Employment Trends of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in South Eastern Ontario

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1 Employment Trends of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities in South Eastern Ontario Analysis of Placement Data from Fourteen Agencies Final Report Rosemary Lysaght, Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz, and Stephanie Buzinski South Eastern Ontario Community-University Research Alliance in Intellectual Disabilities Queen s University, Kingston, Ontario September

2 ABOUT US The South Eastern Ontario Community-University Research Alliance in Intellectual Disabilities (SEO CURA in ID) includes partners from across South Eastern Ontario as well as collaborators and ex-officio members from other areas. The community partners are primarily developmental service sector agencies across the six county catchment area and the primary researchers are based at Queen s University in Kingston. The complete list of researchers and partners can be found on our website ( Our vision is to augment the quality of life for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families through enhanced inclusion, sense of belonging and support. Our goals are that research findings be used to inform policies and practices of service providers and government ministries and that the partnering experience inform future research areas and approaches. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funding for SEO CURA in ID was provided by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [# ]. We wish to acknowledge the contributions of the staff in the many participating agencies that contributed to this project. DISCLAIMER The views expressed in this study report are not necessarily the views of all SEO CURA in ID partners, researchers, collaborators or members or SSHRC. ii

3 Background Productive roles provide people with the opportunity to add meaning to their lives and to contribute to their families, communities and society at large. Competitive employment is one such role to which most adults aspire; yet, people living with disabilities are typically under-represented and/or under-employed in the work force. A recent study of employment outcomes for people with disabilities completed in South Western Ontario (SWO) concluded that the majority of consumers (81%) with developmental disabilities 1 work in the sales and service sector and earn an average wage of $7.69 per hour, working an average of 14.7 hours per week (Dale, 2004). Currently there are no summary data for the South Eastern Ontario (SEO) region that identify trends in employment of individuals with intellectual disability 2. The purpose of this project was therefore to: 1. establish an employment profile for individuals with intellectual disability (ID) in the South Eastern Ontario region; 2. contribute to a needs assessment relative to employment patterns for this population; 3. identify gaps in market penetration. The results of this study provide valuable information concerning current placement trends and services as a baseline for future research on enhancing employment options for adults with intellectual disabilities. It also indicates directions for the development of focused skills training programs and community collaboration/education to improve societal inclusion and to enhance quality of life. Data Sources Fourteen employment agencies from South Eastern Ontario participated as collaborators in this project due to their involvement in the placement of persons with ID. Agencies were identified in the following manner: 1. All agencies that are community partners of the SEO CURA in ID were reviewed for their potential involvement in employment-related services. Those who were identified as providing employment placement services were invited to participate. 2. All agencies in the 6 county region of South Eastern Ontario included on Ontario Disability Supports Program (ODSP) lists of employment support providers in this region were contacted to determine whether their client placements over the past 1 Data reported for people who received services through the Ministry of Community and Social Services, Developmental Services Branch. 2 The term intellectual disability is used to refer to individuals who meet the Ministry of Community and Social Services eligibility criteria for developmental services. These are individuals who have significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills, originating before the age of 18. 1

