Is precarious employment an occupational hazard? Evidence from Ontario, Canada.

Objectives: To examine the association between precarious employment and risk of occupational injury or illness in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: We combined accepted lost-time compensation claims from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board with labour force statistics to estimate injury and illness rates between January 2016 and December 2019. Precarious employment was imputed using a job exposure matrix and operationalised in terms of temporary employment, low wages, irregular hours, involuntary part-time employment and a multidimensional measure of 'low', 'medium', 'high' and 'very high' probabilities of exposure to precarious employment.

Precarious employment and the workplace transmission of COVID-19: evidence from workers' compensation claims in Ontario, Canada.

Objective: To examine the association between precarious employment and risk of work-related COVID-19 infection in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: We combined data from an administrative census of workers' compensation claims with corresponding labour force statistics to estimate rates of work-related COVID-19 infection between April 2020 and April 2022. Precarious employment was imputed using a job exposure matrix capturing temporary employment, low wages, irregular hours, involuntary part-time employment and a multidimensional indicator of 'low', 'medium', 'high' and 'very high' overall exposure to precarious employment.

Unpaid overtime and mental health in the Canadian working population.

Background: Unpaid overtime-describing a situation where extra hours are worked but not paid for-is a common feature of the labor market that, together with other forms of wage theft, costs workers billions of dollars annually. In this study, we examine the association between unpaid overtime and mental health in the Canadian working population. We also assess the relative strength of that association by comparing it against those of other broadly recognized work stressors.

Job quality and precarious employment among lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers: A national study.

Background: Employment outcomes among sexual minority (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual) workers are poorly understood, and previous research on this topic has focused almost exclusively on inequities in earnings, neglecting other important dimensions of job quality.

Identifying the sociodemographic and work-related factors related to workers' daily physical activity using a decision tree approach.

Background: The social and behavioural factors related to physical activity among adults are well known. Despite the overlapping nature of these factors, few studies have examined how multiple predictors of physical activity interact. This study aimed to identify the relative importance of multiple interacting sociodemographic and work-related factors associated with the daily physical activity patterns of a population-based sample of workers.

Inflation hardship, gender, and mental health.

Inflation hit a 40 year high in the United States in 2022, yet the impact of inflation related hardships on distress is poorly understood, particularly the impact on women, whose income is already more limited. Using data from the US Household Pulse Survey (September-November 2022), we test whether exposure to inflation hardships is associated with greater distress and whether this association is moderated by gender (n = 119,531). We draw on a list of eighteen inflation related hardships (e.

Artificial intelligence and the work-health interface: A research agenda for a technologically transforming world of work.

The labor market is undergoing a rapid artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. There is currently limited empirical scholarship that focuses on how AI adoption affects employment opportunities and work environments in ways that shape worker health, safety, well-being and equity. In this article, we present an agenda to guide research examining the implications of AI on the intersection between work and health.

Racial and Ethnic Inequities in the Return-to-Work of Workers Experiencing Injury or Illness: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Non-White workers face more frequent, severe, and disabling occupational and non-occupational injuries and illnesses when compared to White workers. It is unclear whether the return-to-work (RTW) process following injury or illness differs according to race or ethnicity.

Objective: To determine racial and ethnic differences in the RTW process of workers with an occupational or non-occupational injury or illness.

The Employment Quality of Persons with Disabilities: Findings from a National Survey.

Purpose: Labour market integration is a widely accepted strategy for promoting the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. But what kinds of jobs do persons with disabilities obtain following their integration into the labour market? In this study, we use a novel survey of workers to describe and compare the employment quality of persons with and without disabilities in Canada.

Methods: We administered an online, cross-sectional survey to a heterogeneous sample of workers in Canada (n = 2,794).

How Does Job Insecurity and Workplace Activity Limitations Relate to Rheumatic Disease Symptom Trajectories in Young Adulthood? A Longitudinal Study.

Objective: Workplace and labor market conditions are associated with the health of the working population. A longitudinal study was conducted among young adults with rheumatic disease to examine workplace activity limitations and job insecurity and their relationship with disease symptom trajectories.

Methods: Three online surveys were administered to young adults with rheumatic disease over 27 months.

Longitudinal Reciprocal Relationships Between the Psychosocial Work Environment and Burnout.

Objective: To examine longitudinal reciprocal relationships between the psychosocial work environment and burnout.

Methods: We used two-wave cross-lagged panel models to estimate associations between a wide range of psychosocial work factors (ie, job demands, job control, job insecurity, coworker support, supervisor support, and organizational justice) and burnout in a broadly representative sample of the general working population in Canada (n = 453).

Results: Bidirectional associations between the psychosocial work environment and burnout were observed.

Understanding income-related differences in distribution of child growth, behaviour and development using a cross-sectional sample of a clinical cohort study.

Objectives: Children from low-income households are at an increased risk of social, behavioural and physical health problems. Prior studies have generally relied on dichotomous outcome measures. However, inequities may exist along the range of outcome distribution.

The prevalence and correlates of workplace infection control practices in Canada between July and September 2020.

