Leah F. Vosko
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574810
- eISBN:
- 9780191722080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574810.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, HRM / IR
This chapter explores contemporary regulatory responses to challenges to the temporal boundaries of the SER and their associated precariousness, typified by the 1994 ILO Convention on Part‐Time Work, ...
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This chapter explores contemporary regulatory responses to challenges to the temporal boundaries of the SER and their associated precariousness, typified by the 1994 ILO Convention on Part‐Time Work, which subscribes to equal treatment. To analyse the logic of this regulation, it considers the nature and significance of part‐time employment in Australia, where it is highly prevalent and also deeply gendered. However, it is the composition of part‐time employment that most distinguishes this national case: a relatively small proportion of part‐time workers are permanent employees. Rather, many part‐time workers are employed either on a casual or fixed‐term basis or are self‐employed. Even among all part‐time employees, most are casual—many of whom are women. The Australian case illustrates the implications of SER‐centric responses to precariousness amongst part‐time workers that chiefly address the situation of permanent part‐time wage‐earners, while leaving the situation of their casual counterparts intact.Less
This chapter explores contemporary regulatory responses to challenges to the temporal boundaries of the SER and their associated precariousness, typified by the 1994 ILO Convention on Part‐Time Work, which subscribes to equal treatment. To analyse the logic of this regulation, it considers the nature and significance of part‐time employment in Australia, where it is highly prevalent and also deeply gendered. However, it is the composition of part‐time employment that most distinguishes this national case: a relatively small proportion of part‐time workers are permanent employees. Rather, many part‐time workers are employed either on a casual or fixed‐term basis or are self‐employed. Even among all part‐time employees, most are casual—many of whom are women. The Australian case illustrates the implications of SER‐centric responses to precariousness amongst part‐time workers that chiefly address the situation of permanent part‐time wage‐earners, while leaving the situation of their casual counterparts intact.
Leah F. Vosko
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574810
- eISBN:
- 9780191722080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574810.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, HRM / IR
This chapter initiates the book's statistical portrait of employment trends in industrialized contexts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This portrait illustrates the slow erosion of ...
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This chapter initiates the book's statistical portrait of employment trends in industrialized contexts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This portrait illustrates the slow erosion of full‐time permanent employment in Australia, Canada, the European Union 15, and to a lesser extent the United States. Linking employment trends to sex/gender divisions of unpaid work, it also reveals that, despite formal equality, full‐time permanent employment and non‐standard employment remain gendered and shaped by immigration status to the present. Concern about the spread of precarious employment accompanied these trends. At the international level, the result was a series of regulations aimed at shoring up this employment norm: adopted between 1990 and 2008 and organized around its central pillars of working time, continuity, and the employment relationship, these regulations seek to ensure that citizen‐workers do not see their employment and occupational opportunities or working conditions limited by barriers based on form of employment.Less
This chapter initiates the book's statistical portrait of employment trends in industrialized contexts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. This portrait illustrates the slow erosion of full‐time permanent employment in Australia, Canada, the European Union 15, and to a lesser extent the United States. Linking employment trends to sex/gender divisions of unpaid work, it also reveals that, despite formal equality, full‐time permanent employment and non‐standard employment remain gendered and shaped by immigration status to the present. Concern about the spread of precarious employment accompanied these trends. At the international level, the result was a series of regulations aimed at shoring up this employment norm: adopted between 1990 and 2008 and organized around its central pillars of working time, continuity, and the employment relationship, these regulations seek to ensure that citizen‐workers do not see their employment and occupational opportunities or working conditions limited by barriers based on form of employment.
Leah F. Vosko
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199574810
- eISBN:
- 9780191722080
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199574810.003.0003
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy, HRM / IR
This chapter traces the evolution of the SER as the baseline of international labour regulation in the interwar and post‐World War II periods. It reviews the SER's central pillars—the bilateral ...