4 5 years had included persons with intellectual disabilities. Information about the study and an invitation to participate was extended to all who had served clients meeting the study inclusion criteria. Of the 23 potential agencies identified from both sources, 8 reported that they either had not provided services to clients with intellectual disabilities, or, in the case of community partners that serve primarily clients with intellectual disabilities, that they refer clients to ODSP providers to secure competitive work opportunities. One additional placement agency reported that they have placed a limited number of clients with intellectual disability, but declined the invitation to participate due to recent staff turnovers and lack of capacity to supply the requested data. The participating 14 agencies were: Community Visions, Belleville Meta Vocational, Belleville Pathways to Independence, Belleville Career Services, Brockville On-Track Support Services, Godfrey Community Living North Grenville, Kemptville Community Living Kingston, Kingston Frontenac Community Mental Health Services, Kingston Independent Living Centre, Kingston St. Mary s of the Lake Vocational Services, Kingston Madoc Cope, Madoc Supportive Employment Services, County of Lanark, Perth Community Living Prince Edward, Picton Lanark County Support Services, Transition Support Services, Smiths Falls Each agency maintains records of their client placements, which include details regarding clients and their job profiles. A single database was developed using information supplied by the agencies, and included 145 clients and 186 placement profiles. Agencies provided information on placements spanning a time period from January 2001 to November Procedures Participating agencies were asked to supply information on remunerative job placements for clients with intellectual disabilities (ID), including the following: company name, business type, positions held by clients, hours worked, wage, and a brief description of client responsibilities. The names of individual clients were removed from the original data sources and replaced by unique identification numbers prior to review by Queen s University research assistants. The data were then entered into a single file on a secure computer at Queen s University. The original database was modified by adding a generic business classification to allow for broader grouping of jobs and by 2

5 adding fields to classify employment placements according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC). The NOC is a nationally accepted taxonomy and organizational framework of occupations in the Canadian labour market. It is used to compile, analyze and communicate information about occupations and provides a standardized framework for organizing the work world in a manageable, understandable and coherent system (Skills Information Division, Human Resources Development Canada, 2004). Information used to classify employment placements was acquired from the 2001 NOC statistics retrieved from the Statistics Canada website ( The resulting modified database was subjected to descriptive analysis and displayed in tables. The emerging employment profile for clients in South Eastern Ontario is summarized in the following section. Results Results are presented in terms of the positions secured for persons with ID with the assistance of the participating agencies. In many cases, workers included in the database had held multiple positions, and thus a single worker may be represented more than once in the data. The tables created in each section report data for the region as a whole, and then by three minor sub-regions: Eastern (Lanark and Leeds & Grenville counties), Central (Frontenac and Lennox & Addington counties), and Western (Hastings & Prince Edward counties). Employment Classification Analysis was conducted based on the reclassification of the employment positions into the NOC taxonomy by looking at the jobs themselves and the NOC business-type classification under which they fall. When businesses in the databases were reclassified, this resulted in 40 different categorical groupings. Restaurants was the most common category, followed by retail and non-profit organizations (see Table 1). This trend was slightly different in the sub-regions: in the Eastern sub-region, manufacturing jobs were the third most prevalent, while grocery stores were the third most likely placement site in the Central sub-region. In South Eastern Ontario, 64% of positions held by people with ID are broadly classified by the NOC taxonomy as Sales and Service Occupations (see Table 2). This category holds by far the greatest concentration of positions, representing over half of all placements in all sub-regions. The next highest category for the region is Occupations Unique to Primary Industry, which includes workers in agriculture, forestry, mining, etc. and labourers in those industries. The third most prevalent placement category, and second most numerous in the Western sub-region are Business, Finance and Administrative Occupations, under which most clerical jobs are included. 3

6 Table 1: Business Classification Classification SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Restaurant Retail Non-Profit Organization Manufacturing Company Municipality Grocery Store Maintenance Firm Cleaning Company Construction Residential Housing Small Business Health Services Agency Local Newspaper Ontario Police Personal Services Real Estate Agency Recreation Complex Administration & Support Services Auto Detailing Food Services Lodging/Hotels Marina Private Farm Retirement Home Warehouse Aesthetics Service Animal Care Auto Wrecker Church Data Entry Independent Painter Insurance Laboratory Landscaping Co Plant Restoration Firm Security Service Service Station Training Company Unclassified Total

