskeletal disorders), job dissatisfaction, and retention problems. Factors that contribute to higher levels of satisfaction and the propensity to stay with the organization include organizational and peer support, working one-on-one with clients, doing emotional labour (that is, the work involved in dealing with other people’s feelings), and satisfaction with schedules, pay, and benefits. This study also examined the association between job flexibility and job insecurity and self-reported musculoskeletal disorders and found no relationship between these variables and musculoskeletal disorders.home care workers, job satisfaction, retention

Satisfied Workers, Retained Workers: Effects of Work and Work Environment on Homecare Workers' Job Satisfaction, Stress, Physical Health, and Retention

The goal of this project was to assist health system managers and policy makers develop policies and strategies to recruit and retain human resources in the homecare sector and have a satisfied, healthy workforce. The overall research question was: How do the work characteristics of homecare workers and the work environment in homecare contribute to job satisfaction, stress, physical health, and retention? The research is designed as a mixed-method approach with both qualitative and quantitative data. Results showed that restructuring and organizational change in the homecare sector has contributed to both mental and physical health problems (including job stress and musculoskeletal disorders), job dissatisfaction, and retention problems. Factors that contribute to higher levels of satisfaction and the propensity to stay with the organization include organizational and peer support, working one-on-one with clients, doing emotional labour (that is, the work involved in dealing with other people’s feelings), and satisfaction with schedules, pay, and benefits. This study also examined the association between job flexibility and job insecurity and self-reported musculoskeletal disorders and found no relationship between these variables and musculoskeletal disorders.home care workers, retention, job satisfaction

Organizational Change and the Health and Well-Being of Home Care Workers

Objective: The objective of this research is to study the impact of health care restructuring and other organizational changes on the mental and physical health of home care workers. Methods: This study covers 11 agencies and 7 union locals. We interviewed 59 key decision-makers, 171 workers in 29 focus groups, and surveyed 1,311 workers (70% response rate). Qualitative data are analyzed for themes and quantitative data analysis consists of descriptive statistics and associations between variables. Results: The restructuring of the health care sector and organizational change have increased stress levels and musculoskeletal disorders of home care workers. Physical health problems among this workforce are much higher than the comparable group in the Canadian population. Restructuring and organizational change are significant factors in decreasing job satisfaction, while increasing absenteeism rates, fear of job loss, and propensity to leave. Conclusions: Occupational health problems experienced by these workers are preventable. It is important to acknowledge that occupational stress can result from incremental changes in the work and external work environment, affecting physical health, job dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and propensity to leave. Sufficient government funding to provide services, avoiding continuous changes in the work environment, and creating supportive work environments can positively contribute to workers' health.health care restructuring; home care workers; occupational stress

Achieving Flexibility through Insecurity: A Comparison of Work Environments in Fixed-term and Permanent Jobs in Finland and Canada

In this comparative study of Finland and Canada, we use representative data to examine work environments in fixed-term and permanent jobs. Results are similar for all workers regardless of whether they are employed on fixed-term or permanent contracts. All workers feel their working hours are inflexible, but feel they have control over the tasks they perform and they have low risk of accident. The only difference is in the feelings of job insecurity: fixed-term workers, in both Finland and Canada, feel more insecure than those in permanent jobs. Our findings indicate that the global trends in flexibility and insecurity permeate all workers

Where Have All The Home Care Workers Gone?

Because of the on-going need to co-ordinate care and ensure its continuity, issues of retention and recruitment are of major concern to home care agencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors affecting turnover decisions among visiting home care workers. In 1996, 620 visiting nurses and personal support workers from three non-profit agencies in a mid-sized Ontario city participated in a survey on their work and health. By the fall of 2001, 320 of these respondents had left the agencies. Analysis of the turnover data showed a temporal association between the implementation of managed competition and turnover. We mailed a self-completion questionnaire asking about their reasons for leaving the agency and about their subsequent work experience. One hundred and sixty nine (53%) responded to this survey. Respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the implementation of managed competition, with pay, hours of work, lack of organizational support and work load as well as health reasons, including work-related stress, as reasons for leaving. Less than one-third remained employed in the home care field, one-third worked in other health care workplaces and one-third were no longer working in health care. Their responses to our 1996 survey were used to predict turnover. Results show that nurses were more likely to leave if they had unpredictable hours of work, if they worked shifts or weekends and had higher levels of education. They were more likely to stay with the agency if they reported working with difficult clients, had predictable hours, good benefits, had children under 12 years of age in the home, and were younger. Personal support workers were more likely to leave if they reported higher symptoms of stress, and had difficult clients. They were more likely to stay if they worked weekends and perceived their benefits to be good.turnover, home care workers, nurses, personal support workers, managed competition, home care sector, policy, for-profit agency, non-profit agency