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This chapter traces the evolution of the SER as the baseline of international labour regulation in the interwar and post‐World War II periods. It reviews the SER's central pillars—the bilateral employment relationship, standardized working time, and continuous employment—and analyses their construction in ILO regulations. This discussion highlights the significance of exclusions in the creation of this employment norm. It also shows how even as the SER materialized for many working‐class men, the gender contract with which it was intertwined began to deteriorate. Regulations adopted in response to this crumbling gender contract starting in the 1950s sought to strip the SER of its formal exclusions. With the notable exception of those based on nationality, formal equality was the objective of interventions, but, by neglecting processes of social reproduction, ILO regulations retained an employment norm geared to male citizens as a baseline.Less
This chapter traces the evolution of the SER as the baseline of international labour regulation in the interwar and post‐World War II periods. It reviews the SER's central pillars—the bilateral employment relationship, standardized working time, and continuous employment—and analyses their construction in ILO regulations. This discussion highlights the significance of exclusions in the creation of this employment norm. It also shows how even as the SER materialized for many working‐class men, the gender contract with which it was intertwined began to deteriorate. Regulations adopted in response to this crumbling gender contract starting in the 1950s sought to strip the SER of its formal exclusions. With the notable exception of those based on nationality, formal equality was the objective of interventions, but, by neglecting processes of social reproduction, ILO regulations retained an employment norm geared to male citizens as a baseline.
Francis Kramarz, Pierre Cahuc, Bruno Crépon, Oskar Nordstörm Skans, Thorsten Schank, Gijsbert van Lomwel, and André Zylberberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231027
- eISBN:
- 9780191710834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231027.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter examines the theoretical underpinnings of the effects of work-sharing on employment. The analysis proceeds as follows: Section 4.2 is devoted to an analysis of labour demand when the ...
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This chapter examines the theoretical underpinnings of the effects of work-sharing on employment. The analysis proceeds as follows: Section 4.2 is devoted to an analysis of labour demand when the firm chooses the number of jobs and hours. The interactions between employers' choice and workers' choice over hours, employment, and wages are studied in Section 4.3. Finally Section 4.4 provides some concluding comments. It is shown that compulsory reductions in standard hours can increase employment only in very special circumstances that are very rarely met in the real world. Cross-country differences in working time can be related to differences in institutions and cultures. Although imperfect competition may imply that state regulation of hours is required, this does not mean that systematic reductions in standard hours can improve employment or welfare.Less
This chapter examines the theoretical underpinnings of the effects of work-sharing on employment. The analysis proceeds as follows: Section 4.2 is devoted to an analysis of labour demand when the firm chooses the number of jobs and hours. The interactions between employers' choice and workers' choice over hours, employment, and wages are studied in Section 4.3. Finally Section 4.4 provides some concluding comments. It is shown that compulsory reductions in standard hours can increase employment only in very special circumstances that are very rarely met in the real world. Cross-country differences in working time can be related to differences in institutions and cultures. Although imperfect competition may imply that state regulation of hours is required, this does not mean that systematic reductions in standard hours can improve employment or welfare.
David S. Pedulla
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691175102
- eISBN:
- 9780691200071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691175102.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter aims to understand why part-time work and gender interact with one another in the field experiment. The masculine nature of the ideal worker norm and the feminized nature of part-time ...
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This chapter aims to understand why part-time work and gender interact with one another in the field experiment. The masculine nature of the ideal worker norm and the feminized nature of part-time employment are central to understanding the gender-differentiated ways that hiring professionals treat workers with histories of part-time employment. During initial screening, employers likely do not have information about why a worker was in a part-time position, leaving them with significant uncertainty. Given a job applicant's narrative is unlikely to be available at this moment of initial screening, one way that employers make sense of part-time employment is by drawing on the stereotypes and cultural beliefs about the gender of the worker to weave a narrative about the applicant's part-time experience. In this way, hiring professionals develop stratified stories.Less
This chapter aims to understand why part-time work and gender interact with one another in the field experiment. The masculine nature of the ideal worker norm and the feminized nature of part-time employment are central to understanding the gender-differentiated ways that hiring professionals treat workers with histories of part-time employment. During initial screening, employers likely do not have information about why a worker was in a part-time position, leaving them with significant uncertainty. Given a job applicant's narrative is unlikely to be available at this moment of initial screening, one way that employers make sense of part-time employment is by drawing on the stereotypes and cultural beliefs about the gender of the worker to weave a narrative about the applicant's part-time experience. In this way, hiring professionals develop stratified stories.
Paul Davies and Mark Freedland
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199217878
- eISBN:
- 9780191712326
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199217878.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Employment Law
This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. ...
