Over time, the quality of employment in Canada has improved
Various studies indicate that insecure jobs on the general population and worker well-being are a significant source of concern. The OCED (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) acknowledged the growing cases of non-standard employment in different countries in a study conducted in 2015, which leads to rising inequality over time. Furthermore, the company claims that work quantity, not consistency, is the only factor that promotes equal job opportunities. Precarious jobs are a very worrying problem in Canada, according to another study published in 2015. With this form of employment, employers obtain flexibility, enabling them to adjust easily their economic shocks, although this hurts the economic progress. This type of work is also associated with lack of income security, thus reducing consumer confidence, less spending, and in turn low investment and profits.
Definition of Precarious Employment
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), a precarious employment refers to the inadequacy of lack of rights of workers as well as their protection in the work environment. This applies to the informal working sector, as well as some formal work arrangements such as temporary contracts, subcontracting, involuntary part time work, and self-employment. Precarious employment is usually associated with various negative working conditions including reduced job stability, lack of financial security, lack of access to benefits, lower wages, lack of health insurance, and great uncertainty. Precarious employment is always considered non-standard employment, thus, including vulnerable workers and underpaid employees.
Burnout in Precarious Work Settings
The lack of motivation and diminished engagement at the workplace that results from a precarious work setting is associated with burnout cases at the workplace. Different individuals react differently to reduced enthusiasm towards work. In the professions like teaching, law enforcement, and nursing, employees will always move to other occupations in case they do not receive motivational elements of work. In an attempt to explain the concept of burnout, Mary reviewed the various including demographic and professional factors that impact employee performance in a precarious form of employment including the character traits of individuals and the job characteristics. According to the author, personal traits like gender, age, race, educational level, and certification may influence the exposure of individuals to precarious employment. Past studies indicated female workers majorly suffer from demotivational conditions at work compared to males. Similarly, there was also a difference in the motivational factors among different races; Black and Hispanic teachers were found to be more likely to have low enthusiasm towards work compared to White employees who are offered better working conditions.
Factors Leading to Burnout in Canada
Researchers reveal that there has been poor performance among workers in Canada who work in the precarious environment. Unpredictable or long hours of work, excess responsibilities, rapid-pace work, excess phone calls, working with difficult people, dealing with frequent crises, and dealing with an overcrowd may also result in increased stress levels. Additionally, performing a boring task equally results in burnout. Contact overload involves encountering different people while carrying out job functions. Certain occupations such as teaching, nursing, and law enforcement require encounters with different people in distressful circumstances. The workers in these professions spend most of their time interacting with individuals from different backgrounds. When precarious employment is associated with high caseloads, control over work and consequent job satisfaction will be affected. Communication and support from other colleagues are also limited in the case of contact overload; this prevents workers from accessing professional or personal help opportunities in the organization. Thus, overload results in burnout among employees.
Precarious Employment and Gender
Precarious employment relationship with gender is dominant to precarious employment. It is a progression whereby definite groups of men are facing downward burden on wages and environments of work, while many ladies are enduring constant economic burden. Some scholars associate it with the existence of extra women’s work in the market, others consider it as a new established of gendered occupation associations, and quiet others see it as linking gender changes in the employment market. Sex separation in the industrial and manufacturing sector is an additional way of considering the feminization of engagement. Women endure representing the mainstream of those hired in occupations characteristically defined as women’s jobs and experience situations of insecure job tenancy, wage openings and crooked employment openings. Though the contribution rate of women inside the labor strength is progressively increasing, the type of engagement and the level of fortification and security are doubtful.
