Labor Relations Commons^™

Immigrant Workers In The Massachusetts Health Care Industry: A Report On Status And Future Prospects, Ramon Borges-Mendez, James Jennings, Donna H. Friedman, Malo Hutson, Teresa Eliot Roberts

Center for Social Policy Publications

Given the vital picture of foreign-born health care workers, this study has the following objectives:

1. To document the labor market position of foreign-born workers in the sector at various levels (national, statewide, sub-regional) including patterns of occupational concentration during the last decade or so, prospects for occupational mobility, wages, geographic concentration, employment by type of establishment (hospitals, community health centers, etc.) and workforce development opportunities;
2. To document, whenever possible, the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of foreign-born workers in the sector, including country of origin and gender among others;
3. To document the qualitative contribution of foreign-born workers in the health care …

Brokering Up: The Role Of Temporary Staffing In Overcoming Labor Market Barriers, Françoise Carré, Brandynn Holgate, Helen Levine, Mandira Kala

Center for Social Policy Publications

Alternative Staffing Organizations (ASOs) are social-purpose businesses created by community-based organizations and national nonprofits to “broker up” job seekers, starting with temporary assignments and forming bridges to better jobs. Funded by the C. S. Mott Foundation, the Alternative Staffing Demonstration examined four ASOs around the country for a three-year research project, with 18 months of close monitoring, exploring, and assessing the ASO model. The Center for Social Policy studied how ASOs structure the services they provide, handle day-to-day management issues, and sell their services. We found the ASO model was variously adapted to generate short-term employment, build work experience, provide …

Nepali Female Migrants And Informalization Of Domestic Care Work: Service Or Servitude?, Shobha Hamal Gurung

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

Nepali female migrants are among the fastest-growing immigrant workforces in the South Asian community, particularly in service and domestic work in big cities of the United States. However, there has not until now been a study investigating the work experiences of Nepali immigrants/migrants employed in the service and domestic sectors in these cities. This article investigates the work experiences of Nepali female migrants who work in service and domestic/child care work in Boston and New York, focusing on examining the type and nature of women's work, labor practices, work and living conditions, women's experiences and views about their work, and …

Gaming In Massachusetts: Can Casinos Bring 'Good Jobs' To The Commonwealth?, Marlene Kim, Susan Moir, Anneta Argyres

Labor Resource Center Publications

This study examines the quality of jobs in the United States gaming industry and analyzes enabling legislation in five states that have legalized gaming. The authors find that the gaming industry -- particularly the unionized sector of the casino hotel industry -- provides good jobs with good wages and benefits for workers with less than a high school degree. The authors conlcude that workforce development efforts in Masschusetts must include strategies to address improving the quality of entry-level jobs.

Work-Based Social Support In The United States: Limits And New Possibilities, Heather Boushey, Chris Tilly

Center for Social Policy Publications

The U.S. social policy framework has always relied on private employers to fill in the gaps for workers, rather than the state. U.S. workers have neither a strong social safety net outside of the labor market, nor an extensive social welfare structure supporting the labor market. For the most part, adequate provision of social benefits depends critically on employers’ voluntary adoption of support policies. For example, the U.S. has neither a universal health plan nor a requirement that employers provide health insurance coverage; the U.S. public system of old-age pensions is work-based, and that public system falls short unless supplemented …

An Overview Of The Gloves-Off Economy: Workplace Standards At The Bottom Of America’S Labor Market, Annette Bernhardt, Heather Boushey, Laura Dresser, Chris Tilly

Center for Social Policy Publications

When we talk about the “gloves-off economy,” we are identifying a set of employer strategies and practices that either evade or outright violate the core laws and standards that govern job quality in the U.S. While such strategies have long been present in certain sectors, such as sweatshops and marginal small businesses, we argue that they are spreading. This trend, driven by competitive pressures, has been shaped by an environment where other major economic actors—government, unions, and civil society—have either promoted deregulation or been unable to contain gloves-off business strategies. The result, at the start of the 21st century, is …

Massachusetts Marine Trades Workforce Assessment 2005, Dan Hellin

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

In 2005, a partnership between the South Coastal Workforce Investment Board, the Massachusetts Marine Trades Association, Massasoit Community College and the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) of the University of Massachusetts Boston, developed and distributed a survey focused on the status, needs and future challenges faced by marine businesses in the South Coastal region of Massachusetts. The Urban Harbors Institute analyzed the responses and prepared this report to present the results.

