Improving the economic security of casual workers in B

It examines the trends and experiences of people engaged in casual work in BC, and looks at the policy choices that have led to both an increase in the share of casual work in the province, and to deterioration in the economic security casual workers are able to derive from the labour market. [...] In Section 3, we demonstrate that government policies enacted in BC have negatively affected the economic security of workers in BC by eroding the conditions of casual workers, making it more difficult for workers to make the transition from casual to permanent work, and by creat- ing the conditions, directly and indirectly, conducive to an increase in the number of casual workers. [...] Details of the survey and the distribution of respondents in terms of gender, location, and immigration status are presented in Appendix A. The survey was made possible through the assistance of a number of community organizations that made the survey known to casual workers and helped in the interview process. [...] In our survey, some of the characteristics of casual work and the differences within the group are: •. The length of notice given for the start of work varied from 15 minutes to two months (with 60 per cent reporting they were given one day or less notice); •. The minimum length of the shift reported was 30 minutes (which is in violation of the Employment Standards Act); •. Employees received betw [...] We hypothesized that the likelihood of being a casual worker in a given province depends on: •. the demand for casual workers arising from (i) specific needs given the industry and occupation structure and (ii) the macroeconomic conditions; •. the supply of casual workers arising from (i) age and (ii) marital status; and •. the government policy that (i) increases the demand for casual workers thr