Search results
1 – 10 of over 1000These changes, which focus particularly on casual workers, faced particular lobbying from parts of the business sector, which described them as costly and unnecessary, but they…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB282370
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Prakash Shrestha, Dilip Parajuli and Bibek Raj Adhikari
This paper aims to examine the current quality of work-life (QWL) situation and the effectiveness of labor laws for promoting QWL in the context of Nepalese workplaces.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the current quality of work-life (QWL) situation and the effectiveness of labor laws for promoting QWL in the context of Nepalese workplaces.
Design/methodology/approach
It uses a descriptive-interpretative-qualitative approach to analyze the responses. Information is gathered through discussions with 85 higher- and middle-level managers of large and medium-sized organizations.
Findings
The majority of Nepalese organizations accept safe and healthy working conditions, social relevance of work-life, social integration in the work organization, and work and total life space as the key aspects of QWL. They have become even more critical as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they face challenges in providing employees with opportunities for continued growth and security, immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities, adequate and fair compensation and constitutionalism in the work organization. QWL-related provisions in Labour Act, 2017, play a vital role in promoting the QWL situation. The QWL programs offer many benefits to employees’ private and working lives. The lack of such programs would undoubtedly have negative consequences for Nepalese companies. Compliance with labor laws will promote a better QWL situation at Nepalese workplaces.
Research limitations/implications
Only managerial perspectives are considered for examining the current situation of QWL and the effectiveness of QWL-related provisions of the Labour Act, 2017. It excludes the views of union leaders.
Practical implications
This paper indicates that labor laws’ QWL-related provisions are effective. It also provides several policy measures for promoting a better QWL in Nepalese workplaces.
Originality/value
This study presents QWL-related legal provisions and the actual situation at the workplaces of Nepal. It also presents the key aspects of QWL in the context of Nepal.
Details
Keywords
OECD membership is seen as key to locking in the liberalising economic policies adopted in varying degrees since the 1990s, and improving the investment climate. Private…
Details
DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-DB283125
ISSN: 2633-304X
Keywords
Geographic
Topical
Vibha Kapuria-Foreman and Charles R. McCann
Prior to the passage of the 20th amendment to the US Constitution in 1920, several states had extended the suffrage to women. Helen Laura Sumner (later Woodbury), a student of…
Abstract
Prior to the passage of the 20th amendment to the US Constitution in 1920, several states had extended the suffrage to women. Helen Laura Sumner (later Woodbury), a student of John R. Commons at Wisconsin, undertook a statistical study of the political, economic, and social impacts of the granting of voting rights to women in the state of Colorado, and subsequently defended the results against numerous attacks. In this paper, we present a brief account of the struggle for women’s equality in the extension of the suffrage and examine Sumner’s critical analysis of the evidence as to its effects, as well as the counterarguments to which she responded.
Details
Keywords
Mirela Cătălina Türkeş, Aurelia Felicia Stăncioiu, Mihai Cristian Orzan, Mariana Jugănaru, Roxana-Cristina Marinescu and Ion Dănuț Jugănaru
Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions…
Abstract
Purpose
Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions regarding the change in the legislative and contractual framework, as well as in the working conditions and the use of telework, also change. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify the perceptions of employees regarding the use of telework in the post-pandemic period.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was based on a survey carried out on 128 teleworkers in the post-pandemic period. The statistical hypotheses were tested using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Kruskal–Wallis tests, multiple linear regression and pairwise comparison analysis.
Findings
The results of the study demonstrate that the modification of the legislative and contractual framework and of the working conditions, as well as of the way of using information and communication technology in the post-pandemic era, generates a positive and significant impact on the use of telework by employees. Some of the main advantages valued by teleworkers included the possibility of benefitting from a flexible work schedule and the possibility of reducing transport costs.
Originality/value
The study highlights the need to continuously develop and update labour policies and strategies in line with current and future labour market requirements, considering the implications of telework on the perceptions of employees, so that government organisations and managers who want to protect the rights and interests of teleworkers, aspects of their lives and organise an appropriate work environment manage to do so in order to achieve the expected results.
