Aging workers

Published: Work, Aging and Retirement, January 2024

Article reports on an IWH study that found older workers to be reluctant to disclose their need for support in the workplace due to reputational and stereotyping concerns.

Published: Rehab & Community Care, April 2023

Many workers with chronic physical and mental health conditions struggle when deciding whether to seek support from their workplace. The Job Demands and Accommodation Planning Tool (JDAPT) is designed to help address the complexity of disclosure decisions. Developed as part of a large research partnership, the JDAPT is an online, interactive tool that guides users through a series of simple questions about their job demands, job tasks and working conditions. In this presentation, Dr. Monique Gignac describes the JDAPT tool, its development, as well as data from two studies on the tool. She discusses the JDAPT’s potential to help workers by focusing on work solutions, not medical diagnoses and symptoms.

Published: March 2023

When it comes to asking for support on the job, either due to health or family-related reasons, a deep hesitation is present among older workers, John Dujay reports.

Published: Canadian HR Reporter, November 2022

Many older workers are in no hurry to retire, but they may have support needs they're reluctant to divulge. An IWH team explores the reasons and suggests ways workplaces can provide support despite the absence of disclosure.

Published: November 2022

Historic labour shortages are affecting every Canadian job sector. Many workers aged 50 years or more want to work longer, often beyond the traditional retirement age. However, we understand little about the different workplace support needs they may have and whether workers choose to share their needs with others—especially given the negative stereotypes that often surround older workers. In this presentation, Dr. Monique Gignac shares insights from her study on older workers’ workplace support needs and disclosure decisions. She highlights how workplaces can help older workers stay on the job, regardless of whether they disclose their needs.

Published: September 2022

Persons with disabilities face persisting inequities in the labour market arising from stigma, discrimination, and other structural barriers to employment. It is widely accepted that greater integration into the labour market could serve to promote the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. But what happens when they are successful at integrating into the labour market? What kind of jobs do they get? In this presentation, Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi shares findings from a recent nationwide survey examining the employment quality of persons with disabilities in Canada. He documents the nature and extent of employment inequities experienced by persons with disabilities, as well as the consequences of these inequities for support and accommodation in the workplace.

Published: April 2022

People with both physical and mental health disabilities were the most concerned about their work, health and finances during the early part of the pandemic.

Published: July 2021

Published: Journal of Sleep Research, June 2021

An IWH study finds the risks of working in precarious jobs are the same for people with and without disabilities. But among people with disabilities, precarity is more likely when people are older or have less job tenure.

Published: March 2021