Costs of Precarious Employment
It is difficult to quantify the costs imposed by precarious employment on the household of the workers and the community at large as they are indirect at times. These costs are mostly hidden and quantifying them can be quite challenging. Working around the low incomes from precarious employment needs the workers to either work long hours or have more than one job. Parents who have to go through these conditions use a lot of time that could be spent with their families. People working in precarious employment, as mentioned earlier, have no time to spare. This leaves them with limited or no opportunity to further their studies or acquire any other skills save for those needed in the work places. Securing a better job becomes a privilege one that leaves a behind a society with stagnated growth. Some workers have wages that leave the below the poverty line even with an investment of hard work and effort leaving people in states of disarray on the way forward in life.
Lack of Training and Occupational Health and Safety
Organizations that offer precarious employment do not always provide job training to employees. In a work set up, a major area of concern is the initial preparation; every employee should be provided with proper training when employed to gain the needed skills and experience for better job performance. Training is associated with bolstering of confidence and will always make employees work with a lot of independence without reviewing reference materials or waiting for feedback. It is also necessary to conduct on-job training in order for employees to be at par with the technology advances. Employees who do not get good training would find job duties challenging, and this can result in increased burnout. Training in communication skills is also important in order to enhance the ability of employees to relate to one another and their supervisors; if such training is not offered, then employees develop poor communication skills that increase stress levels. Since there is lack of training in such working environments, employees are always affected with inadequate skills to work. In Canada, factors associated with inadequate training include lifestyle changes, lack of job security, poor working conditions, and the rapid changing society.
Occupational Health and Safety in Precarious Employment
The issue of occupational health and safety has always been a major concern in precarious employment. The health and safety of workers in an organization should be the top priority of every Human Resource Management. A lot of organizational aspects entail maintenance of safety and policy. The Occupational Health and Safety Act, 2010, demands safety and health training plans in every company or organization. There are various aspects of occupational health and safety of workers that directly impact the Canadian work environment including the working conditions, protective gears, safety training, and health insurance.
Health Risks and Lack of Safety in Precarious Employment
Most workers in the precarious employment do not work in safe working condition. The place of work for every employee should be safe. There should not be any chemicals, dirt, or sharp objects that might threaten the safety of workers, and all broken elements and out-date working materials should be replaced. This is never the scenario in the precarious working areas; most of the Canadian workers are exposed to chemicals, especially those working in chemical producing companies. Additionally, the workers are never issued with protective gears. According to ILO, every company must ensure workers are safe by providing safety equipment. For instance, workers in a construction site must be provided with dust coats, nose masks, height belts, helmets, boots, and eye masks. These protective gears ensure the safety of workers and minimize their exposure to health risks. In the case of Canadian precarious employments, the workers are expected to purchase their own equipment.
Impacts of Precarious Employment on Health and the Economy
Looking at a report released in 2015 by trade development authorities, precarious employment is a great issue in the Canadian economy. As it provides access to employers to adjust to tough economic shocks, the resultant factor is very harmful to the health of workers and also the economy at large. The absence of income safety linked to precarious work diminishes buyer confidence, making them use less, which in turn lowers business gains and investments, thus niggardly governments of income. Susceptible workers may have diminutive practical or apparent access to the objections procedures of their work society, and to the protecting coverage of employment protocols, subjecting them to poor health conditions. Consequently, the inadequate access to health gains and remunerated sick hours and days impose risks on gullible workers to ignore hurts and illnesses and to not pursue medical care. For itinerant workers, confessing sickness might be attached to anxiety of barriers or not being called back by the owners of capital.
Effects of Precarious Employment on Workers' Well-being
Some employers take advantage of the situation and not provide the migrant workers with special treatment cards as it should be done, or the workers lack means to reach hospitals. Without rewarded sick days, helpless workers may enforce supplementary tension on co-workers and, over a longer term, on the healthcare system. Most employees develop mental issues and depression as they are subjected to pressure and strain in workplaces with little or no pay. Furthermore, the discriminating insecurity of unwarranted employment means employees are involuntary subjected to live day-to-day not expressive whether they will labor enough hours in a daytime or week to encounter basic needs. Employees employed by temporary interventions grumble that their agreements can end on very dumpy notice. In uncertainty of working policy activities to reverse the increasing precarious work, the issues above will result in serious social, monetary, and healthcare costs. Health is also resolute in part by admission to social and monetary opportunities; the resources and supports obtainable in our homes, areas, and communities; the quality of our schooling; the safety of our workplaces; the hygiene of our basic needs, our social interactions and associations. The circumstances in which we live elucidate in part why specific Canadians are better off than others and why they are not as healthy as they could be.
