> New immigrants get raw workplace deal
New immigrants get raw workplace deal
Contact:
Habiba Zaman, 778.782.4404, ext 2, hzaman@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
Habiba Zaman, 778.782.4404, ext 2, hzaman@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3035, cthorbes@sfu.ca
December 10, 2007
They come to Canada to make a better life. But many highly educated immigrants to British Columbia are stuck in low-paying jobs with little protection of their rights in the workplace, confirms a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and the Philippine Women Centre.
Habiba Zaman, an associate professor of women’s studies at Simon Fraser University, and Cecilia Diocson, executive director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, co-authored the study.
Workplace Rights for Immigrants in BC: The Case of Filipino Workers reveals that recent immigrants frequently work in unsafe conditions with little training or access to information about their rights. The study also finds that the Employment Standards Act (ESA) is rarely enforced. Many of the study’s interviewees had experienced ESA violations. But none of them made use of a self-help kit, which was their only way of reporting violations to the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services. The kit is available only in English.
“The provincial government’s rollback of employment standards in 2002 means that many basic employment rights now exist only as ‘paper-rights’, particularly for recent immigrants,” says Zaman. “If no one has informed you of your rights and no one is actively enforcing them, how can you enjoy the protections that are supposed to exist for all workers in B.C.?”
Diocson says that immigrants wind up being stuck in low paying jobs, a rut that “stretches into unsatisfactory employment for years and can eventually result in long-term economic hardship.”
Habiba Zaman, an associate professor of women’s studies at Simon Fraser University, and Cecilia Diocson, executive director of the National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada, co-authored the study.
Workplace Rights for Immigrants in BC: The Case of Filipino Workers reveals that recent immigrants frequently work in unsafe conditions with little training or access to information about their rights. The study also finds that the Employment Standards Act (ESA) is rarely enforced. Many of the study’s interviewees had experienced ESA violations. But none of them made use of a self-help kit, which was their only way of reporting violations to the Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services. The kit is available only in English.
“The provincial government’s rollback of employment standards in 2002 means that many basic employment rights now exist only as ‘paper-rights’, particularly for recent immigrants,” says Zaman. “If no one has informed you of your rights and no one is actively enforcing them, how can you enjoy the protections that are supposed to exist for all workers in B.C.?”
Diocson says that immigrants wind up being stuck in low paying jobs, a rut that “stretches into unsatisfactory employment for years and can eventually result in long-term economic hardship.”
Backgrounder: New immigrants get raw workplace deal
Based on consultation with immigrant-serving organizations, the study makes several policy recommendations including the following:
- Eliminate the $6 first-job wage, and increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour.
- Institute proactive monitoring teams who would randomly investigate workplaces for employment standards and WorkSafe violations. Increase penalties for violations.
- Eliminate the “self-help kit” and allow workers to bring complaints about workplace violations directly to the Employment Standards Branch. Also, fund a community-based, non-profit system, which would provide assistance, including advocacy, to workers who believe their rights have been violated.
- Substantially increase public education about the ESA through information sessions, translation into appropriate languages, and extensive distribution. Restore the requirement that rights be posted at workplaces.
The study is part of the Economic Security Project, a joint research initiative of the CCPA and Simon Fraser University, funded primarily by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
A grant from the Vancouver Foundation, which significantly facilitated the research process, also funded this study.