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New Employment Relationships Project (NERP) — Final Report 2007
An Analysis of Issues in New Work Relationships and their Implications for Development of Public Labour Policy and Law in Canada
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PHASE V — Working Conditions Based on Employment Relationship and Occupation
Hours of Work
The Labour Force Survey collects information on actual and usual hours of work.
Actual hours refer to the average hours worked during the reference week. It includes those who did not work for reasons such as illness or vacation. Actual hours also includes regular and overtime hours, regardless of whether the overtime was paid.
Usual hours refer to regular weekly hours, or hours defined by a contract. It excludes overtime. Usual hours do not take into account absence from work during the reference week (such as vacation or illness). In the case of the OASE in this study, their usual hours include overtime because specific overtime hours cannot be separated out.
In 2003, the overall hours actually worked were less than the usual hours. While actual hours includes overtime, it also includes individuals who may have worked fewer or no hours during the reference week because they may have been sick, on vacation or absent from work for a variety of reasons. In this section, we will primarily focus on hours usually worked, since such hours can be compared directly with hourly and weekly wages, and overtime where relevant can be added to usual hours11.
Own-Account Self-Employed
As noted earlier, overtime was not calculated separately for self-employed workers but is included in their regular work hours. To make the data comparable, overtime hours worked by permanent employees was therefore included.
In 2003, the average usual weekly hours of own-account self-employed workers stood at 37.8 hours. This compares with 44.8 hours among permanent employees (including overtime). Actual hours were slightly less at 33.2 among OASE and 41.5 among permanent workers. It is important to note that the average overtime worked was calculated based on only those who reported working extra hours, not the entire workforce. In other words, those who did not report working extra hours are not included in the calculation. The LFS indicates that 14.1% of temporary workers and 22.8% of permanent workers reported working extra hours in 2003. Data excluding overtime hours worked among permanent employees are nevertheless presented in relevant tables.
Mean Usual Work Hours
Only half the occupations analyzed have a sufficient number of OASE workers to obtain information about usual hours. Three of these occupations are above the Canadian average: Truck Drivers (50.5 hours), Heavy Equipment Operators (43.6 hours) and Construction Trades (40.0 hours). These occupations are also among the occupations showing the smallest gap between permanent and OASE workers (with or without overtime hours).
In fact, the ratio between work hours of self-employed workers and permanent employees is 89.7% for Truck Drivers, 80.0% for Heavy Equipment Operators and 81.6% for Construction Trades. The average ratio between all OASE and permanent workers is 84.4%.
In addition to Truck Drivers, the other occupation above the average is Clerical Occupations and General Office Skills (87.0%). The lowest ratios are observed in Other Elemental Sales Occupations, and Light Duty Cleaners. In these two cases, the ratio between self-employed workers and permanent employees is 51.9% and 57.0% respectively.
Median Usual Work Hours
The median weekly hours12 of self-employed workers was 40.0 hours, or 2.2 hours more than the average amount. This relatively small difference suggests that there is a relatively even distribution of workers on both sides of the average, although in some occupations the differences are greater.
The median weekly work hours for OASE Child Care and Home Support Workers stood at 16.0 hours, compared with an average of 24.8 hours among OASE Child Care Workers. The difference between mean and median hours is also high in Other Elemental Sales, with a median number of weekly hours among OASE of 15.0 and a mean number of 20.2 hours per week. In both cases, this suggests that a large number of workers (at least half) work fewer than 16 hours per week. It also suggests that those working more than the average number of hours are working considerably more than the average number of hours.