7 Table 2: Positions by NOC Broad Occupational Category NOC Broad SE Ontario Eastern Central Western Category % N % N % N % Sales and Service Occupations Occupations Unique to Primary Industry Business, Finance and Administrative Occupations Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators and Related Occupations Occupations Unique to Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations Occupations in Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport Unclassified TOTAL More specifically, 24.2% of these occupations are classified under the NOC major headings of Food Counter Attendants, followed by Cleaners (21.5%) and Primary Production Labourers (11.8%) (see Table 3). Other categories that contained a number of positions in at least one sub-region were Longshore Workers and Material Handlers (Eastern), Retail Sales Persons and Sales Clerks (Western), and Sales and Related Occupations (Central) (note: Retail Sales Persons and Sales Clerks include mostly direct sales to the public in stores, while Sales and Related Occupations includes both sales of goods and services, and provision of household, tourism and hospitality services). When classified according to the more detailed NOC minor headings, which reflect the actual positional categories within the major groups, 22.6% of the occupations are classified as Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Occupations, followed by Light Duty Cleaners and Landscaping and Grounds Maintenance Labourers at 17.2% and 12.4% respectively, and Grocery Clerks and Store Shelf Stockers at 8.1% (see Table 4). The next most prevalent minor heading, Material Handlers, was populated by the Eastern sub-region only (9 positions), followed closely by Retail Sales Persons and Store Clerks, populated primarily by the Western sub-region only (7 positions). 5

8 Table 3: Positions by NOC Major Group Category NOC Major Group SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Occupations Cleaners Primary Production Labourers Sales and Related Occupations Longshore Workers and Material Handlers Retail Sails Persons and Store Clerks Clerical Occupations Recording, Scheduling and Distributing Occupations Administrative and Regulatory Occupations Mail and Message Distribution Occupations Athletes, Coaches, Referees and Related Occupations Other Mechanics Agriculture and Horticulture Workers Butchers and Bakers Clerical Occupation and General Office Skills Machine Operators and Related Workers in Metal and Mineral Products Processing Assemblers in Manufacturing Professional Occupations in Art and Culture Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations Occupations in Protective Services Assembly and Related Occupations Other Occupations in Personal Services Occupations in Food and Beverage Service Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Technical Occupations Related to Natural and Applied Sciences Chefs, Cooks Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators and Rel d Occupations Security Guards and Related Occupations Unclassified TOTAL

9 Table 4: Positions by NOC Minor Group Categories NOC Minor Group SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers & Related Occ ns Light Duty Cleaners Landscaping and Grounds Maintenance Labourers Grocery Clerks and Store Shelf Stockers Material Handlers Retail Sales Persons and Store Clerks Janitors, Caretakers and Building Superintendents Specialized Cleaners Cleaners Clerical Occupations, General Office Skills Other Assembly and Related Occupations Receptionists and Switchboard Operators Shippers and Receivers Couriers, Messengers and Door-to-Door Distributors Painters and Decorators Program leaders and Instructors in Recreation and Sport Security Guards and Related Occupations Administrative Officers Bakers Cooks Creative and Performing Artists Electronics Assemblers, Fabricators, Inspectors and Testers Food and Beverage Servers General Farm Worker General Office Clerks Glass Forming/Finishing Machine Operators & Glass Cutters Labourers in Food, Beverage and Tobacco Processing Office Equipment Operators Other Small Engine and Equipment Mechanics Pet Groomers and Animal Care Workers Purchasing and Inventory Clerks Recording, Scheduling and Distributing Occupations

10 Table 4(continued): Positions by NOC Minor Group Categories NOC Minor Group SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Service Station Attendant Technical Occupations in Electronics & Electrical Engineering Technical Occupations in Physical Sciences Trades Helpers and Labourers Unclassified Total

11 Table 5: Positions by Official NOC Title Official NOC Title SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Cleaner Dishwasher Material Handler Doughnut Shop Attendant/Clerk Shoveller Kitchen Helper Grocery Clerk/Box Boy Labourer and Grounds Maintenance Dishwasher and Food Preparer Dishwasher and Kitchen helper Industrial Cleaner Lawn Mower Bicycle Assembler Building Maintenance Worker Customer Service Sales Clerk Food Service Attendant Landscape Labourer Office Assistant Office Cleaner Painter Receptionist Residence Cleaner Retail Shelf Stocker Stock Handler-Food Store Stock Receiver Camp Councillor Car Detailers Car Washer Cook s Helper Dining Room Attendant and Cleaner General Office Clerk Grounds Maintainer