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This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. It argues that the main trend during the period under review was one of ‘de-standardization’ of those relations, initially through a straightforward process of de-regulation and later, under ‘New Labour’, through more sophisticated legal and regulatory mechanisms. The main aim of this policy, it is argued, was to promote managerial adaptability, i.e., the ability of employers to respond to changes in demand or methods of production. However, de-standardization was compatible with, and perhaps even required, some cautious conferment of new rights on workers, for example, in the area of ‘family-friendly’ policies. On the other hand, this policy caused difficulties for the government in relation to more far-reaching European proposals for individual rights, whether stemming from the European Court of Human Rights or the institutions of the European Community.Less
This chapter considers the area of personal work relations, i.e., relations between employers and workers which are not mediated through the formal institutions of workers' collective representation. It argues that the main trend during the period under review was one of ‘de-standardization’ of those relations, initially through a straightforward process of de-regulation and later, under ‘New Labour’, through more sophisticated legal and regulatory mechanisms. The main aim of this policy, it is argued, was to promote managerial adaptability, i.e., the ability of employers to respond to changes in demand or methods of production. However, de-standardization was compatible with, and perhaps even required, some cautious conferment of new rights on workers, for example, in the area of ‘family-friendly’ policies. On the other hand, this policy caused difficulties for the government in relation to more far-reaching European proposals for individual rights, whether stemming from the European Court of Human Rights or the institutions of the European Community.
Francis Kramarz, Pierre Cahuc, Bruno Crépon, Oskar Nordstörm Skans, Thorsten Schank, Gijsbert van Lomwel, and André Zylberberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231027
- eISBN:
- 9780191710834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231027.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
The length of the standard workweek has been a contentious topic in Germany over the past thirty years. In the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions reached agreements to reduce normal hours, in order to ...
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The length of the standard workweek has been a contentious topic in Germany over the past thirty years. In the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions reached agreements to reduce normal hours, in order to raise employment. This chapter begins with an overview of the institutional context and the development of normal hours worked in Germany. Section 5.3 provides a review of the econometric evidence for Germany on the impact of reductions in standard hours on employment and wages. Section 5.4 shows that reductions in standard hours were accompanied by various forms of flexible working-time arrangements. Section 5.5 describes some well-known examples of firms which have increased normal hours and simultaneously pronounced working hours, employment, wages job guarantees. Section 5.6 presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between changes in standard hours and employment (and labor productivity) growth. Section 5.7 presents some concluding remarks.Less
The length of the standard workweek has been a contentious topic in Germany over the past thirty years. In the 1980s and 1990s, trade unions reached agreements to reduce normal hours, in order to raise employment. This chapter begins with an overview of the institutional context and the development of normal hours worked in Germany. Section 5.3 provides a review of the econometric evidence for Germany on the impact of reductions in standard hours on employment and wages. Section 5.4 shows that reductions in standard hours were accompanied by various forms of flexible working-time arrangements. Section 5.5 describes some well-known examples of firms which have increased normal hours and simultaneously pronounced working hours, employment, wages job guarantees. Section 5.6 presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between changes in standard hours and employment (and labor productivity) growth. Section 5.7 presents some concluding remarks.
Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery, and Kevin Ward
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199248698
- eISBN:
- 9780191697760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248698.003.0008
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Organization Studies
This chapter discusses the significant and ongoing changes taking place in the way time is organized in large organizations. There is clear indication from management that working-time changes were ...
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This chapter discusses the significant and ongoing changes taking place in the way time is organized in large organizations. There is clear indication from management that working-time changes were critical to employment change and restructuring. However, many of these changes are far from sustainable, particularly given the need for skilled and committed workers. Managers were aware of the contradictions and conflicts within their own policies, but believed that they have few options other than adopting a policy of reducing costs and raising work intensity. Many workers expressed dismay over the kinds of change taking place and were contemplating other jobs.Less
This chapter discusses the significant and ongoing changes taking place in the way time is organized in large organizations. There is clear indication from management that working-time changes were critical to employment change and restructuring. However, many of these changes are far from sustainable, particularly given the need for skilled and committed workers. Managers were aware of the contradictions and conflicts within their own policies, but believed that they have few options other than adopting a policy of reducing costs and raising work intensity. Many workers expressed dismay over the kinds of change taking place and were contemplating other jobs.
