Representatives of the education and business communities want Quebec companies to commit to promoting the educational success of their worker-students by adhering to the new “Employers’ Charter for School Perseverance”.
Posted at 3:42 p.m.
Updated at 5:26 p.m.
Unveiled Thursday in the Capitale-Nationale, the initiative of the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ) aims to encourage employers to “show flexibility” with regard to their employee-students and promote their academic success.
According to the President and CEO of the FCCQ, Charles Milliard, companies will frequently have in their ranks employees leading studies and work at the same time due to a changing labor market with economic, ecological and technological changes.
“Now it has become normal to learn and go to school all your life,” he said at a press conference.
By signing the charter, an employer undertakes to respect five points.
These include offering a work schedule adapted to the needs of employee-students, providing “sufficient rest time” between a shift and a school day, as well as “encouraging the pursuit of studies until obtaining the diploma or qualification sought”.
The charter also calls for the establishment of “feedback mechanisms” regarding the success of an employee’s work-study balance.
It already counts the Mouvement Desjardins and Metro among its signatories. The network of chambers of commerce, which represents nearly 50,000 businesses, will be used to promote it.
“It’s also aimed at SMEs, everywhere in the region in all sectors of activity, whether it’s a café or a hairdressing salon”, specified the president and general manager of the FCCQ, Charles Milliard,
The document was launched as part of Hooked on School Days which runs until Friday. The charter was developed by a round table made up of members of the Fédération des cégeps, Metro, the Desjardins Group, the Quebec Network for Educational Success and the Federation of School Service Centers.
As part of their work, they will determine measures to ensure the success and follow-up of the charter, said Mr. Milliard.
At his side, the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, believes that the initiative could “change lives” and “make a difference” if employers decide to join it, “to color it a little with their workplace” and to be “flexible”.
The senior director of Patrimoine et Fondation Desjardins, Nancy Lee, invited employers to take into account that many students are obliged to work to pursue their studies, and to look beyond their immediate staffing needs.
“In times of labor shortage, it’s tempting to encourage student employees to put their studies aside. Whereas, on the contrary, what must be done is to make sure to give them the means to realize their dreams because afterwards, it is in our companies that they will come to realize these dreams » , she said.
A possible balance
In 2019, a survey conducted on behalf of the Quebec Network for Educational Success (RQRE) showed that a majority of companies attach “great importance” to the educational success of their employee-students.
In a recent survey on the motivation of young people aged 15 to 22, the RQRE revealed that among those who have a job, 87% say they manage to find a balance between school and their job. Most of them say that their employer considers their studies in the management of the schedule.
School also always takes precedence over their work for a majority of respondents. They were asked to indicate on a scale of 1 to 10 whether they gave priority to studies or to work; 1 to 5 representing priority for studies and 6 to 10 for their employment.
“The average of the respondents is 3.8/10, can we read in the survey. […] Women (81%) and respondents aged 15 to 17 (84%) are proportionally more likely to prioritize their studies. »
This article was produced with the financial support of the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Fellowships.