12 Table 5 (continued): Positions by Official NOC Title Official NOC Title SE Ontario Eastern Central Western N % N % N % N % Hotel Cleaner Newspaper Deliverer Stock Clerk, Retail Assembler Assembler, Electronic Equipment Auto Cleaner Building Maintenance Worker Cafeteria Helper Cook Crossing Guard Data Entry Clerk Donut Baker Farm Labourer Food Assembler-Fast Food Gardner Glass Cutter Inventory Clerk Labourer Labourer - Food and Beverage Processing Organization and Productivity Project Manager Outdoor Maintainer Pet Groomer Pet Store Salesperson Security Guard Service Station Attendant Small Engine and Equipment Mechanics Technician, Computer Service Unclassified Waiter Warehouse Shipping and Receiving Clerk Window Cleaner TOTAL

13 The 186 employment placements in the 14 databases fall under 63 different NOC official job titles. As Table 5 demonstrates, at this level there are relatively small percentages of total placements under each job title, with only two of the titles comprising over 5% of all regional placements. Nearly thirteen percent of the placements had the job title Cleaner, while the job title Dishwasher accounted for 6.5% of the regional totals. The remaining positions cover a wide variety of job types, and explain in greater detail the types of jobs that were included under the major and minor categories above. Many of the positions were held by one worker only. Employment Status Based on reports from the 14 agencies, of the 186 positions held by workers with ID in this South Eastern Ontario sample, 133 or 71.5% are part-time employment. Twentynine or 15.6% of the positions are full-time and the remaining 21 positions (12.9%) are either seasonal or contract positions (see Table 6). Table 6: Employment Status Type of SE Ontario Eastern Central Western Employment N % N % N % N % Part-Time Full-Time Temporary/Seasonal Contract Info. Not Available TOTAL In addition, 25 workers (15.9%) had held multiple positions. On average, this subset of workers had held 2.64 jobs, with a range from 2 to 7 positions over the 5-year period included in this study. Employee Wages Wage data were supplied in 42% of cases. In those cases where the wage for a position was provided by the agency, the average wage was $7.70, and ranged from $7.15 to $ These data should be received with caution, however, since the time period for which they were reported ranged from , during which time there were increases in the minimum wage in Ontario. In addition, workers may have received wage increases after the initial period of employment that agencies were unaware of. According to the South Western Ontario study conducted by Dale (2004), the average hourly wage in that region for workers with developmental disabilities in was $7.69. The results of our rough analysis indicate that the wages earned by clients with ID are fairly consistent across South Eastern and South Western Ontario, and are well below the average full-time ($22.21) and part-time ($13.48) hourly wages for workers in Ontario (Statistics Canada, 2006). The average minimum wage for the period under review was $