The overall aims of the 2005 Marine Trades Workforce Assessment Survey were: to determine the extent of the marine industry’s labor needs in the South Coastal region of Massachusetts; to …

Case Studies Of Local Boards And One-Stop Centers: Creative Involvement Of Community-Based Disability Organizations At One-Stop Career Centers, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Heike Boeltzig

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) facilitates partnerships among organizations for more coordinated service delivery to all job seekers. Although the state Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) agency is the only disability agency or program that is a mandated partner under WIA, community-based disability organizations (CBOs) can also work with One-Stop Career Centers to enhance their capacity to support customers with disabilities. Through case study research, the Institute for Community Inclusion identified several models of involvement between CBOs and One-Stops. These models illustrate that organizations can be creative in developing their partner roles to meet the needs of both their staff and their …

Case Studies Of Local Boards And One-Stop Centers: Strategies For Maximizing Staff Competence When Supporting Job Seekers With Disabilities In One-Stop Career Centers, Allison Cohen Hall, Sheila Fesko

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Since states began implementing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998, One-Stop Career Centers have had to address the challenges of serving all customers seeking services, including job seekers with disabilities. To meet this challenge, many local One-Stops have demonstrated commitment to and progress towards creating innovative practices that positively affect access for job seekers with disabilities in the workforce system. The following brief is offered as a tool for local workforce systems to help achieve meaningful employment outcomes for job seekers with disabilities. This brief is part of a series of products offering practical solutions for Local Workforce Investment …

Case Studies Of Local Boards And One-Stop Centers: Tackling Fiscal Issues, Heike Boeltzig, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) established a network of One-Stop Career Centers by integrating different employment and training services into one comprehensive workforce investment system. Within this environment, One-Stop partners are mandated to collaborate to create a seamless service delivery system that enhances access to services and improves employment outcomes for all individuals, including those with disabilities. WIA's intent was to establish local workforce development systems that would respond to their areas' specific needs with unique solutions and creative partnerships. In addition to service delivery, WIA encourages One-Stop partners to share in the operating costs of the One-Stop …

Case Studies Of Local Boards And One-Stop Centers: Levels Of Involvement Of State Vr Agencies With Other One-Stop Partners, Sheila Fesko, Doris Hamner

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) emphasizes coordination and collaboration for better service delivery between state departments of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and other One-Stop partners. Although WIA's requirements for VR participation are clear, the parameters of this partnership are flexible and depend on a variety of factors within each state and local system. Defining the role of VR has had its challenges, as is the case for many partners in the WIA system. However, there are numerous examples of VR agencies working creatively to establish effective partnerships that positively influence services for job seekers with disabilities in the One-Stop system. The …

Case Studies Of Local Boards And One-Stop Centers: Underutilization Of One-Stops By People With Significant Disabilities, Doris Hamner, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) identifies individuals with disabilities as among the constituencies to be served by One-Stop Career Centers. Due to a variety of factors, including lack of an overall One-Stop data collection system, no clear way to identify disability in the system, and non-disclosure of disability by many customers, it is difficult to ascertain the exact level of One-Stop usage by people with disabilities. However, existing data sources and anecdotal evidence indicate that people with disabilities underutilize One-Stops. The number of people with disabilities that use One-Stops seems to be lower than what would be expected based on …

Economic Engagement: An Avenue To Employment For Individuals With Disabilities, William Kiernan, John Halliday, Heike Boeltzig

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

The role that employment has played for persons with disabilities over the past several decades has moved from one of no engagement in the workforce to a realization that persons with disabilities can work and are interested in working. The shrinking workforce has increased employers' interest in looking at the full range of potential workers, including those previously considered unemployable. The growing economy—coupled with the declining birth rate, the increase in technology and supports for a diverse workforce, and the increasing expectation that all persons should be provided with the opportunity to work—has led to a new view of individuals …

Alternative Job Brokering: Addressing Labor Market Disadvantages, Improving The Temp Experience, And Enhancing Job Opportunities, Françoise Carré, Joaquín Herranz, Jr., Dorie Seavey, Carlha Vickers, Ashley Aull, Rebecca Keegan

Center for Social Policy Publications

Alternative staffing is a key form of labor market intermediation worthy of consideration alongside that provided by other community-based job placement programs. Furthermore, an examination of alternative staffing services underscores the essential role that supports to employment play in job-brokering for workers who are disadvantaged in the labor market because these are businesses that tend simultaneously and daily to the two sides of the work relationship (worker-client and customer business). Much can be learned from their experiences about the expertise and resources required to effectively broker jobs for these kinds of workers—expertise and resources that could be necessary if public-sector …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Focus On Leadership, Sheila Fesko, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The workforce development system has undergone significant change in the past five years, including the development and implementation of new partnerships. Maintaining the integrity of services and conducting major organizational change has been a challenge for local, state, and federal leaders. Some states have a limited vision of how this new workforce system can operate and the ways in which their customers can benefit from the new partnerships. Other states, however, have embraced the challenge put forth in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and have built on previous collaborations or begun new initiatives. This publication discusses some of the challenges …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Focus On Merging Cultures, Allison Cohen Hall, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Sheila Fesko