The ILO Standards and Canadian Labour Legislation

La liberté de réunion et le droit d'association sont des droits fondamentaux inscrits dans la constitution de nombreux pays et dans les déclarations, les chartes et les conventions adoptées par les organisations internationales. Parmi celles-ci, les normes de l'Organisation internationale du travail (OIT) constituent les lois intentionnellement acceptées en matière de travail et de relations professionnelles.Les normes de l'OIT prennent la forme d'une convention ou d'une recommandation. La ratification d'une convention entraine l'influence directe des normes de l'OIT puisqu'elle requiert que les lois nationales soient conformes aux normes ratifiées. La référence aux conventions ratifiées ou non dans les conventions collectives, les plaintes formulées par les syndicats ou les associations d'employeurs aux organismes de surveillance de l'OIT en matière de non-respect de la liberté d'association de même que la référence aux normes de l'OIT par les tribunaux en vue de clarifier et de définir l'extension de la législation nationale traduisent une influence directe des conventions de l'OIT. La convention de l'OIT relative à la liberté d'association (convention numéro 87) a influencé les lois canadiennes du travail avant et après sa ratification. Avant celle-ci, il a fallu que le gouvernement fédéral consulte les provinces de façon à ajuster les lois du travail aux dispositions de la convention. L'influence directe de la convention numéro 87 s'est poursuivie après la ratification par le processus des rapports. Les rapports effectués auprès du Comite des experts concernant l'application des conventions et des recommandations de même que les recommandations du Comite des experts demandant de modifier les lois ont façonné les relations professionnelles et la loi au Canada.Les décisions du Comite sur la liberté d'association ont aussi influence les relations entre les employeurs et les travailleurs. Les décisions récentes du Comite sur la liberté d'association en matière de violation des droits syndicaux dans quelques provinces ont apporte un appui moral aux syndicats et gêne quelques gouvernements provinciaux comme celui de l'Ontario, mais elles n'ont eu que peu de poids auprès d'autres gouvernements provinciaux tels que la Colombie-Britannique, Terre-Neuve et l’Alberta.Les syndicats et les gouvernements en tant qu'employeurs devraient respecter les décisions de l'OIT du fait que celles-ci portent un jugement mondial sur les problèmes de relations professionnelles au Canada. Les critiques de l'OIT devraient être bien reçues par les gouvernements non seulement parce qu'elles émanent d'un organisme international neutre, mais parce que les politiques et les recommandations favorisent l'idéologie capitaliste et qu'elles visent à améliorer les conditions de vie et de travail des travailleurs en demeurant dans les limites du système capitaliste.Les critiques de l'OIT devraient être considérés comme une critique générale de la politique canadienne dans le domaine du travail. Étant donné que le Canada en tant qu'État fédéral doit obtenir l'assentiment de toutes les provinces avant de ratifier une convention, toutes les provinces et le gouvernement fédéral sont dans l'obligation de l'appliquer globalement. En outre, le gouvernement fédéral se doit d'aviser l'ensemble des provinces d'assurer l'application des conventions sur la liberté d'association.The author analyzes the impact of the International Labour Organization 's Freedom of Association Standards on Canadian labour legislation in the last decade

A Sectoral Study of Part-Time Workers Covered by Collective Agreements: Why do Employers Hire Them?

Le nombre d'employés à temps partiel augmente au Canada comme ailleurs. La littérature sur le sujet évoque inmanquablement l'économie dans les coûts de main-d'oeuvre, la flexibilité et le sexe des salariés comme facteurs importants pour l'embauche de salariés à temps partiel. Bien que la littérature suggère certains énoncés généraux sur les motifs d'embauché des salariés à temps partiel, une étude réalisée au niveau sectoriel, touchant les entreprises syndiquées, pourrait lever le voile sur des motifs différents d'une branche d'activité à une autre. Le présent article vise à examiner, secteur par secteur, les motifs retenus par les employeurs pour l'engagement d'employés à temps partiel assujettis à des conventions collectives. Les données utilisées dans cette enquête ont été recueillies auprès de 172 entreprises ontariennes liées par des conventions collectives qui couvrent des employés à temps partiel.À partir d'un relevé de la littérature et d'entrevues auprès des représentants des employeurs et des syndicats, nous avons établi une liste des motifs pouvant justifier l'engagement d'employés à temps partiel: salaires et avantages sociaux moindres, flexibilité dans l'aménagement des horaires et dans les décisions associées à l'embauchage, évolution de la situation économique, préférence des employés pour le travail à temps partiel, caractéristiques personnelles des salariés et, enfin, indisponibilité de travailleurs à temps plein. Les résultats de l'enquête ont révélé que dans les secteurs des soins de santé, de l'éducation et du commerce au détail, la flexibilité dans l'aménagement des horaires de travail était considérée comme la raison la plus importante de l'engagement des temps-partiels, alors que dans le secteur hôtelier, l'indisponibilité de salariés à temps plein en était la principale raison. Cependant, dans les secteurs des soins de santé et de l'éducation, on estimait que la préférence des employés pour le temps partiel était aussi relativement importante, alors que dans l'hôtellerie et le commerce au détail on attachait plus de poids à la flexibilité dans les décisions relatives à l'embauchage et aux économies en matière de traitements et d'avantages sociaux.This exploratory study examines, on a sectoral basis, employers' reasons for hiring part-time workers covered by collective agreements. The data for the study were collected from a survey of employers in Ontario. The results revealed that in the health care, education and retail trade sectors flexibility in scheduling work was considered as the most important reason for hiring part-time workers, but in the hospitality sector, the unavailability of full-time labour was the most important reason. While the health care and education sectors considered employees' preference for part-time work also as relatively important, the hospitality and retail trade sectors placed more emphasis upon flexibility in employment décisions andsavings in wages and benefits