Francis Kramarz, Pierre Cahuc, Bruno Crépon, Oskar Nordstörm Skans, Thorsten Schank, Gijsbert van Lomwel, and André Zylberberg
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231027
- eISBN:
- 9780191710834
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231027.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
This chapter examines the impact of unions and working-time reductions in Sweden. It is shown that strong unions do not necessarily mean short weekly working hours and, specifically, strong unions do ...
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This chapter examines the impact of unions and working-time reductions in Sweden. It is shown that strong unions do not necessarily mean short weekly working hours and, specifically, strong unions do not always demand working-time reductions in order to preserve employment. Explicit working-time reductions are not the only policies that reduce actual hours worked. Policies that promote absence or career interruptions have the same motivations as working-time reductions and induce substantial reductions in actual hours worked in these countries. Recent policy experiments using career interruptions as work-sharing policies had negative effects on participants' subsequent wages and are not likely to have contributed to the employability of the long-term unemployed, in contrast to the initial intention.Less
This chapter examines the impact of unions and working-time reductions in Sweden. It is shown that strong unions do not necessarily mean short weekly working hours and, specifically, strong unions do not always demand working-time reductions in order to preserve employment. Explicit working-time reductions are not the only policies that reduce actual hours worked. Policies that promote absence or career interruptions have the same motivations as working-time reductions and induce substantial reductions in actual hours worked in these countries. Recent policy experiments using career interruptions as work-sharing policies had negative effects on participants' subsequent wages and are not likely to have contributed to the employability of the long-term unemployed, in contrast to the initial intention.
David S. Pedulla
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691175102
- eISBN:
- 9780691200071
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691175102.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Economic Sociology
This chapter delves into the effects of each type of employment experience—part-time work, temporary agency employment, skills underutilization, and long-term unemployment. These are compared to ...
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This chapter delves into the effects of each type of employment experience—part-time work, temporary agency employment, skills underutilization, and long-term unemployment. These are compared to full-time, standard employment on applicants' likelihood of receiving a callback for a job. As the chapter shows, the effects are largely contingent. First, they are contingent on the type of employment history. Each type of employment experience—part-time work versus temporary agency employment, for instance—does not result in the same treatment from hiring professionals. Second, the consequences of a particular employment experience are contingent on the race and gender of the worker. Indeed, it is difficult to isolate the effect of a given employment history from the way it is refracted through a worker's social group membership.Less
This chapter delves into the effects of each type of employment experience—part-time work, temporary agency employment, skills underutilization, and long-term unemployment. These are compared to full-time, standard employment on applicants' likelihood of receiving a callback for a job. As the chapter shows, the effects are largely contingent. First, they are contingent on the type of employment history. Each type of employment experience—part-time work versus temporary agency employment, for instance—does not result in the same treatment from hiring professionals. Second, the consequences of a particular employment experience are contingent on the race and gender of the worker. Indeed, it is difficult to isolate the effect of a given employment history from the way it is refracted through a worker's social group membership.
Heidi Nicolaisen, Hanne Kavli, and Ragnhild Steen Jensen (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447348603
- eISBN:
- 9781447348658
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447348603.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This book brings together leading international authors from a number of fields to provide an up to date understanding of part-time work at national, sector, industry and workplace levels. The ...
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This book brings together leading international authors from a number of fields to provide an up to date understanding of part-time work at national, sector, industry and workplace levels. The contributors critically examine part-time employment in different institutional settings across Europe, the USA, Australia and Korea. This analysis serves as a prism to investigate wider trends, particularly in female employment, including the continued increase in part-time work and processes that are increasingly creating dualisation and inequality between 'good' and 'bad' jobs.Less
This book brings together leading international authors from a number of fields to provide an up to date understanding of part-time work at national, sector, industry and workplace levels. The contributors critically examine part-time employment in different institutional settings across Europe, the USA, Australia and Korea. This analysis serves as a prism to investigate wider trends, particularly in female employment, including the continued increase in part-time work and processes that are increasingly creating dualisation and inequality between 'good' and 'bad' jobs.
Phil Syrpis
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199277209
- eISBN:
- 9780191707445
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277209.003.0005
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law, Employment Law
This chapter considers the various interventions of the political institutions in the labour law field both in their own right, and in the context of the approach of the Court (analysed in detail in ...
