Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

The intent of this paper is to discuss how the recent court rulings on the current workers compensation statutes will impact the rules to Florida’s workers compensation laws. Workers Compensation system is a social justice system that protects both the employer and employee. Employees that are injured while in the course and scope of their employment give up the right to sue, making workers compensation an exclusive remedy. In exchange for giving up that right, the injured worker receives statutory benefits in a no-fault system. This paper covers the legislative changes over the years that have impacted the constitutionality of the system and discusses how these changes have failed to uphold the legislative intent and design of the entire system. It covers the decisions rendered by the Florida Supreme Court and discusses the implications of those decisions.

This study focuses on the labor market outcomes of immigration flows. To obtain a reliable view, I try to find evidence from the agricultural sector, whereby around half of the workers are undocumented. In recessionary periods, the labor demand might shift to the left in an unobservable manner. The reasons mainly lie that the steady demand for major fresh vegetables.1 Besides, most of the foreign-born farmworkers are seasonal. Hence, the job opportunities might maintain a similar level as at ordinary times. In other words, the agricultural sector might hold additional job vacancies while other sectors are facing a rising unemployment rate at recessionary times. During recessions, the undocumented immigrants could be crowded out by documented workers who were laid off from other sectors, or they could be unaffected because less than two percent of the US's native-born labor force would like working on farms. This study addresses: (1) what are the compositional changes of foreign-born farmworkers? (2) What are the changes in hours worked of foreign-born farmworkers? And (3) what are the changes in stays of those farmworkers if they enter the US at recessionary times? This study reveals that during recessions, the share of documented foreign-born farmworkers, the share of newcomers, and the share of undocumented newcomers decreases.3 The number of hours worked rises for both foreign-born documented and undocumented agricultural workers. Shorter duration spells are observed if foreign-born farmworkers enter the US during recessions, especially for foreign-born documented workers. These findings suggest a possible downsized labor supply in recessions and employed agricultural workers could choose to work more hours if they want to.4 Also, during recessions, foreign-born documented agricultural workers tend to shorten their stays. Overall, these findings together demonstrate that recessions deter immigration flows.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2999-01-01

In mid-1987, the existing workers’ compensation system in New South Wales was replaced by a new Scheme, called ‘WorkCover’. While WorkCover solved a number of the financial problems that had plagued its predecessor, its enactment created other issues. Furthermore, WorkCover has failed to deal with a number of gaps in providing compensation for occupational injuries, most notably those suffered by independent contractors. By combining a study of aspects of industrial law and industrial relations, this thesis will examine some of those problems and gaps, in particular: (a) Should WorkCover be amended to enable independent contractors to come within its ambit? (b) Should there be additional insurance cover available (known as ‘top-up’ insurance) to insure those parts of workers’ wages presently left unprotected by WorkCover? (c) Should workers be permitted to take out another form of ‘top-up’ insurance to increase the quantum of death cover presently provided by the Scheme? (d) Should independent contractors who arc permitted to enter WorkCover also be permitted to obtain the extended cover set out in (b) and (c) above? Where appropriate, the thesis compares WorkCover to the workers’ compensation schemes in other Australian jurisdictions. It develops each of the matters referred to above by referring to the results of the writer’s survey of members of the Institution of Engineers (NSW Branch) which was conducted in May and June 1991.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-128).

Mexican migrant workers have been coming to Canada since 1974 to work in agriculture as participants of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Presently, Mexicans constitute the majority of SAWP workers. As well, Ontario is the main receiver of these workers followed by British Columbia and Quebec. Accordingly, the scope of this thesis mainly encompasses Mexican workers in Ontario. However, the thesis also includes Mexican SAWP workers in Quebec and British Columbia. This thesis reveals two main issues: (1) that all SAWP workers, particularly Mexican workers, lack key legal rights and protections relating to labour relations, employment, health and safety standards at the structural level of the SAWP; and at the federal, provincial, and international levels. (2) Even when they have rights under legislation relating to the above-mentioned subject matters, Mexicans, especially, lack the capacity to access them. Thus, they become ‘unfree labourers’ who are placed in a perpetual state of disadvantage, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation once in Canada. To describe the issues above, the thesis is divided into five chapters addressing the following: Chapter 1 presents the historical context behind the SAWP as well as the Mexican workers’ circumstances that attract them to participate in the Program. Chapter 2 examines the applicable constitutional and federal framework for SAWP workers. In addition, it highlights key federal exclusions placed on them, which originate in the federal immigration and employment insurance legislation. Chapter 3 concludes that Ontario does not protect its agricultural workers from unfair treatment and exploitation in the workplace; rather, it perpetuates such practices. This reality is intensified for SAWP Mexican workers. Particularly, chapter 3 analyses a constitutional challenge to the Ontario legislation excluding agricultural worker from its labour relations regime; said challenge is based on ss. 2(d) and 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Chapter 4 maintains that similarly to workers in Ontario, SAWP workers in Quebec and British Columbia also face extreme disadvantages due in great part to the lack of or limited legal protections. Finally, chapter 5 asserts that due to its implementation in the Canadian framework, international law is inadequate to protect domestic and SAWP workers’ rights. While each chapter identifies tangible drawbacks or anomalies, which affect SAWP workers negatively, the thesis also provides recommendations to alleviate said weaknesses.

The determinants of the use of atypical employment and the effectiveness Abstract Atypical employment has been popular all over the world. Although there are plenty of articles about the current situation of the use of atypical employment, we still lack the studies about what determines of the use , how atypical employment influences labor costs, and what determines its future growth. Due to my interests upon the issues above, I made some analysis and got some conclusions: I. The determinants of the use of atypical employment 1. Contingent workers usually don¡¦t do nuclear work 2. Companies usually don¡¦t use atypical employment on professional jobs. 3. Companies usually use atypical employment when workload increases temporarily. 4. Temporary work is usually clerical and industrial. 5. Organizational size has positive effect upon atypical employment. 6. Labor collective contracts have positive effect upon atypical employment. 7. Companies in business-service industry use more atypical employment. 8. Benefit level has positive effect upon atypical employment. II. The determinants of cost saving after using atypical employment 1. The lower level of wage and benefits of contingent workers is the main reason to explain why cost saving happens after using atypical employment. 2. The use of professional temporary work has negative effect on cost saving after using atypical employment. 3. Low-skilled temporary work help firms to save labor costs. 4. Atypical employment causes higher mobility among regular workers and it has negative effect on cost saving. 5. Organizational size has positive effect upon cost saving after companies use atypical employment. 6. It is easier for companies of business-service and manufacturing industry to save labor costs after using atypical employment. III. The determinants of the future growth of atypical employment 1. Atypical employment growth is due to the need to get more employment flexibility and cost control. 2. Professional temporary work will grow significantly in the future. 3. Bad influences of atypical employment have positive effect on its future growth. 4. Collective labor contracts have positive effect on the future growth of atypical employment. 5. Both Taiwanese and foreign companies will increase atypical employment significantly in three years. 6. Organizational size has positive effect on the growth of atypical employment.