Background: There are important information gaps concerning the prevalence and distribution of infection control practices (ICPs) within workplaces continuing to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data And Methods: To address these gaps, this paper examines the prevalence of workplace ICPs among employed respondents to Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey in the months of July, August and September 2020 (n = 53,316). The article also seeks to identify sociodemographic, occupational and workplace factors associated with the level and type of workplace ICPs.

Social inequalities in protective behaviour uptake at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a national survey.

Objectives: We aimed to assess social patterns of handwashing, social distancing, and working from home at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, and determine what proportions of the overall prevalence and social inequalities in handwashing and social distancing are related to inequalities in the opportunity to work from home, to guide pandemic preparedness and response.

Methods: Using cross-sectional data from the Canadian Perspectives Survey Series, collected between March 29 and April 3, 2020, among Canadian adults (N=4455), we assessed prevalence of not working from home, social distancing in public, or practicing frequent handwashing, according to age, sex, marital status, immigration, education, chronic disease presence, and source of COVID-19 information. Multivariate regression, population attributable fraction estimation, and generalized product mediation analysis were applied.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, financial worries, and perceived organizational support among people living with disabilities in Canada.

Background: Individuals with physical or mental health disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 on their health and employment.

Objectives: We examined COVID-19-related concerns for health, finances, and organizational support among workers with no disability, a physical, mental health, or both physical and mental health disability, and factors associated with COVID-19 perceptions.

Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey was administered to a sample of Canadians in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unemployment Insurance and Mortality Among the Long-Term Unemployed: A Population-Based Matched-Cohort Study.

Unemployment insurance is hypothesized to play an important role in mitigating the adverse health consequences of job loss. In this prospective cohort study, we examined whether receiving unemployment benefits is associated with lower mortality among the long-term unemployed. Census records from the 2006 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort (n = 2,105,595) were linked to mortality data from 2006-2016.

Assessing the Psychosocial Work Environment in Relation to Mental Health: A Comprehensive Approach.

Objectives: Prevailing job stress models encourage a multidimensional view of the psychosocial work environment and highlight the role that multiple co-occurring stressors play in the aetiology of mental health problems. In this study, we develop a latent typology of psychosocial work environment profiles to describe how a comprehensive array of job stressors are clustered in the Canadian labour market. We also examine the association between these latent psychosocial work environment profiles and several indicators of mental health.

Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in premature and avoidable mortality in Canada, 1991-2016.

Background: Recent epidemiologic findings suggest that socioeconomic inequalities in health may be widening over time. We examined trends in socioeconomic inequalities in premature and avoidable mortality in Canada.

Methods: We conducted a population-based repeated cohort study using the 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts.

The effect of welfare reform on the health of the unemployed: evidence from a natural experiment in Germany.

Background: Over the past several decades, governments have enacted far-reaching reforms aimed at reducing the generosity and coverage of welfare benefits. Prior literature suggests that these policy measures may have deleterious effects on the health of populations. In this study, we evaluate the impact of one of the largest welfare reforms in recent history-the 2005 Hartz IV reform in Germany-with a focus on estimating its effect on the health of the unemployed.

The effect of unemployment benefits on health: A propensity score analysis.

In the wake of the Great Recession, an expanding body of research has highlighted the role of social protection policies in mitigating the deleterious effects of adverse socioeconomic experiences. In this paper, we examine whether unemployment benefits - a key pillar of national social protection systems - can offset the negative health consequences of unemployment. Using cross-sectional nationally representative data from the Canadian Community Health Survey covering the period between 2009 and 2014, we employed propensity score matching to estimate the effect of receiving unemployment benefits on self-rated health among the unemployed.

The impact of social assistance programs on population health: a systematic review of research in high-income countries.

Background: Socioeconomic disadvantage is a fundamental cause of morbidity and mortality. One of the most important ways that governments buffer the adverse consequences of socioeconomic disadvantage is through the provision of social assistance. We conducted a systematic review of research examining the health impact of social assistance programs in high-income countries.

Illustrating a "consequential" shift in the study of health inequalities: a decomposition of racial differences in the distribution of body mass.

Purpose: We present a conceptual introduction to "distributional inequalities"-differences in distributions of risk factors or other outcomes between social groups-as a consequential shift for research on health inequalities. We also review a companion analytical methodology, "distributional decomposition", which can assess the population characteristics that explain distributional inequalities.

Methods: Using the 1999-2012 U.

The implementation of Health in All Policies initiatives: a systems framework for government action.

Background: There has been a renewed interest in broadening the research agenda in health promotion to include action on the structural determinants of health, including a focus on the implementation of Health in All Policies (HiAP). Governments that use HiAP face the challenge of instituting governance structures and processes to facilitate policy coordination in an evidence-informed manner. Due to the complexity of government institutions and the policy process, systems theory has been proposed as a tool for evaluating the implementation of HiAP.

Associations between race, discrimination and risk for chronic disease in a population-based sample from Canada.

A major epidemiological finding emerging from studies using U.S. samples is that racial differences in experiences of discrimination are associated with racial differences in health.