Details
Keywords
Taehyun Ethan Kim and Dean R. Lillard
We model the conditions under which parents optimally reallocate time to childcare when an outside agent exogenously restricts the number of hours an employer can demand of a…
Abstract
We model the conditions under which parents optimally reallocate time to childcare when an outside agent exogenously restricts the number of hours an employer can demand of a working parent. Theoretically, when the restriction binds, a parent's available time increases. We exploit a series of voluntary and mandated labor-market reforms in South Korea that regulated the statutory and maximum work hours of parents. The government implemented the laws in stages by industry and size of firms. This implementation process generates exogenous variation across families where one or both partners worked at jobs that were or were not affected by the reform. We show the reforms affected work hours and use the predicted changes to investigate the total amount they spent on paid childcare and whether or not they changed the relative use of market and parental care. When fathers get more time (work less), parents spend less money on childcare. A change in mother's work time does not affect expenditures. When parents get more time, they are more likely to spend money on paid childcare for school-age children and more likely to use private academies.
Details
Keywords
The paper frames modern slavery as a global wicked problem and aims to provide a set of international business (IB) policy recommendations for taming it. The outlined approach can…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper frames modern slavery as a global wicked problem and aims to provide a set of international business (IB) policy recommendations for taming it. The outlined approach can also guide IB policymaking to address other kinds of wicked problems.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that reviews existing literature on wicked problems and integrates it with an IB policy double helix framework. The paper focuseses on the role multinational enterprises (MNEs) play in moderl slavery globally, either through global value chains or within global factory modes of operation.
Findings
As a global wicked problem, modern slavery will never be solved, but it can be re-solved time and time over. Understanding the social reproduction of modern slavery can help shift the focus from labor governance and a narrow supply chain focus toward the role of transnational governance and the need to address institutional, market and organizational failures.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the gap in an overarching theory of modern slavery and systematically applies the concept of wicked problems and wickedness theory to modern slavery. Drawing on an IB policy double helix framework, the paper addresses the governance nexus between modern slavery, IB and policymaking which can in turn advance IB policy research and theory.
Details
Keywords
Ao Zhou and Stephen B. Blumenfeld
This study examines the transformation of labour non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Mainland China since the enactment of the 2017 Overseas NGO Management Law…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the transformation of labour non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Mainland China since the enactment of the 2017 Overseas NGO Management Law, which aims to regulate foreign concerns functioning outside the direct control of the state. It focuses on the extent to which these organisations have responded to the rapidly changing political and social environment by altering their goals and strategies in support of migrant workers. It also considers the relevance of Western social movement theories (SMTs) to China's grassroots labour movement in the 2020s.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on case studies of ten labour NGOs operating in Beijing, Tianjin and Yunnan. It draws upon fifteen semi-structured interviews with the founders, leaders and activists affiliated with those organisations, as well as records and documented information of each of those organisations.
Findings
While the power and influence of labour NGOs markedly diminished, most have been able to adapt their goals and the strategies remain sustainable amidst both China's changing political and social climates and the global pandemic. It suggests that conventional SMTs can still offer valuable insights into understanding the development of labour NGOs in China, although they might not fully interpret the specific conditions and challenges faced by these organisations.
Originality/value
This study stands out as one of very few to offer empirical evidence on the inner workings of China's labour NGOs over the last six years. It also contributes to our understanding of social movements in a non-Western context.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to analyze the effect the liberalization of industrial relations in Germany has had on trade unions’ influence on companies’ decisions. Particular attention is…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the effect the liberalization of industrial relations in Germany has had on trade unions’ influence on companies’ decisions. Particular attention is given to European measures of flexibilizing company law and how they affect industrial relations in Germany.
Design/methodology/approach
After presenting a theoretical basis regarding industrial relations and corporate governance, the paper then demonstrates, via a case study, the effects of the flexible European company law. It examines the strategic avoidance of trade union activity at SAP, a case that ended up before the European Court of Justice.
Findings
The flexibility of European company law allows companies to limit the influence of trade unions on company decisions. Limiting trade unions' internal participation weakens their position overall. Precautionary measures to protect employees’ rights help to reduce the dangers of this process.
Originality/value
The influence of European law brings a new perspective to the transformation of the German industrial relations model. The analysis of the strategy of using the legal type of the European company (Societas Europaea) to limit the internal activity of trade unions demonstrates the connection between institutional settings and corporate governance.
Details
Keywords
Nicolae Stef and Anthony Terriau
We investigate how firing notification procedures influence wage growth. Using a sample of 33 countries over the period 2006–2015, we show that administrative requirements in…
Abstract
We investigate how firing notification procedures influence wage growth. Using a sample of 33 countries over the period 2006–2015, we show that administrative requirements in cases of dismissal have a positive and significant effect on wage growth. The result is robust even after controlling for the endogeneity of the firing notification restrictions, the involvement of third parties in the wage bargaining process, the minimum wage, the firms' training policy, and the composition of employment. These findings suggest that firing notification procedures foster the growth of wages by increasing the bargaining power of incumbent workers.
Details