Although participation of Canadian women in the labour force has significantly increased in the past decade, and in turn the number of maternity leave claims, information is limited on actual employment behavior following maternity leave and the factors which influence this behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the employment behavior following maternity leave for 313 women of varying occupations from a large metropolitan hospital in order to: isolate significant variables which influence this behavior, examine return rates and employment patterns for women who return to work, identify the major problems women experience upon their return to work, examine the experience of women with the current maternity leave legislation, obtain their opinions on whether flexible work policies encourage staff retention and finally, to develop a set of recommendations to assist organizations in achieving staff retention following maternity leave. Data respecting the positions of the women, their personal characteristics and their employment behavior following their leave were collected from personnel records. The dependent variables for the study were three distinct types of employment behavior: employees who terminated following their maternity leave, employees who terminated following their return to work and employees who remained employed at the hospital. There were nine independent variables which were tested as potential employment behavior influences namely level of education, age, organizational tenure, employment status, union/management affiliation, salary level, occupational level, number of previous maternity leaves and organizational division. The Chi Square test of Independence was run for six variables and the One Way Analysis of Variance for three variables. In-depth structured interviews were conducted with five women selected randomly from the sample in order to identify the major problems they encountered in returning to work as well as to obtain their opinions on the current maternity leave legislation. They were also questioned regarding the effectiveness of flexible work policies. Two of the variables tested were found to be significant employment behavior influences: type of union and organizational tenure. It was also found that the least flexible union had the highest termination rate. Although the majority of women returned to work and remained employed at the hospital, a high percentage transferred to part-time and casual employment. The interviews revealed that the major concerns women had were the need for more flexible work policies, an increase in part-time opportunities and child-care concerns including the need for on-site day care. All of the women interviewed felt that 18 weeks was an inadequate length of time for a maternity leave and some of the women wanted maternity benefits for their entire leave and not just 15 weeks. It was concluded from the results of the study that flexible work policies and organizational support systems encourage staff retention following maternity leave, it was recommended that in order for organizations to achieve staff retention following maternity leave that they must introduce flexible work policies and a specific staff retention plan. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The aim with this case study was to do an intersectional, critical WPR (What’s the ‘problem’ represented to be) policy analysis of the Swedish governments preparatory work and government bill to achieve a more even distribution of parental leave between parents. In order to analyse the material, I used Carol Bacchi´s critical WPR approach to policy analysis. I critically examined how the preparatory work and government bill, that was later followed by the choice to introduce an additional reserved month for each parent, construct the ‘problem’, what presuppositions underlie the representation of the ‘problem’, what was left silenced and unproblematic and what effects and implications the representation of the ‘problem’ produces. Overall, the analysis showed that the problem is represented to be that the uneven distribution of parental leave is not gender-equal which could have negative effects for women. The underlying assumptions mainly focused on women, their participation in the labour market and other aspects that is connected to traditional gender norms and our doing of gender. Little, or non, attention has been put on intersectionality and therefore, something that is left unproblematic and silenced in the problem representation. The documents mainly talk about men and women, mothers and fathers which show that the preparatory work and the government bill did not adopt a clear intersectional approach and can, therefore, be at risk of being gendering and heteronorming in its effect.