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires major organizational change for employment, training, and disability agencies. The initiative emphasizes coordination, collaboration and communication among organizations for better service delivery. At this time, states are developing systems that will enable them to address the needs of all customers, including those with disabilities, who are seeking employment. Traditionally, service systems have required that consumers and their families who need a variety of services be able to negotiate the culture and language of multiple agencies. With the new WIA legislation, this task is now being required of the agencies themselves. In …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Focus On Co-Location, Sheila Fesko, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Seamless service delivery means that a customer receiving services can move between two or more agencies with limited disruption. Seamless services have not been accomplished when a customer must take a cross-town bus to travel from one agency to another. To address this issue, many One-Stop career centers are looking into how staff from their partner agencies can physically share space. This can range from a single staff person from an agency working in the Center on specific days of the week (itinerant staffing) to all staff from that agency working there on a full-time basis (full co-location). Staff report …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Focus On Accessibility, Sheila Fesko, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Universal access is a central tenet of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and mandates that One-Stop Career Center (One-Stop) services be accessible for individuals with disabilities. Partnerships between Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and workforce development agencies have increased awareness about the importance of service accessibility and states have been responding to this issue in their planning and service delivery. This brief highlights the innovative strategies states have used to make their One-Stops better able to support job seekers with disabilities. This brief is part of a series of products offering practical solutions for state and local entities as they implement the …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Focus On Involving Customers With Disabilities, Sheila Fesko, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

Although it is uniformly accepted that customers with disabilities should be involved in the process to create a new workforce system under the mandates of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), anecdotal evidence suggests this to be more rhetoric than reality. Currently One-Stop Career Centers, workforce boards, and states are struggling with how to solicit and incorporate this important input into the planning process. The following is offered as a tool to help involve customers with disabilities as One-Stop centers are developed. This brief is part of a series of products offering practical solutions for state and local entities as they …

From Paper To Action: State-Level Interagency Agreements For Supported Employment Of People With Disabilities, Deborah Metzel, Susan M. Foley, John Butterworth

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

Over the past decade there has been an increasing national emphasis on the participation of individuals with disabilities in the labor force. This concern was recognized through Executive Order No. 13078 signed by President Bill Clinton in March 1998, establishing the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities. The Task Force was charged with a mission "to create a coordinated and aggressive policy to bring adults with disabilities into gainful employment at a rate that is as close as possible to that of the general adult population" (Section 1 (c)). Legislation and policy changes have also been directed …

Employee Preferences As A Factor In Pension Participation By Minority Workers, Yung-Ping Chen, Thomas D. Leavitt

Gerontology Institute Publications

This project was designed to shed light on the widening gap between white and minority pension coverage during recent years. The hypothesis under investigation is that the divergence in white/minority coverage may be due in part to differences in the rates at which white and minority workers are choosing to participate in voluntary salary reduction plans. The availability of such plans has increased explosively in the past decade or so.

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Spotlight On Maine, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Sheila Fesko, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires major organizational change for employment and training agencies. The initiative emphasizes coordination, collaboration and communication among organizations for better service delivery. At this time, states are developing systems that will enable them to address the needs of all customers seeking employment. The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) has conducted state case studies for two purposes: (1) to identify how states have begun the process of collaboration under the new mandates of WIA; and (2) to understand the impact on customers with disabilities. This is the third in a series of publications …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Spotlight On Kentucky, Allison Cohen Hall, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Sheila Fesko

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires major organizational change for employment and training agencies. The initiative emphasizes coordination, collaboration and communication among organizations for better service delivery. At this time, states are developing systems that will enable them to address the needs of all customers seeking employment. The Institute for Community Inclusaion (ICI) has conducted state case studies for two purposes: (1) to identify how states have begun the process of collaboration under the new mandates of WIA; and (2) to understand the impact on customers with disabilities. This is the first in a series of publications …

Case Studies On The Implementation Of The Workforce Investment Act: Spotlight On Minnesota, Sheila Fesko, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Allison Cohen Hall

Case Studies Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

The implementation of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) requires major organizational change for employment and training agencies. The initiative emphasizes coordination, collaboration and communication among organizations for better service delivery. At this time, states are developing systems that will enable them to address the needs of all customers seeking employment. The Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) has conducted state case studies for two purposes: (1) to identify how states have begun the process of collaboration under the new mandates of WIA; and (2) to understand the impact on customers with disabilities. This is the second in a series of publications …