Projects
Labor Markets
Labor and Employment Law
Employment Relations
Labor market trends in North America. This study, which is the third in a series of background reports on North American labor markets, will provide a statistical overview of recent labor market trends in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, focusing on trends in the labor force, employment, hours of work, earnings, income distribution, labor costs, and productivity.
Employment discrimination and equal pay law. This study provides a comprehensive guide to the legal framework in each of the three countries in regard to NAALC labor principle 7 on the elimination of employment discrimination on such grounds as race, religion, age, and sex, and to principle 8 on equal pay for women and men. The research covers the measures taken by governments to eliminate employment discrimination, laws regarding equal pay for women and men, government enforcement machinery, rights of private action, and remedies to ensure enforcement. The study will be the second volume in the Secretariat's series of comparative guides to labor and employment law in North America.
Occupational health and safety and workers' compensation. Research on occupational health and safety and workers' compensation laws in the three North American countries is being conducted to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive, tri-national guide to these subjects. These issues are covered in NAALC labor principle 9 on the prevention of occupational injuries and illnesses and principle 10 on compensation in cases of occupational injuries and illnesses. The topics include the standards adopted by governments to minimize the causes of occupational injuries and illnesses; systems for providing benefits and compensation to workers and their dependents for employment-related injuries, illnesses, or fatalities; and government administrative and enforcement machinery in these areas. The study will be the third volume in the Secretariat's series of comparative guides to labor and employment law in North America.
Trends and practices in employment relations. The purposes of this research study are to describe the systems of employment relations in the three North American countries and to identify emerging issues and trends. The study covers staffing and work organization, working conditions, labor-management relations, and cross-border aspects of employment relations.
Violence in the workplace. This published report deals with the problem of violence in North American workplaces. A key objective of the research is to assess, compile, and disseminate statistical and other data regarding workplace violence in the three countries. The study includes an analysis of the types and causes of violence at work, as well as an examination of prevention strategies.
High performance work systems. This recently published report seeks to analyze the diffusion in the three countries of work practices associated with "high performance work systems." Drawing on existing research in the field, the study analyzes the following practices: numerical flexibility (e.g., contingent employment, employment security); functional flexibility (teamwork, multi-skilling); new compensation systems (incentives, pay-for-knowledge); skill enhancement; employee participation; and decentralization of authority.
Occupational health and safety. The purposes of this report is to provide an overview of occupational health and safety in North America, using up-to-date and comparable indicators for the three countries, and to analyze innovative experiments aimed at improving workplace health and safety by means of labor-management cooperation. Thus, in addition to quantitative analysis of health and safety indicators, the research involves a number of detailed case studies.