Mean & Median Usual Weekly Hours Worked by Permanent & OASE Workers, by Occupation — Canada 2003
| Mean Usual Hours | Hours / week | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Permanent employees (1) | OASE (overtime included) | Ratio (OASE/Permanent) |
| 1. Truck Drivers | 45.9 (53.6)(1) |
50.5 | 110.0% (89.7%) |
| All Occupations | 36.3 (44.8) |
37.8 | 104.1% (84.4%) |
| 2. Heavy Equipment Operators | 43.3 (54.5) |
43.6 | 100.5% (80.0%) |
| 3. Clerical Occupations & General Office Skills | 32.7 (37.6) |
32.7 | 100.0% (87.0%) |
| 4. Construction Trades | 40.3 (49.0) |
40.0 | 99.3% (81.6%) |
| 5. Hairstylists & Barbers | 34.6 (41.6) |
32.1 | 92.8% (77.2%) |
| 6. Childcare & Home Support Workers | 29.2 (35.3) |
24.8 | 84.9% (70.3%) |
| 7. Registered Nurses | 33.1 (39.6) |
27.6 | 83.4% (69.7%) |
| 8. Light Duty Cleaners | 30.5 (37.4) |
21.3 | 69.8% (57.0%) |
| 9. Other Elemental Sales | 32.2 (38.9) |
20.2 | 62.7% (51.9%) |
| 10. Construction Trade Helpers & Labourers | 39.7 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 11. Nurse Aides & Orderlies | 32.2 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 12. Cashiers | 25.5 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 13. Grocery Clerks & Shelf Stockers | 28.1 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 14. Registered Nursing Assistants | 33.2 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 15. Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities | 38.6 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 16. Retail Salespersons & Sales Clerks | 29.8 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 17. Occupations in Food & Beverage | 27.2 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 18. Food Counter Attendants & Kitchen Helpers | 25.7 | n.a. | n.a. |
(1) Values in parentheses represent average hours worked among the 22.8% of permanent workers who also reported working overtime.
Source: Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada, 2003.
| Median Usual Hours | Hours / week | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Permanent employees (no overtime included) | Temporary | Ratio (OASE/Permanent) |
| 1. Truck Drivers | 40.0 | 50.0 | 125.0% |
| 2. Heavy Equipment Operators | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| All Occupations | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 3. Construction Trades | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 4. Clerical Occupations & General Office Skills | 36.3 | 35.0 | 96.4% |
| 5. Hairstylists & Barbers | 37.5 | 32.0 | 85.3% |
| 6. Registered Nurses | 36.0 | 24.0 | 66.7% |
| 7. Light Duty Cleaners | 35.0 | 20.0 | 57.1% |
| 8. Childcare & Home Support Workers | 30.0 | 16.0 | 53.3% |
| 9. Other Elemental Sales Occupations | 35.0 | 15.0 | 42.9% |
| 10. Construction Trade Helpers & Labourers | 40.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 11. Nurse Aides & Orderlies | 35.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 12. Cashiers | 25.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 13. Grocery Clerks & Shelf Stockers | 30.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 14. Registered Nursing Assistants | 36.3 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 15. Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities | 40.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 16. Retails Salespersons & Sales Clerks | 32.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 17. Occupations in Food & Beverage Service | 28.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
| 18. Food Counter Attendants & Kitchen Helpers | 25.0 | n.a. | n.a. |
Note: Values in parentheses include overtime hours worked among those employees who reported performing extra hours.
Source: Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada, 2003
Temporary Employees
Unlike the situation with self-employed workers, the number of hours temporary employees usually work does not include overtime. The comparison between temporary and permanent employees will therefore be based on usual work hours and not take overtime into account. Instead, overtime will be addressed separately in the next section.
In 2003, the average usual work hours of all temporary employees in Canada stood at 29.6 per week, compared with 36.3 hours for permanent employees. Actual hours worked that year were slightly less at 27.4 for temporary and 33.0 for permanent workers.
Mean Usual Work Hours
The average number of weekly hours worked by temporary employees was 29.6 in 2003. Five of the 18 occupations were above this average. Heavy Equipment Operators and Truck Drivers worked the longest hours (44.0 and 43.6). Temporary employees in five occupations worked fewer than 22 hours per week: Grocery Clerks and Shelf Stockers (21.4 hours), Occupations in Food and Beverage Service (21.2 hours), Retail Salespersons (20.9 hours), Food Counter Attendants and Kitchen Helpers (19.7 hours) and Cashiers (19.0 hours). These occupations tend to be found in the restaurant and retail trade sectors.
Usual hours worked by temporary employees represent, on average, 81.5% of those performed by permanent employees. Eight occupations are equal to or above this average, and the remaining occupations are below it. Only one occupation offers temporary employees more work hours than permanent employees, namely Heavy Equipment Operators (the percentage is 101.4%). In three occupations, temporary employees work less than 75% of the hours performed by permanent workers: Other Elemental Sales Occupations (74.5%), Cashiers (74.5%) and Retail Salespersons (70.1%).
