Your search
Results 7 resources
-
Labour Relations and Health Reform: A Comparative Study of Five Jurisdictions, by Kurt Wetzel, is reviewed.
-
The "textbook" description is that members of defined benefit plans bear no investment risk, in sharp contrast to members of defined contribution plans. Three sources of empirical evidence are used to support the proposition that employees do bear at least some of the investment risk associated with pension fund performance. Poor fund performance leads to larger employer contributions to maintain the defined benefit obligation and this in turn leads to lower levels of other forms of compensation. It is concluded that risk-shifting does occur, in at least some plans, and that the textbook distinction is overstated.
-
In 1986, British Columbia's Workers' Compensation Board introduced an experience rating program that provided a modest financial incentive for employers to reduce the costs of claims. Using a comprehensive panel data set, we find that claims frequency for health care only and short-term disability claims was reduced following the introduction of experience rating. The introduction of the program did not affect costs for most claim types, except for health care only claims.
-
Based upon unique Canadian administrative data from the years 1996 to 1999, this study examines the duration of absences from work due to injuries arising from workplace violence with a hazard model. We find that policing and nursing occupations, larger health care expenditures and more severe acts of violence are associated with longer absences from work. On the other hand, workers from larger firms have shorter absences from work. Our estimates are also quite sensitive to the inclusion of unobserved heterogeneity distribution, i.e., an individual specific random effect. This suggests that unobservable factors, such as stress and psychological or psychosomatic problems resulting from the workplace violence could have a large impact on the duration of work absences.
-
We use data from a unique survey of Ontario physicians to examine the determinants of work and personal stress in physicians with six stress indexes we constructed. We have a number of findings of particular interest. First, we find that males experience significantly less stress than women in a number of our regressions. Second, some of our estimates suggest that physicians who practice in health service organizations, which are paid primarily by capitation rather than fee-for-service, experience less stress. This estimate suggests that alternative payment systems, which are becoming more prevalent, may help to alleviate the stress experienced by physicians. Third, increases in the percentage of billings required to cover overhead expenses are associated with higher levels of stress. Finally, our most consistent empirical finding relates to the number of hours a week the physician works, which had a significant effect on all six of our stress indexes.
-
Using a large data set of large and small bargaining units, the implications for collective bargaining disputes of the evolution toward small bargaining units and the move to non-traditional forms of representation are examined. It is found that smaller bargaining units, as well as independent unions in both the public and private sectors, are less likely to reach an impasse. This finding supported those hypothesizing the cooperative nature of these organizations. These 2 sets of results suggest that the movement to smaller bargaining units, and towards more independent representation, will result in a higher proportion of directly negotiated settlements in the future. However, a reduced incidence of impasse does not necessarily mean a reduction in industrial conflict. Evidence is found of a shift away from a collective expression of conflict such as strikes, to more individual expressions. Thus, in the future, there may be a greater need for internal conflict resolution systems.
-
A relatively new and potentially important administrative forum for interpreting the concept of reasonable accommodation has been created by the Ontario Workers' Compensation Act as amended in 1989. The revised act contained provisions requiring employers to reemploy, and where necessary make reasonable accommodations for, workers following an injury. Though representing an important reformation for the workers' compensation system, accommodation requirements are present in other labor market policy initiatives. The accommodation requirements in other legislation and jurisprudence in Canada are discussed, the recent reforms to the Ontario Workers' Compensation Act are described in which accommodation represents an integral component, and the new and emerging jurisprudence under the revised act are outlined.
Explore
Resource type
- Journal Article (7)