14 Summary and Conclusions The results presented provide an employment profile of adults with intellectual disabilities who were placed by agencies in the six county region of South Eastern Ontario. They are not representative of the full population of workers with ID in this region, some of whom locate employment on their own, find employment with the assistance of agencies not designated by the Ontario Disability Supports Program, or work in family or self-owned businesses. In addition, as previously discussed, numerous inconsistencies exist in the reporting of wage data; thus, numbers presented can provide only a rough estimate of actual wages paid and should not be directly compared with wage data for the entire population. Based on the information summarized here, some interesting trends emerge: The majority of positions are part time, seasonal or contract work. Only 15.6% of positions were reported to be full-time, in contrast to the general population in Ontario, which has a full-time employment rate of 82.2% (Statistics Canada, March 2006). More full-time positions were reported in the central region, which includes the City of Kingston. During the relatively short period of reporting, almost 16% of workers included in the sample had worked at multiple jobs. This statistic was partially affected by the seasonal nature of some of the positions reported, as the majority of the multiple placements were reported in the eastern sub-region, where the highest numbers of seasonal jobs were situated. However, this trend was also evident in the central and western sub-regions, and in connection with non-seasonal work. Overall, of the 115 cases where current employment status was reported, 38% of the positions obtained had ended for various reasons. Of the 38 business types reported, by far the greatest numbers of placements are made in restaurants and retail businesses, which together account for nearly 40% of all placements. Overall, 64% of positions secured were in the broad category, Sales and Service Occupations. This category had the highest placement frequency in all counties, although far greater dependency on this sector is seen in the central sub-region as compared with the eastern and western sub-regions. The second most prevalent broad category of placement was Occupations Unique to Primary Industry, most of which were reported by agencies in the eastern sub-region. The vast majority of these positions are seasonal or contract in nature, including such position titles as: snow shoveller, lawn maintenance worker, handy man, and beach cleaner. 12

15 There are a number of broad business classifications where few or no positions have been secured: Trades, Transport & Equipment Operators, Health Occupations, Processing, Manufacturing & Utilities, Art, Culture, Recreation and Sport, Natural and Applied Sciences, and Social Science, Education, Government Services, and Religion. Listed below are examples of positions within some of these categories that the NOC identifies as being at Skill Levels C (require secondary school or occupation-specific training) or D (requiring on-thejob training) that might be appropriate for a number of adults with ID, depending on vocational preferences and aptitudes. Also included in this list are jobs in the business sector, which served as the site for only 10% of reported positions. Broad Occupational Category Trades, Transport & Equipment Operators Health Occupations Processing, Manufacturing, & Utilities Business, Finance and Administration Minor Group Category Material handlers Construction trade labourers Longshore workers Public works and maintenance labourers Therapy assistant Central supply aide Machine operators Furniture finishers & refinishers Wood products assemblers Labourers in manufacturing sectors Clerical occupations General office workers Office equipment operators Administrative support clerks Mail and message distribution clerks While the NOC does not list jobs at skill levels C & D in the broad categories of Art, Culture, Recreation & Sport, Natural & Applied Sciences, or Social Science, Education, Government & Religion, select positions may exist or be developed within these fields for clients with a particular skill. For example, individuals with an aptitude may be able to perform components of jobs such as weaver, craftsperson, camp leader or performer (Art, Culture, Recreation, and Sport), forester (Natural Sciences), or peer counsellor (Social Science). 13

16 Implications The employment patterns identified here reveal heavy use of the sales and service sector, with its associated low wages and part-time or seasonal employment patterns. There are a number of possible explanations for this trend. Exploration of the underlying issues may serve to identify areas requiring further investigation and suggest interventions that will be required to broaden job opportunities in the region. Market Opportunities: Labour market trends have a direct influence on the job opportunities available to all workers, and particularly to workers with functional limitations. Overall, this should be a relatively strong time for placement, given that the unemployment rates in Canada, and Ontario in particular, are at 32 year lows (Statistics Canada, March 2006). Current labour shortages have been reported in the construction industry, and also in the area of information technology. Differences in placement outcomes across sub-regions may be reflective of opportunity differences in the cities and rural districts in the region, or of idiosyncratic differences, such as a municipality or business that welcomes diversity, or a business that offers a number of entry-level positions. No clear trends of this type were evident when the individual employers in the sample were examined. It should also be noted that each district identified has one major city in the sub-region (Brockville eastern, Kingston central, Belleville western) as well as a rural surrounding district. Our investigations to this point, as well as relevant literature and media sources (e.g. McMullin & Cooke, 2004) have suggested that workers with intellectual disability may be systematically excluded from employment in many sectors by factors such as union protection of jobs, safety regulations, and a general lack of will to accommodate workers with disabilities (Wilton, 2004). In addition, provincial employment regulations that limit the ability of employers to offer flexible reimbursement options to workers with lower productivity rates may limit the market potential of some workers. Stigma in the workplace related to work ability, safety, dependability, and perceived acceptability of people with ID by customers and coworkers may also limit marketability (Blessing & Jamieson, 1999; Freedman & Fesko, 1995). Agency Focus: Each agency that contributed to the study has its own staff, operating procedures, philosophies, and contacts. There are no data comparing the number of staff in each agency devoted to job development activities, the range of services offered, or the caseload size. It is quite likely that staff in some agencies have developed connections with certain businesses and industries, and that this may have some impact on the placement options generated for their clients, for better or worse. The degree to which placement outcomes are related to resource allocation issues or a particular vocational outcome focus within an agency has not been explored. 14