Contexte et objectifs : Le taux d’activité des femmes a augmenté régulièrement depuis les années 1970 et les femmes sont de plus en plus souvent en emploi au moment où elles vont avoir une grossesse. Ce travail a pour principal objectif de décrire et comprendre les liens entre l’activité professionnelle et la grossesse. Tout d’abord, en comparant les taux d’activité professionnelle selon que les femmes sont enceintes ou appartiennent à la population féminine générale. Dans un second temps, en observant comment le groupe professionnel et le statut de l’emploi occupé influencent le moment de l’arrêt de travail pendant la grossesse. Enfin la troisième partie analyse l’impact de la position sociale, définie d’abord par le statut d’emploi des femmes et prenant en compte leur situation de couple et l’emploi du partenaire, sur la surveillance pendant la grossesse et les issues périnatales.Méthodes et population : Les données ont été extraites des Enquêtes Périnatales Nationales (ENP) en 1972, 1981, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010 et 2016 et des données du recensement Une comparaison de l’activité professionnelle des femmes enceintes et de la population générale des femmes en France métropolitaine en fonction de l’âge et du niveau d’études, a été effectuée. Une modélisation de l’activité professionnelle pendant la grossesse en fonction des caractéristiques sociodémographiques, de la période entre 1972 et 2016 et de la génération de naissance, a été réalisée. Une analyse des femmes qui travaillaient pendant la grossesse en 2010 et en 2016 a été menée pour déterminer les moments de l’arrêt de l’activité professionnelle au cours de la grossesse, selon la situation médicale et la position sociale des femmes, en s’intéressant à l’arrêt précoce, avant 24 semaines d’aménorrhée (SA), et à l’arrêt tardif, après 36 SA révolues. Une analyse entre 1995 et 2016 a permis de décrire la surveillance prénatale et les issues périnatales en fonction du statut d'emploi des femmes et de leur partenaire pendant la grossesse.Résultats : Comme dans la population générale, le taux d’emploi des femmes enceintes a augmenté régulièrement entre 1972 et 2016, de 53 à 74 %. En 2016, 32 % des femmes qui travaillent pendant la grossesse se sont arrêtées avant 24 SA, et 2 % après 37 SA. Il existe des inégalités sociales autour des arrêts de l’activité professionnelle: les femmes ayant les situations sociales les plus défavorables s’arrêtent précocement pendant leur grossesse, alors que les femmes qui s’arrêtent tardivement ont des situations socioprofessionnelles plus favorisées, quelle que soit leur situation médicale. Entre 1995 et 2016, les différences selon la position sociale des femmes enceintes observées pour la surveillance prénatale et les issues périnatales se réduisent mais persistent.Conclusion : Les transformations majeures du rapport à l’emploi des femmes au cours des dernières décennies peuvent modifier les pratiques des soignants prenant en charge les femmes enceintes. La majorité des femmes enceintes sont des femmes en emploi rémunéré et la discussion de l’arrêt de l’activité professionnelle au cours de la grossesse doit s’évaluer au regard de la situation médicale mais aussi de la situation sociale et professionnelle. Une attention particulière doit être portée aux femmes plus défavorisées, soit au chômage ou sans activité professionnelle déclarée, soit ayant une situation précaire dans l’emploi, car ces femmes ont une initiation des soins plus tardive et des issues périnatales plus défavorables que les femmes qui travaillent avec une position sociale plus favorisée. / Background and objectives: The occupational activity rate of women is steadily increasing since the 1970s, and women are more and more often in employment when they are in childbearing age. The main purpose of this work is to describe and understand the links between occupational activity and pregnancy. First, by comparing employment rates according to whether women are pregnant or belong to the female general population. In a second step, by observing how their occupational group and status is linked to the timing of prenatal leave. Finally, the third part analyzes the impact of the social position, defined by the employment status of women and taking into account their couple status and the employment of the partner, on the antenatal care and perinatal outcomes.Methods and population: The data were extracted from the French National Perinatal Surveys of 1972, 1981, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010 and 2016 and the Census. A comparison of the employment rate of pregnant women and the general population of women in continental France, by age and level of education, was carried out. A modelization of the employment rate of women during pregnancy was realized according to the socio-demographic characteristics, the survey period from 1972 to 2016, and the birth generation. An analysis of women working during pregnancy in 2010 and 2016 was conducted to determine the time of prenatal leave, according to the medical situation and the social position of women, focused on early leave, before 24 weeks of gestation (WG), and late leave, after 36 WG. For the period 1995 to 2016, prenatal care and perinatal outcomes were analyzed according to the employment status of women, taking into account their couple situation and partner’s employment.Results: As in the general population, rate of occupational activity of pregnant women shown a steadily increasing, between 1972 and 2016, from 53% to 74%. In 2016, 32% of women working during pregnancy leave their job before 24 WG, and 2% after 37 WG. Social inequalities exists around maternity leave: women with the most unfavorable social situations stop early, while self-employed women and those with more favorable social and occupational situations leave late, even after stratification for the medical situation. From 1995 to 2016, the differences in antenatal care and perinatal outcomes according to the social position of pregnant women are always observed despite a reduction.Conclusion: The major changes in the relationship to women's occupational activity in recent decades may change the practices of caregivers for pregnant women. A majority of pregnant women had a paid job and the date of prenatal leave should be discussed in relation to the medical situation but also considering the social and occupational status. Special attention should be given to the most disadvantaged women, either unemployed or without a legal job, or having a precarious occupational situation, since these women have a later initiation of care and more unfavorable perinatal outcomes.