Median Usual Work Hours
The median hours worked by temporary workers stood at 35.0 hours per week in 2003, 5.4 hours more than the mean number of hours (29.6 hours), representing a difference of +8.2%. In other words, half of these workers – despite their contingent employment arrangement – appear to work more than 35 hours per week. Occupations in which the differences are relatively high are Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities (+17.6% or 6 hours), Cashiers (-15.8% or -3 hours), and Clerical Occupations and General Office Skills (+13.6% or 3.6 hours). In these occupations, median weekly hours of work are 40, 16 and 30 respectively. Thirteen occupations have a median number of hours below that of all the occupations combined.
Using the median hours measure, in no instance did temporary employees work more than their permanent counterparts. However, in five occupations they worked the same number of median hours. In all other occupations, the ratio between work hours of temporary and permanent workers ranged between 62.5% and 82.6%.
Mean & Median Usual Weekly Hours Worked by Permanent & Temporary Workers, by Occupation — Canada 2003
| Mean Usual Hours | Hours / week | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Permanent employees | Temporary employees | Ratio (Temp/Perm) |
| 1. Heavy Equipment Operators | 43.4 | 44.0 | 101.4% |
| 2. Construction Trades | 40.3 | 39.0 | 96.8% |
| 3. Construction Trade Helpers & Labourers | 39.7 | 38.0 | 95.7% |
| 4. Truck Drivers | 45.9 | 43.6 | 95.0% |
| 5. Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities | 38.6 | 34.0 | 88.1% |
| 6. Registered Nursing Assistants | 33.2 | 28.2 | 84.9% |
| 7. Light Duty Cleaners | 30.5 | 24.9 | 81.6% |
| 8. Hairstylists & Barbers | 34.6 | 28.2 | 81.5% |
| All Occupations | 36.3 | 29.6 | 81.5% |
| 9. Clerical Occupations & General Office Skills | 32.7 | 26.4 | 80.7% |
| 10. Registered Nurses | 33.1 | 26.0 | 78.5% |
| 11. Nurse Aides & Orderlies | 32.2 | 25.1 | 78.0% |
| 12. Occupations in Food & Beverage Service | 27.2 | 21.2 | 77.9% |
| 13. Food Counter Attendants & Kitchen Helpers | 25.7 | 19.7 | 76.7% |
| 14. Grocery Clerks & Shelf Stockers | 28.1 | 21.4 | 76.2% |
| 15. Childcare & Home Support Workers | 29.2 | 22.0 | 75.3% |
| 16. Other Elemental Sales Occupations | 32.2 | 24.0 | 74.5% |
| 17. Cashiers | 25.5 | 19.0 | 74.5% |
| 18. Retails Salespersons & Sales Clerks | 29.8 | 20.9 | 70.1% |
| Median Usual Hours | Hours / week | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Permanent employees | Temporary employees | Ratio (Temp/Perm) |
| 1. Construction Trade Helpers & Labourers | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 2. Truck Drivers | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 3. Heavy Equipment Operators | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 4. Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| 5. Construction Trades | 40.0 | 40.0 | 100.0% |
| All Occupations | 40.0 | 35.0 | 87.5% |
| 6. Clerical Occupations & General Office Skills | 36.3 | 30.0 | 82.6% |
| 7. Registered Nursing Assistants | 36.3 | 30.0 | 82.6% |
| 8. Hairstylists & Barbers | 37.5 | 30.0 | 80.0% |
| 9. Childcare & Home Support Workers | 30.0 | 24.0 | 80.0% |
| 10. Light Duty Cleaners | 35.0 | 28.0 | 80.0% |
| 11. Registered Nurses | 36.0 | 28.0 | 77.8% |
| 12. Nurse Aides & Orderlies | 35.0 | 25.0 | 71.4% |
| 13. Occupations in Food & Beverage Service | 28.0 | 20.0 | 71.4% |
| 14. Food Counter Attendants & Kitchen Helpers | 25.0 | 17.5 | 70.0% |
| 15. Other Elemental Sales Occupations | 35.0 | 24.0 | 68.6% |
| 16. Grocery Clerks & Shelf Stockers | 30.0 | 20.0 | 66.7% |
| 17. Cashiers | 25.0 | 16.0 | 64.0% |
| 18. Retails Salespersons & Sales Clerks | 32.0 | 20.0 | 62.5% |
Source: Labour Force Survey. Statistics Canada, 2003
11 Statistics Canada, Guide to the Labour Force Survey, February 2005, pp. 10-19. We also consulted Jacques Ouellet, an analyst at Statistics Canada, about certain definitions.
12 The median value of work hours is the one that splits down the middle the number of workers in an occupation (or in all occupations).