17 Client Career Awareness and Preparation: There is some suggestion in the placement agencies that clients who present for job placement are leaving school with limited awareness of the world of work, and have varying stages of vocational readiness. Pursuit of creative and unconventional work options may become difficult for agencies working from a client-centered philosophy, when clients have a narrow range of ideas about types of work that would be of interest, and little concept of how career experience and opportunities develop over time. It has been suggested that much agency time is spent in providing job training and experience for clients who have presented for assistance in job procurement. Disability Pension Disincentives: The issue of disincentives to employment based on wage claw-backs for recipients of Ontario Disability Supports Program (ODSP) benefits has been widely discussed. The Ministry of Community and Social Services itself has conducted a 12-month study into the system, and will implement a number of changes beginning in November The results of this study in terms of part-time work are likely heavily linked to the disability benefits rules and implications, which serve both to reduce incentive to work for the client, and to limit expectations of employment placement personnel. It is apparent that there are many opportunities for job development into new sectors, both across South Eastern Ontario, and in select areas. There may also be strategies and connections that can be shared between agencies and regions to promote engagement of unique labour markets and industry. Future studies led and coordinated by the SEO CURA in ID will seek to expand movement into these untapped markets through better understanding of cross-regional inequities and attention to the issues that underlie them. 15

18 References Blessing, L. A. & Jamieson, J. J. (1999). Employing persons with a developmental disability: Effects of previous experience. Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation, 12, Dale, J.M. (2004). Employment outcomes Project. Tillsonburg, ON: Community Involvement Council and The Employment outcomes Committee. Fesko, S. & Freedman, R. (1995). Consumer and family perspectives on the meaning of work. Research to Practice, August. Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce and DigiGraphics Inc. (2002). Member Directory. Retrieved August 2, 2005, from Human Resources Development Canada. (2004, June 30). Introduction to Edition 2001 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC). Retrieved August 8, 2005 from Kingston Economic Development Corporation. (2004). Kingston Labour Force Profile Retrieved August 2, 2005 from McMullin, J. A. & Cooke, M. (2004). Labour force ageing and skill shortages in Canada and Ontario. Canadian Policy Research Networks, Inc. Work Network Project W Statistics Canada. (2006, April 7). Labour force information (Catalogue no XIE). Ottawa, ON: Author. Statistics Canada. (2005, August 09). National Occupational Classification - Statistics (NOC-S) 2001 Canada. Retrieved August 3, 2005 from Wilton, R. D. (2004). From flexibility to accommodation? Disabled people and the reinvention of paid work. Transactions Institute of British Geographers, 29,

19 For more information about SEO CURA in ID, please contact: Hélène Ouellette-Kuntz Director, South Eastern Ontario CURA in ID Associate Professor, Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, Queen's University 191 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, Ontario, CANADA K7M 8A6 tel: ext fax: For more information about this study, please contact: Rosemary Lysaght, Project Lead Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy School of Rehabilitation Therapy Queen s University 31 George St., Kingston ON CANADA K7L 3N6 tel: fax: lysaght@post.queensu.ca

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