Report from the Spousal Task Force - 1999

Introduction
Premise
Spousal Employment Concerns
Personal solutions and their results
Recommendations

INTRODUCTION:

The Spousal Task Force was formed to make concrete initiatives to address longstanding spousal issues that are adversely affecting the operation of the Canadian Foreign Service.

In order to acquire the statistical information on which to base the recommendations contained in this report, a major survey was conducted in March of 1999. Through the employee's facsimile address, more than one thousand questionnaires were sent to DFAIT and CIC spouses/partners, at home and overseas. Of 340 responses, more that 140 contained additional written comments; some of the most eloquent, thoughtful and pertinent are quoted in this report.

The work of the Task Force has resulted in a list of thirteen important recommendations, all of which have been carefully considered (pg 7 of this summary). However, the first two recommendations, both of which concern pensions for foreign service spouses, are fundamental. If the issue of pensions for foreign service spouses is not seriously addressed and implemented, the work of this Task Force will have been largely futile.

PREMISE:

Dual income families are the norm in Canada (83.4% according to Statistics Canada figures from the 1995 census). Two incomes are necessary to maintain financial parity with those who have similar training and education. Dual pensions are equally necessary after retirement. Lacking both a second income and a second pension, foreign service families are denied the dual employment opportunities taken for granted by other Canadians.

Foreign service spousal concerns are family concerns. By their affect on foreign service families, they are employee concerns, and their consequences profoundly affect the operation of the foreign service itself. Spousal concerns are undermining the operation of a high-quality Canadian Foreign Service. Without change, the situation will worsen.

Recruitment and attrition are affected now. In their first ten years of employment by DFAIT, the attrition rate among foreign service officers is 33%. The impact of lack of employment for rotational spouses will increase. The effect:

A foreign service comprised of single people which is not representative of Canada's population.
A constant turnover of expensively-trained employees leaving the foreign service because it is incompatible with family life.

SPOUSAL EMPLOYMENT CONCERNS = IMPACT ON THE FOREIGN SERVICE

PROBLEMS:>

Lack of employment opportunities abroad

Lack of pension benefits accrued during periods spent on posting

Lack of access to EI benefits

Lack of financial support for continuing education internationally

Impossibility of maintaining a continuous career path

Repeatedly starting at entry-level positions after a protracted job search process

The realities are that 83.4 % of Canadian families are dual income families (1995 census) and at least 50% of foreign service families are dependent on a single income. In addition:

Any second income earned at post is likely to be minimal and sporadic

Spouses must repeatedly look for new employment. These are additional periods without income or pension benefits.

A CV with so many changes and gaps signals to prospective employers that the employee will be with them for a short period and isn't worth the investment.

The effects are clear: If foreign service spouses aren't earning in Canada or overseas...

they aren't contributing to the family income or to their own income

they aren't contributing to their pension plans

they are affecting their long-term employability

they are reducing the rotationality of employees

57% of rotational spouses, at home and abroad, are looking for work, including many who are already employed. The implications:

Spouses are working in positions that are outside their areas of expertise or at salaries that are not commensurate with salaries that prevail for similar work in Canada.

Work at posts frequently consists of a few weeks of contract employment a year at a salary level that is below Canadian minimum wage and bears little relationship to the value of the work done.

Spouses are under-employed, both in periods of time worked, and at the levels at which they are working.

96% of rotational spouses consider employment possibilities at post to be important:

to contribute to the family income

to earn their own income

to maintain their professional identity and career continuity

to contribute to personal pension benefits.

There is a clear financial disincentive to accepting a posting for foreign service families.

Rotational families at headquarters have higher incomes than families at posts.

If the spouse of a posted employee remains behind to work in Ottawa the family income is higher.

Spouses who stay behind while the employee is on posting are

more likely to have accrued their own pension benefits.

An unemployed accompanying spouse may be further disadvantaged because s/he cannot afford to take advantage of local professional development or continuing education opportunities.

Employment within the Canadian Mission:

s limited to short-term contracts, probably outside the spouse's professional field

is paid at Locally Employed (LES) rates or lower than LES rates. Those rates differ from post-to-post and from Canadian rates of pay

is without Canadian benefits or pension, although subject to Canadian taxation

Employment outside the Canadian Mission is limited by:

is limited to short-term contracts, probably outside the spouse's professional field

is paid at Locally Employed (LES) rates or lower than LES rates. Those rates differ from post-to-post and from Canadian rates of pay

is without Canadian benefits or pension, although subject to Canadian taxation

Employment outside the Canadian Mission is limited by:

inadequate language skills

security concerns

unavailability of work permits

lack of a professional network

ack of local certification and recognition of Canadian credentials

absence of Canadian benefits and pension

Spouses are unlikely to be employed in their field when abroad.

