Critics often say that when faced with a problem, governments invariably commission a study. But that’s not quite fair. The reports often contain a wealth of knowledge and policy recommendations. Too often, though, they languish in obscurity.
Ten years ago, faced with high unemployment and a changing job market, the federal government created the Advisory Group on Working Time and the Distribution of Work.
The nine-member group, chaired by economic consultant Arthur Donner, was charged with assessing whether cutting working time and redistributing work hours could contribute to job creation. The resulting study – widely known as the Donner Report – clearly outlined a series of trends adversely affecting Canadian workers and the economy. It made several recommendations which, if implemented, could reduce unemployment, relieve work stress, and allow people to balance their work and family lives more effectively. And then it died a quiet death.
“This issue just basically fell off the radar screen for the government,” says Arthur Donner, who adds that the far-reaching report could have helped the labour market, economy, and society.
The report noted that while some people were working increasingly long hours, others were unable to find enough work. It also noted a weakening link between economic growth and job growth, because of factors such as workplace restructuring, new technologies, and global competition. And it further noted increased pressures on families, as well as a rise in insecure work and self-employment.
“All of that has gone on in spades since we wrote about it,” says Donner. Indeed, a re-visiting of the data reveals that for the most part, job insecurity, hours polarization, the incidence of non-standard work and inequality have persisted, and they remain more pronounced than they were 10 or 15 years ago. Donner Report recommendations more timely than ever
Governments, businesses, and to some degree labour unions are not doing enough to discourage long work hours, maintains Donner, who says many of the report’s recommendations could be beneficial if implemented today. Among the key recommendations are the right to refuse overtime; a maximum 40-hour workweek; paying pro-rated benefits to part-time workers; the right to unpaid leaves of absence and education leaves; and annual limits on overtime hours.
Mandating a maximum 40-hour workweek after which employers must pay overtime would be the easiest recommendation to fulfill, says Donner. Nearly half of all Canadians live in jurisdictions that have still not legislated a 40-hour maximum workweek. Ontario and Alberta, for instance, have a 44-hour standard, while Nova Scotia and P.E.I. have a 48-hour workweek. “The one I personally favour is a reduction in overtime work. And if you can’t negotiate it, then I favour imposing a maximum limit,” he says.
Donner has one additional recommendation not included in the report: re-vamping the payroll tax system so that it will no longer be in an employer’s interest to work employees for long hours instead of hiring new workers. Options for change include calculating current wage ceilings on EI, CPP and workers' compensation contributions on an hourly, not annual, basis.
Cutting work-time and re-distributing work is not “the magic bullet” to reducing unemployment, says Donner. “But in terms of restoring a better balance between work and family, in terms of taking on the issue of whether work practices are dysfunctional, this report, this direction, has a lot to offer.”
This article was originally published in Reality Check: The Canadian Review of Wellbeing, a joint project of The Atkinson Charitable Foundation and GPI Atlantic.