Work-life balance, precarious workers, a focus for revamp of labour code

A state prosecutor who helped exonerate three former Duke lacrosse players after they were accused of sexual assault has died.

James Coman died Thursday from heart disease at a hospice in Raleigh, North Carolina. He was 75. His daughter Kimberly Coman Hunter confirmed the death.

Coman and Mary Winstead were special prosecutors appointed by then-North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper to investigate claims by an escort service dancer. She said the players raped her in 2006.

The case drew national attention and heightened tensions at Duke over race, class and athlete privilege.

Restoring a work-life balance and better protections for parttime and temporary workers will be among the key focuses of a planned rewrite of Canada’s federal labour rules which are to be updated by the time Labour Day rolls around next year, Canada’s employment minister says.

Labour Minister Patty Hajdu said legislation will be introduced this fall to update the decadesold federal labour standards that haven’t been revamped in a substantive way since they were first written.

Hajdu said changes to the labour code would reflect key themes that emerged from consultations Ottawa held over the last year, and that the lack of a work-life balance was raised a lot.

“People were saying things have to be fairer, things have to be more predictable and we need time...to spend with our families,” Hajdu said.

Any change to provide more work-life balance or new job protections will target the most precarious workers in federallyregulated fields, she said.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, the code is there to protect the most vulnerable in the workplace,” Hajdu said.

Standards enshrined in the Canada Labour Code were originally drafted in the 1960s in an era when the average worker had a full-time, permanent job with benefits. But the code is feeling the strain under a shifting labour force that since the 1970s has been increasingly marked by what is described as non-standard work — usually part-time, temporary or contract work.

A summary report of the consultations was released last week and showed a tension between labour groups that wanted more stringent rules, and employer groups that wanted more flexibility to adapt to changing labour market dynamics.