70% with trades or undergraduate degrees who were unemployed at posts agreed with the statement "employment in your field is not available" as a reason they were unemployed.

67% of those whose highest level of education was a post graduate or professional degree and who were unemployed, agreed with this statement.

PERSONAL SOLUTIONS AND THEIR RESULTS:

36% of spouses say they will consider staying behind during future postings. In 1999 five percent of spouses have already made the decision to stay in Canada while the employee is posted overseas. A significant number of spouses included written comments on the Task force questionnaires on spousal employment of March 1999 saying decisions on whether to accept a posting were made on a family basis that included financial considerations.

If changes are not made, unemployment among spouses at the post will worsen. Future discontent is clear.

80% of rotational foreign service spouses in the 25-34 age group have earned undergraduate, graduate or professional degrees.
Spouses want credible professional careers, and family and personal incomes comparable to the Canadian norm.

These concerns are not exclusive to Canada's Foreign Service:

Federal legislation to address the financial needs of stay-at-home parents is under consideration. It would recognize pension contributions lost, re-training costs, and contributions to the voluntary sector. The parallels to foreign service spouses are striking.
Companies that operate internationally are facing the realities of spousal issues and dual income families as they impact on the willingness of employees to relocate. It has been recognized that solutions are necessary, and many members of the international and multi-national business community have responded by providing services such as funding for training and job-search support for spouses.
Spouses of employees of foreign services of other countries present the same issues to their governments. Every country that has initiated a pension, employment, or compensation policy for foreign service spouses has been inspired by the inequality in employment possibilities experienced by foreign service spouses compared to their peers who stay at home, and the reluctance of employees to accept international assignments if their partners can't find employment.

Europe:

At least seven European countries have devised methods to pay compensation or pension contributions to the spouses of their foreign service employees. Even though the reason NOT to pay benefits to spouses had been the lack of a direct relationship between their governments and the spouses of employees, that hurdle is now ignored.
If necessary, the compensation or pension benefit is paid to the spouse through the employee.

The United States:

The United States employs approximately 80% of the spouses of employees in their missions overseas. Some positions may be transported from mission to mission or back to the State Department and the United States Information Service (USIS) in Washington. These employed spouses are eligible to contribute to the federal government pension scheme, and to obtain all other benefits available to federal government employees on their own behalf.

The Private Sector:

Companies that assign their employees internationally are addressing spousal issues through a variety of methods. Some find employment for spouses outside the company, or pay a job-finders' fee to an agency. Others provide extensive job-search support or funding for post-secondary or professional training and business start-up advice.

TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS

Provide full pension contributions to spouses/partners of employees of the federal government who accompany them on overseas postings. (Annual cost for DFAIT and CIC spouses/partners: $4,860,000.)
To retain present staff, provide spousal pension benefits retroactive to 1992. (One time cost: 8 years X $4,860,000 = $38,880,000)
Enable foreign service dependents who have contributed to the Employment Insurance fund before their departure on post to collect Employment Insurance on their return.
Create an employment advisory position at headquarters and expand the existing resource centre to counsel and support foreign service dependents in job search and career development.
Expand and reinforce Reciprocal Employment Agreements (REAs) with other countries. Enforce reciprocity when REAs are not implemented.
Establish within the Head Of Mission's letter of instruction the necessity to support and expand spousal employment within and outside the mission.
Promote the use of the Spousal Employment database at headquarters, at missions, and to outside organizations. Emphasize the special international qualifications of foreign service spouses and partners as employees within and outside the Government of Canada.
Contract with international or local employment agencies on behalf of spouses in posts where special support is necessary.
Provide dependents with training in official and foreign languages at both basic and maintenance levels. Facilitate access to CFSP professional courses to increase skills, abroad and at headquarters.
Increase compensation for Community Coordinators.
Expand briefings on portable careers. Increase and publicize electronic working opportunities.
Fund re-training or professional upgrading for spouses on posting.
Ensure that all spouses have a minimum of 6 months' confirmed notice of the employee's assignment to facilitate job hunting.