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This chapter considers the various interventions of the political institutions in the labour law field both in their own right, and in the context of the approach of the Court (analysed in detail in Chapter 4). Harmonization, minimum standard-setting, and the open method of coordination (OMC) are discussed with reference to their capacity to achieve the integrationist, economic, and social objectives of the European Union, and to the constraints imposed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The Working Time Directive and Lisbon Strategy are subjected to close scrutiny.Less
This chapter considers the various interventions of the political institutions in the labour law field both in their own right, and in the context of the approach of the Court (analysed in detail in Chapter 4). Harmonization, minimum standard-setting, and the open method of coordination (OMC) are discussed with reference to their capacity to achieve the integrationist, economic, and social objectives of the European Union, and to the constraints imposed by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. The Working Time Directive and Lisbon Strategy are subjected to close scrutiny.
Huw Beynon, Damian Grimshaw, Jill Rubery, and Kevin Ward
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199248698
- eISBN:
- 9780191697760
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248698.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, HRM / IR, Organization Studies
This chapter outlines the rationale for exploring change in employment policy using the three-ring framework of analysis. It focuses on three aspects of employment where organizations play a crucial ...
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This chapter outlines the rationale for exploring change in employment policy using the three-ring framework of analysis. It focuses on three aspects of employment where organizations play a crucial role: staffing policies and practices, training and skill development, and working time.Less
This chapter outlines the rationale for exploring change in employment policy using the three-ring framework of analysis. It focuses on three aspects of employment where organizations play a crucial role: staffing policies and practices, training and skill development, and working time.
F.P. Cappuccio and M.A. Miller
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199566594
- eISBN:
- 9780191595066
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199566594.003.0018
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
The 1993 European Working Time Directive (EWTD) is intended to protect employees' health and safety and improve patient safety by limiting the maximum required working hours to forty-eight per week, ...
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The 1993 European Working Time Directive (EWTD) is intended to protect employees' health and safety and improve patient safety by limiting the maximum required working hours to forty-eight per week, averaged over up to six months; it was adopted into UK law through the Working Time Regulations 1998. The British government negotiated an extension of up to twelve years before full implementation in the UK was required, and changes affecting the medical profession have been phased in over a five year period, starting in August 2004, when junior doctors' six-monthly average weekly working hours were reduced from seventy-two to fifty-four hours per week. This chapter discusses the implications of the directive along with data from a study designed to test the feasibility and safety implications of a EWTD compliant rota. It addresses concerns regarding continuity of patient care and reduced educational opportunities along with the need for evidence-based policy and decision making.Less
The 1993 European Working Time Directive (EWTD) is intended to protect employees' health and safety and improve patient safety by limiting the maximum required working hours to forty-eight per week, averaged over up to six months; it was adopted into UK law through the Working Time Regulations 1998. The British government negotiated an extension of up to twelve years before full implementation in the UK was required, and changes affecting the medical profession have been phased in over a five year period, starting in August 2004, when junior doctors' six-monthly average weekly working hours were reduced from seventy-two to fifty-four hours per week. This chapter discusses the implications of the directive along with data from a study designed to test the feasibility and safety implications of a EWTD compliant rota. It addresses concerns regarding continuity of patient care and reduced educational opportunities along with the need for evidence-based policy and decision making.
Heidi Nicolaisen, Hanne Cecilie Kavli, and Ragnhild Steen Jensen
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447348603
- eISBN:
- 9781447348658
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447348603.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
The introduction chapter outline the conceptual framework for the volume and describe the current patterns of part-time work. Part-time work has been a much visited research topic and the typical ...
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The introduction chapter outline the conceptual framework for the volume and describe the current patterns of part-time work. Part-time work has been a much visited research topic and the typical part-time worker still is a woman with children. Although gender and work-life balance continue to be at the heart of this topic, part-time work is increasingly connected to the political and academic debates about labour market outsiders. The ambition of this volume is to provide an up-to-date account of what kind of labour market phenomenon part-time work is to different categories of workers across Europe, the USA, Australia and South Korea and to explore how part-time is linked to precarious work and labour market dualisation. We discuss how the politics, regulations and institutions at different levels (supranational, national and workplace) have the capacity to influence part-time work. Based on the contributions to this book we present a typology of part-time work which moves beyond the traditional insider/outsider divide and provides a more diverse vocabulary for later analysis of part-time work.Less
The introduction chapter outline the conceptual framework for the volume and describe the current patterns of part-time work. Part-time work has been a much visited research topic and the typical part-time worker still is a woman with children. Although gender and work-life balance continue to be at the heart of this topic, part-time work is increasingly connected to the political and academic debates about labour market outsiders. The ambition of this volume is to provide an up-to-date account of what kind of labour market phenomenon part-time work is to different categories of workers across Europe, the USA, Australia and South Korea and to explore how part-time is linked to precarious work and labour market dualisation. We discuss how the politics, regulations and institutions at different levels (supranational, national and workplace) have the capacity to influence part-time work. Based on the contributions to this book we present a typology of part-time work which moves beyond the traditional insider/outsider divide and provides a more diverse vocabulary for later analysis of part-time work.
