Law of Work

Read the following passage, which is based on a newspaper article. Using the Law of Work Framework (as presented in the below figure), discuss why the workers described in bed in the story might be prepared to agree to very poor working conditions, many of which violate employment standards legislation. In your answer, explain what both the Internal/ and External Feedback Loops refer to and provide an example drawn from the newspaper article to demonstrate your understanding of these concept.

Few are aware of labour rights in Toronto's Chinatown

Sue Zheng was happy to land her first job in Toronto at a manicure salon. But there was a catch: the employer's offer required her to pay a $400 deposit to work there and she would receive only $25 a day for 10 hours of work, seven days a week. She accepted the job anyway because she needed money, even though the employer's offer violated employment standards legislation.

"I don't know any English and had no idea what my rights were," she explained. Workers don't have a lot of rights where I came from.'

Zheng, 40, who arrived in Toronto from Fuzhou, China in 2006, said she was desperate to find work last year after raising two young children. "You just accept what you are given." Hers is one of numerous stories of abuse and exploitation of immigrant workers uncovered in a survey by the Chinese Interagency Network of Greater Toronto, an umbrella group of 33 social and health service agencies serving the Chinese community.

The survey found fewer than one in five know what the maximum hours of work are in Ontario. Of the 119 people interviewed, 66 per cent were unaware of overtime and holiday pay. And four out of 10 people did not know the current minimum wage or that they were protected by labour laws even if they didn't have a written employment contract.

"The problem is newcomers are not familiar with their rights in Canada. They also face the language barrier and don't know the social infrastructure and supports available to them," he said. "Many of the workers have worked in those kinds of conditions for years and they just don't care about their rights. They just do whatever their bosses order them to and accept what they pay them. They never challenge," said a disheartened Wei Sun, one of eight volunteers who conducted the survey.

"It's shocking in Canada that these people are working 70 hours a week, with an average hourly wage of $4." Andy Mark of Toronto's Chinese Canadian National Council said many skilled immigrants put up with poor working conditions because their foreign credentials are not recognized. "It is difficult to find jobs in the mainstream job market. They want to keep their jobs. It's simply about survival," Mark said.

Janet Deline, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Labour, said the Ministry is concerned about the issues raised in the report. "Employment standards legislation was passed to respond to employee vulnerability and we're disappointed that some businesses feel they don't have to provide their employees with minimum statutory requirements. This is something we are committed to addressing." Deline said the ministry will be investing in stronger enforcement of employment standards.

One employer who operates a nail salon in downtown Toronto, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that there is intense pressure on small business in his industry because of the large amount of competition. "Most businesses are barely making a profit, which makes it very difficult to comply with all of the many employment laws, especially if our competitors are not also complying.

FIGURE 2.2 Law of Work Framework Worksheet THE WORK LAW SUBSYSTEM The Common Law Regime (Part II of the text) OUTPUTS KEY INTERNAL INPUTS RULE-MAKING KEY LEGAL Employment ACTORS Power PROCESSES INSTITUTION contracts Employers Individual Judges/courts Values negotiations Torts Individual employees Goal Civil litigation Workplace norms The Regulatory Regime (Part III of the text, Chapters 18-24) KEY INTERNAL INPUTS RULE-MAKING KEY LEGAL INSTITUTIONS OUTPUTS ACTOR Power PROCESS Government inspectors Protective Government Legislative process Values Administrative tribunals regulatory standards Goals Judges/courts legislation The Collective Bargaining Regime (Part IV of the text EXTERNAL FEEDBACK LOOP INTERNAL FEEDBACK LOOP KEY INTERNAL RULE-MAKING KEY LEGAL OUTPUTS ACTORS INPUTS PROCESSES INSTITUTIONS Collective Power Labour tribunals bargaining Government Legislative process legislation Values Labour arbitrators Collective Employers and Goals Collective bargaining, Judges/courts agreements their associations strikes, and lockouts Torts/labour Employees and Arbitration injunctions their associations Civil litigation Workplace norms BROADER LEGAL SUBSYSTEM POLITICAL SOCIAL CULTURAL, AND ECOLOGICAL ECONOMIC AND MARKET SUBSYSTEM SUBSYSTEM RELIGIOUS SUBSYSTEM ENVIRONMENTAL SUBSYSTEM EXTERNAL INPUTS * Legal rules produced by each of the three regimes of work law feed back into the subsystem as information and experience and can provoke changes and adaptations by the actors in all three regimes, which can produce new outputs