Social Determinants of Health and Precarious Employment
The most paramount social determinants of health include the availability of capitals to meet daily needs like proper housing, ability to get healthcare services, have access to educational and get jobs. Transportation, social support also are in the same slot. Workers are not able to access training and learn the technicalities involved in work under precarious employment leading to economic vulnerability. The little money they get is not enough for such trainings. The workers are not supposed to establish permanency in Canada in order to get access to these opportunities because they are temporary workers. Those who are lucky may not in turn enjoy the benefits meant for them under employment integration policy. Additionally, workers who have betrothed in precarious labor in the course of their employment life are most likely to undergo ramifications as they age: they might have to go on with work above the retirement age; their health deteriorates due to inability to access medical heath than those their counterparts who are in secure employment.
Motivating Employees in Precarious Work Settings
Various studies have shown that the precarious conditions affect the productivity of workers in Canada. In order to improve their performance, various elements of motivation, including the creation of better working conditions, are necessary. Every workplace should be in a condition that favors the staffs. The workplace should have a cool temperature, clean without dust, smoke or anything making one uncomfortable such as paint or chemical smells. The seats and working tools should be accommodating. There should be refreshments or meals offered so that workers do not work when hungry. The place should be secure from attacks or any life insecurities. This way, employees will feel motivated and provide their best output. There should also be favorable company policies which are in line with workers’ capabilities.
Job Security and Remuneration
With job security, the employees will be able to improve their performance. When employees feel their jobs are secure, they will work at their best to retain their work. Companies should prepare contracts signed by the employees. These contracts act as surety for jobs. In case an employee makes a mistake, they should not be threatened that they will be fired. This can directly affect the employee's performance since they will feel a lack of job security. Additionally, better remuneration can enhance the performance of the employees. There are many benefits that a company can offer to the employees. The already existing techniques used by many companies include: awarding the best-performing workers; funding their vacation trips; provision of gifts such as cars; and promotion. Employees will also feel motivated if they get benefits such as a house and medical allowances, provision of company cars, family insurance, pension plans for all employees, etc. the employees should also be paid good wages. If the company produces more and pays the workers peanuts, the workers will lack motivation which will affect the production. Providing gifts to best performers will also motivate all employees to work even harder and better.
Conclusion
The main aim of every company is to create a competitive advantage and generate profit. Better human resource management is, thus, a significant aspect of company strategies as it influences the production levels. Employees must be motivated so that they offer their best in production. The selection and training process of every company should be transparent and professional. The amount of time and money a company invests in training the workers will also determine the output. There should be frequent fire drilling and other trainings.
Bibliography
Aacha, Mary. “Motivation and the performance of primary school teachers in Uganda: a case of Kimaanya-Kyabakuza Division, Masaka District.” PhD diss., Makerere University, 2010.
Carter, David L., and Louis A. Radelet. The police and the community. Upper Saddle River, NJ: prentice hall, 2002.
Bakan, Abigail B., and Daiva Stasiulis. “Foreign domestic worker policy in Canada and the social boundaries of modern citizenship.” Science & Society (1994): 7-33.
Bauder, Harald. Labor movement: How migration regulates labor markets. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Clark, Kenneth, and Stephen Drinkwater. “Pushed out or pulled in? Self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales.” Labour Economics 7, no. 5 (2000): 603-628.
Vosko, Leah F. Temporary work: The gendered rise of a precarious employment relationship. Vol. 11. University of Toronto Press, 2000.
