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This report is a study of occupational health and safety conditions at Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) offices in the wake of two sets of changes: The reorganization of work associated with the Modernized Service Delivery Model (MSDM) introduced in 2010 (commonly referred to as Modernization), and the 2014 implementation of the Social Assistance Management System, a new computer system knowns as SAMS. As I crossed Ontario interviewing ODSP workers and read dozens of pages of comments workers added to their online survey, I heard and read numerous stories of frustration and disappointment with the changes, frustrations that were negatively affecting the health of workers. However, I also heard how many ODSP workers had been looking forward to these changes.

This assessment was prepared for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. It examines the conditions of work in the offices of the Ontario Disability Support Program. I was asked by the Union to assess the extent to which the organization of work by the Employer makes reasonable provision for the health and safety of staff and to offer recommendations, if any, arising out of my assessment. The assessment provides evidence in support of the union's claim that "The employer is failing to make reasonable provisions for the health of its employees in the ODSP by failing to maintain sufficient staff to handle the workload required of its staff." --Introduction

This assessment was prepared for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. It examines the conditions of work at the Don Jail. I was asked by the union whether under-staffing and the resulting levels of overtime represented a health risk and to offer recommendations, if any, arising out of my assessment. The assessment provides evidence in support of the union's claim that long hours of work represent a potential health risk to the staff of the Don Jail.

The Generation Effect shows that employment precarity is penalizing a generation. Precarious employment has become an unwanted, unnecessary and not-by-choice, new reality of our workforce and economy. Despite the recent changes to Ontario employment regulations, most legislation remains outdated and provides for a workforce and economy that no longer exists. Our social support systems are outdated and currently unable to support the growing ranks of the working poor and people living in poverty. The continued adherence to neoliberalism, an economic philosophy and ideology that has made it easy for corporations to trade and enhance their profits and, at the same time, eliminate full-time permanent jobs, has made life more difficult for millennial workers. The Generation Effect provides a snapshot of the lives of Hamilton-area millennials working in a labour market that differs significantly from that of their parents. It is a starting point for a long overdue conversation about the current nature and structure of work, its impact on millennial workers and their families, our communities and society at large. --From authors' summary

I) Objective: The study aimed to explore the health effects of precarious employment relationships in Ontario, and understand how various forms of support shape health. II) Methods: Three measures make up our "Employment Strain" model: employment relationship uncertainty; employment relationship effort; and, employment relationship support. This new framework was used to measure the characteristics of precarious employment and their effect on health using data from a structured, self-administered, population-based survey completed by 3,244 workers, and 82 semi-structured interviews using a stratified sampling technique to select participants. III) Results: Precarious employment has negative health consequences for many workers. However, the relationship between precarious employment and health is complex, whereby the characteristics of the employment relationship and levels of support determine health outcomes. Using the "Employment Strain" framework, we found that workers exposed to High Employment Strain - workers with high levels of employment relationship uncertainty and high levels of employment relationship effort - have poorer health. Importantly, support does shapes health and can help to buffer the health risks associated with precarious employment.

[Examines] the prevalence of both precarious and stable employment in the labour market stretching from Hamilton in the west to Whitby in the east, and centred on the City of Toronto. [The report] expands the discussion of the social consequences of Canada’s polarizing income distribution by examining the effects of precarious employment on people’s lives. It explores how employment precarity and income together shape social outcomes. What makes this issue all the more important is our finding that barely 50% of people in our study are in jobs that are both permanent and full-time. --Website description. Contents: Background -- Part 1: The rise of precarious employment -- Part 2: The characteristics of the precariously employed -- Part 3: Precarity and household well-being -- Part 4: Precarity and the well-being of children -- Part 5: Precarity and community connection -- Part 6: Options for change -- Appendix A: How we collected our data -- Appendix B: Defining individuals in precarious employment -- Appendix C: How we determined low, middle, and high household income brackets -- Bibliography.

In times of economic growth, it is fair to expect that wages and job quality will improve with positive benefits being experienced throughout society. But between 2011 and 2017—a period when Ontario’s economy experienced significant gains—our research found that these expectations did not come true: the adage that a rising tide will lift all boats proved to be false in Ontario.

This report compares work organization and workload at three [Ontario] developmental service agencies in order to identify factors that precipitate and contribute to injuries, stress and health problems in the social services. The restructuring of services in this sector has resulted in reduced funding and therefore workloads and health risks associated with overwork and burnout appear to have increased dramatically in all three sites studied. Restructuring has also exposed workers and clients to higher levels of stress and violence. This study also uncovered serious incidents of workplace bullying and traumatic work cultures. While workplace bullying certainly predates restructuring, some studies show that it is a phenomena that has seen rapid growth within the context of restructured public sector and non profit workplaces. Given the serious under funding of this sector it may appear that there is little that can be done to improve health and safety in the short term. However, this report recommends several measures including an immediate increase in government funding, the incorporation of worker’s knowledge into how work is to be organized and planned, guarantees to part-time workers of enough hours of work to support themselves, an end to the use of split shifts, a cap on overtime and subsequent hiring additional fulltime staff in order to ensure workplace stability and the introduction of immediate, assertive, transparent measures to improve workplace morale and eradicate traumatic workplace cultures. --Executive Summary

In 2013, the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group released the report, "It's More than Poverty: Employment Precarity and Household Wellbeing." Based on 4,165 surveys collected in late 2011 and early 2012, and 83 interviews conducted in 2011 with workers in different forms of precarious employment, It's More than Poverty examined the characteristics of employment in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area (GTHA). It documented the range of employment experiences and it revealed the extent of insecurity associated with insecure employment relationships. Equally important, it showed the impact of insecure employment relationships on individual and household well-being and community participation.... --From Executive Summary.