Colette Fagan and Pierre Walthery
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199681136
- eISBN:
- 9780191767449
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199681136.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
Fagan and Walthery use Sen’s (1999) capabilities framework to advance the debate about choice and constraint in relation to part-time work. They use a European establishment survey to identify which ...
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Fagan and Walthery use Sen’s (1999) capabilities framework to advance the debate about choice and constraint in relation to part-time work. They use a European establishment survey to identify which employers permit their employees to make individual-level adjustments between full-time and part-time working, given that employer policy is an important social conversion factor which shapes individual working-time capabilities. State policy clearly matters, but across Europe firm-level characteristics, including sector, establishment size, presence of a trade union, and the gender and skill composition of the workforce, all had a significant and independent influence on employer policy towards individual-level working-time adjustments. The firm’s broader working-time practices and managerial culture towards their employees’ worklife balance had an additional and independent effect. Reversibility options were curtailed in establishments where the workforce was contracting, except in firms which had a policy of full reversibility targeted at skilled employees only.Less
Fagan and Walthery use Sen’s (1999) capabilities framework to advance the debate about choice and constraint in relation to part-time work. They use a European establishment survey to identify which employers permit their employees to make individual-level adjustments between full-time and part-time working, given that employer policy is an important social conversion factor which shapes individual working-time capabilities. State policy clearly matters, but across Europe firm-level characteristics, including sector, establishment size, presence of a trade union, and the gender and skill composition of the workforce, all had a significant and independent influence on employer policy towards individual-level working-time adjustments. The firm’s broader working-time practices and managerial culture towards their employees’ worklife balance had an additional and independent effect. Reversibility options were curtailed in establishments where the workforce was contracting, except in firms which had a policy of full reversibility targeted at skilled employees only.
Lisa Warth
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199584499
- eISBN:
- 9780191728792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584499.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
The family-friendly organization of working time—as an issue for government policy—provides an interesting platform to analyse the way governments deal with the challenge of accommodating conflicting ...
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The family-friendly organization of working time—as an issue for government policy—provides an interesting platform to analyse the way governments deal with the challenge of accommodating conflicting interests while pursuing their own policy goals. Whereas financial transfers and services to support work-family reconciliation can be directly provided through the welfare state system, employee-oriented time flexibility is subject to negotiation between employers and employees and therefore largely beyond direct government control. Focusing on policy choices by New Labour (1997–2005) in the United Kingdom and the Red-Green Coalition Government (1998–2005) in Germany, this chapter explores how the British and German governments addressed the challenge of steering change from a distance through a policy mix of encouragement of good practice and statutory regulation. Differences in policy choices are explained by situating them within nationally specific policy preferences, overarching policy goals, government-stakeholder relations, and past policy choices.Less
The family-friendly organization of working time—as an issue for government policy—provides an interesting platform to analyse the way governments deal with the challenge of accommodating conflicting interests while pursuing their own policy goals. Whereas financial transfers and services to support work-family reconciliation can be directly provided through the welfare state system, employee-oriented time flexibility is subject to negotiation between employers and employees and therefore largely beyond direct government control. Focusing on policy choices by New Labour (1997–2005) in the United Kingdom and the Red-Green Coalition Government (1998–2005) in Germany, this chapter explores how the British and German governments addressed the challenge of steering change from a distance through a policy mix of encouragement of good practice and statutory regulation. Differences in policy choices are explained by situating them within nationally specific policy preferences, overarching policy goals, government-stakeholder relations, and past policy choices.
Heejung Chung
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781447348603
- eISBN:
- 9781447348658
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447348603.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter examines part-time working women's access to flexitime, that is the worker's control over their schedules such as starting and ending times, and time off work (a couple of hours during ...