In contemporary politics it is argued there exists a friction and contradiction between the right-wing, conservative parties that are gaining prominence around the world, among them BJP in India, and the feminist movement; one movement striving for the preservation of traditions and the other for change. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and compare differences in how a political party with strong affiliation and background in a nationalistic ideology communicates laws which affect women’s opportunities for societal advancement, doing this by analysing the religious, cultural and symbolic aspects of Hindutva ideology. Do they contradict each other? Through qualitative discourse analysis a comparative case study is performed on the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act of 2017, BJP political manifestos, excerpts from books and statements made by BJP leaders and affiliated key persons. The thesis presents the argument that the two discourses present contradicting ideas of women’s societal participation when analysed through a theoretical framework based on gender ideals; one set of material pointing to the importance of their economic and societal integration, and one on the importance of women’s role as mothers, and her protection. The study adds a different perspective on the friction between nationalistic Hindutva beliefs and contemporary, progressive legislation by analysing key concepts of gender ideals drawn from Hinduism and the Hindutva movement.

This thesis is focused on the integration of women after maternity and parental leave into the labour market. It is concerned with the specifics of women's employment, an important area of harmonization personal and professional life and finally facilities for children up to 6 years. In the theoretical part I outlined exactly these findings and compared with the situation abroad. The following section described the empirical research methods and interviews with mothers with children, questionnaires with workers of contact offices of the Labour Office and questionnaires with workers of the Directorate of Labour Office. In this section there is also an analysis of the findings and the final interpretation of the results. In the discussion I introduced the concluding observations in the context of the writers mentioned in the theoretical part and suggestions for improvements. In conclusion, I summarized my entire work and evaluated achievement of goals. Key words Unemployment - Labour market - Women's employment - Maternity and Parental leave

Please read the abstract (Synopsis) in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MA (Human Movement Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure Sciences / unrestricted

No description available.

Bakgrund.Ländryggssmärta förekommer hos piloter och kan eventuellt vara en anledning till framtida långtidssjukskrivningar. Möjliga påverkande faktorer är antal yrkesverksamma år och träningsvanor. Det finns få antal studier gjorda på kommersiellt flygande piloter.  Syfte.Att kartlägga förekomsten av ländryggssmärta hos piloter inom kommersiell luftfart samt undersöka risken för långtidssjukskrivning. Vidare kartlägga skillnader i förekomst av ländryggssmärta hos piloter som arbetat <10 respektive >10 år samt att undersöka sambandet mellan ländryggssmärta och självskattad träningsvana. Metod.En tvärsnittsstudie genomfördes med webbenkät. Enkäten bestod av ett antal inledande egendesignade frågor och därefter följde Örebroformuläret kortversion av Steven Linton. Resultat.Antalet deltagare i studien var 73 respondenter vilket motsvarar en svarsfrekvens på 30 %. Totalt 57.5 % av de 73 respondenterna angav sig ha ländryggssmärta, av dessa hade majoriteten besvärats av smärtan i över ett år. Resultaten visade på att de piloter som hade ländryggssmärta inte hade en ökad risk för långtidssjukskrivning men att det fanns en skillnad i förekomst av ländryggssmärta hos de som arbetat över respektive under tio år (p=0.017). Korrelationen mellan träningsvanor och förekomst av ländryggssmärta var inte statistiskt signifikanta (r=0.03), (p=0.80). Konklusion.Prevalensen av ospecifik ländryggssmärta hos kommersiellt flygande piloter var hög och föreföll att öka med antalet yrkesverksamma år. Ytterligare forskning behöver undersöka vilka faktorer som bidrar till den höga förekomsten av ospecifik ländryggssmärta. / Background.Low back pain is common among commercial flying pilots and may possibly be a reason for future long- term sick leave. Possible influencing factors are the number of working years and exercise habits. There are few studies researching commercial flying pilots. Purpose.To describe the prevalence of low back pain among commercial flying pilots and to investigate the risk of long- term sick leave. Furthermore, identify differences in the incidence of low back pain among pilots who has worked <10 compared to >10 years, as well as to investigate the correlation between low back pain and self-assessed exercise habits. Method.A cross-sectional study was conducted with a web survey. The survey initially consisted of self-designed questions followed by “Örebroformuläret kortversion” by Steven Linton. Results.The study contained 73 respondents, which corresponded to a response rate of 30%. A total of 57.5% of the 73 respondents indicated that they had low back pain, of which the majority had been suffering for over a year.  The results showed that the pilots who had low back pain had no risk of long-term sick leave. There was a difference in the incidence of low back pain in those who worked over compared to under ten years (p=0.017). The correlation between exercise habits and the incidence of low back pain was not statistically significant (r=0.03), (p=0.08). Conclusion.The prevalence of nonspecific low back pain in commercial flying pilots was high and seemed to increase with the number of working years. Further research needs to investigate which factors contribute to the high incidence of nonspecific low back pain.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute for Governance and Policy Studies