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This chapter examines part-time working women's access to flexitime, that is the worker's control over their schedules such as starting and ending times, and time off work (a couple of hours during their working day) to tend to personal issues. It further examines whether this relative access varies across countries. The analysis of data from 30 European countries show that at the European average, part-time workers are more likely to get access to flexitime - showing evidence of a complimentary effect, and are as likely to get access to time off work for personal reasons as full time workers. There was a significant cross-national variance in part-time worker's relative access to flexitime compared to that of full-time workers. Countries where part-time work is more prevalent, where strong centralised unions exist, and family policies are generous were where women generally had better access to flexitime. However, this was especially the case for full-time working women, decreasing the gap between full-time and part-time working womenLess
This chapter examines part-time working women's access to flexitime, that is the worker's control over their schedules such as starting and ending times, and time off work (a couple of hours during their working day) to tend to personal issues. It further examines whether this relative access varies across countries. The analysis of data from 30 European countries show that at the European average, part-time workers are more likely to get access to flexitime - showing evidence of a complimentary effect, and are as likely to get access to time off work for personal reasons as full time workers. There was a significant cross-national variance in part-time worker's relative access to flexitime compared to that of full-time workers. Countries where part-time work is more prevalent, where strong centralised unions exist, and family policies are generous were where women generally had better access to flexitime. However, this was especially the case for full-time working women, decreasing the gap between full-time and part-time working women
Werner Eichhorst and Paul Marx
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199797899
- eISBN:
- 9780199933488
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199797899.003.0004
- Subject:
- Social Work, Social Policy
The chapter compares employment structures in five Continental European welfare states, with a focus on private services. Despite a common trend to overcome institutional employment barriers by ...
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The chapter compares employment structures in five Continental European welfare states, with a focus on private services. Despite a common trend to overcome institutional employment barriers by creating a more divided labor market, a closer look reveals considerable differences between national patterns of standard and non-standard work. We identify five transformative pathways towards a more flexible and cheaper use of labor in Continental European welfare states: 1. defection from permanent contracts, 2. from full-time employment, 3. from dependent employment, 4. growing wage dispersion, and 5. government-sponsored labor cost reductions. The chapter shows that by relying on one or several of these options, each country developed a distinct solution for the labor cost problem in the service sector, which corresponds to a particular form of dualization.Less
The chapter compares employment structures in five Continental European welfare states, with a focus on private services. Despite a common trend to overcome institutional employment barriers by creating a more divided labor market, a closer look reveals considerable differences between national patterns of standard and non-standard work. We identify five transformative pathways towards a more flexible and cheaper use of labor in Continental European welfare states: 1. defection from permanent contracts, 2. from full-time employment, 3. from dependent employment, 4. growing wage dispersion, and 5. government-sponsored labor cost reductions. The chapter shows that by relying on one or several of these options, each country developed a distinct solution for the labor cost problem in the service sector, which corresponds to a particular form of dualization.
Zoe Young
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781529202021
- eISBN:
- 9781529202052
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529202021.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter argues that balance is the seductive and coercive mantra of modern motherhood that draws professional women towards flexible working practices. It is seductive because work forms part of ...
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This chapter argues that balance is the seductive and coercive mantra of modern motherhood that draws professional women towards flexible working practices. It is seductive because work forms part of a women's sense of self and few want to give up. It is coercive because mothers feel obliged to comply and make balance the quest of their lives. For many professional women who become mothers, achieving balance has become a career aim in itself. What this study has learned is that balance across work and family life cannot be achieved arithmetically by dividing time evenly across two domains because balance is subjective and cannot be measured in working hours. Almost as soon as equilibrium is sensed things change again, and in that way balance is also a dynamic construct; what it means tomorrow will be different from today.Less
This chapter argues that balance is the seductive and coercive mantra of modern motherhood that draws professional women towards flexible working practices. It is seductive because work forms part of a women's sense of self and few want to give up. It is coercive because mothers feel obliged to comply and make balance the quest of their lives. For many professional women who become mothers, achieving balance has become a career aim in itself. What this study has learned is that balance across work and family life cannot be achieved arithmetically by dividing time evenly across two domains because balance is subjective and cannot be measured in working hours. Almost as soon as equilibrium is sensed things change again, and in that way balance is also a dynamic construct; what it means tomorrow will be different from today.
