Search results

Discusses the long existing and confusing problems of establishing the relationship of who is, and who if not, a dependent worker. Reflects developments which have occurred in British law as it affects the employment field, plus an evaluation and analysis of some of the different types of employment relationships which have evolved by examining, where possible, the status of each of these relationships. Concludes that the typical worker nowadays finds himself in a vulnerable position both economically and psychologically owing to the insecurity which exists.

In the last ten years the UK labour market has undergone a series of significant changes which have important implications for those involved in training. This monograph explains the implications of the growth of part‐time employment before presenting the results from a survey of employers and institutions, such as the MSC, regarding the provision of training for part‐time workers, and makes some comparisons with the situation in other countries. Certain issues are raised which may provide a basis for different policies in the future. The question of whether or not technological change is likely to lead to greater part‐time employment, and in particular more part‐time work by males, is also discussed.

This paper aims to identify the relative contribution of the business cycle and structural factors to the development of part-time employment in the 15 Member States of the European Union before the 2004 enlargement (EU-15) over the 1980s and 1990s. To do so, it exploits both cross-sectional and time series variations in available data over the past two decades.

Key results include the business cycle that is found to exert a short-term negative effect on part-time employment developments, although this effect fades away over the two-decade period considered. This finding is consistent with firms utilising part-time employment as a means of adjusting their labour force to economic conditions. Correspondingly, involuntary part-time employment is found to be counter-cyclical, being higher in troughs of economic activity. Splitting our sample reveals a very significant effect of the business cycle on the rate of part-time work for young and male prime-age workers. Conversely, the effect is very weak for women and insignificant for older workers.

Institutions and other structural factors are also found to be significant, longer run determinants of the rate of part-time employment. Changes in legislation affecting part-time employment are found to have a strong and positive impact on part-time employment developments. Moreover, employment protection legislation is positively correlated with the part-time employment rate (PTR), which is consistent with the use of part-time work as a tool for enhancing flexibility in the presence of rigid labour markets. Less robust evidence suggests the presence of unemployment traps for some potential part-time workers. Cross-country evidence also indicates that the lower labour costs borne by firms when employing part-time workers have a large and positive influence on the PTR. Overall, a contribution analysis shows that the main structural and institutional variables generally explain the development in the part-time rate in the EU countries fairly well, while this is obviously not the case in the United States.

As with many other OECD economies, a growing part‐time employment share has been a characteristic of the Australian workforce experience over the past three decades. Examines several distinctive features of Australian part‐time employment, namely: the high proportion of part‐time employees who are employed under casual employment conditions, the growing male part‐time employment share and the growing proportion of involuntary part‐time workers. Outlines several important policy implications, namely: many part‐time employees are entitled to but not receiving permanent employment conditions; many part‐timers are excluded from the many non‐wage entitlements associated with full‐time employment; adjusted hourly wage rates for part‐time workers appear to be falling relative to full‐time workers, the ability of part‐time employees to participate in the newly emerging collective bargaining framework is constrained by their very low trade union density relative to full‐time employees; and there are doubts as to how part‐time workers can effectively participate in and benefit from the emerging programme of employee‐based superannuation entitlements.

The issue of non‐standard forms of employment has sparked controversy in Greece. At the same time the expansion of atypical employment has been identified by policy makers as a central component of economic policy in combating high unemployment. However, there is a marked absence of empirical studies on this issue. This study sheds light on contractual flexibility surveying thirty establishments. The survey used an employer questionnaire to assess the extent to which Greek employers have engaged in various forms of atypical employment as well as the driving forces and managerial perceptions of the pertinent institutional framework. Results reveal that temporary work is the primary source of contractual flexibility, and that this is mainly used to adjust corporate capacity to demand variations, not to cut labour costs. Managerial discontent with governmental legislation on working time flexibility has led employers to embrace the EU's flexibility‐security approach through collective bargaining.

Focuses on nursing in the context of a broader analysis of flexible labour markets, with a focus on part‐time and casual work, which thousands of nurses in Canada have been forced into through health care restructure. Discusses the subject in great detail and concludes employers lost control of their own strategy with regard to the restructure of employment for their staff.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a multilevel framework for examining the links between part time work, productivity and institutional context. The authors emphasize the importance of integrating different theoretical perspectives to enrich the understanding of nonstandard work arrangements such as part time and organizational effectiveness such as productivity.

The authors used data from 2,839 businesses in 21 OECD countries. At the firm level, primary data were collected from the 2008 to 2010 survey of the Cranet research network. At the national level, the authors used information from OECD and Botero et al. (2004). The authors analysed the data using hierarchical linear modelling.

Firm use of part time work relates negatively to employment legislation but positively to gender empowerment. The relationship between part time work and productivity at firm level is moderated by employment legislation.

This study provides a basis for research in nonstandard work, firm outcomes and institutional policies to further advance.

Results indicate how managers should consider the relevant institutional context when deciding whether to promote the use of part time work. Results also show that policy-makers should be careful since employment policies may have adverse effects on use of part time in specific contexts.

The authors make theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of nonstandard arrangements by introducing a framework that better captures the complex interrelations between use of part time work, productivity and institutional context. Theoretically, the authors combine the resource based view with institutional theory into a multilevel framework that challenges the conventional model of the flexible firm.

Draws on a small research study undertaken in the retail industry, providing a very timely consideration of the choices and circumstances of those who work on a part‐time basis. Considers the reasons given by workers for choosing part‐time work, the costs involved and the extent to which part‐time workers are aware of these when making their decision. The research considers the role of trade unions in enhancing awareness of legal entitlements in view of the recent House of Lords ruling.

This “Rapport” proposes to examine the function and effect of British social law in the context of the employment/unemployment debate. This debate is a most significant one for it has not only British, but also European and International dimensions.

In the last decade the growth of part‐time employment has been one of the most significant factors affecting the size and composition of the labour force in many industrialised countries. Part‐time employment grew in terms of absolute numbers and as a proportion of the total labour force in most EEC member states and a recent OECD report suggests that other industrialised countries, such as Japan, have had similar experiences. The vast majority of these part‐timers are women. In 1977 26.4 per cent of all females in employment in the EEC were part‐time workers, compared with only 2.6 per cent of all males in employment, and females constituted 85 per cent of all part‐time workers. Most of these women who work on a part‐time basis are married women between the ages of 25 and 59. This group made up 73 per cent of the total number of women working part‐time in Britain according to the 1971 Census. Most industrialised countries have experienced an increased participation of females in the labour force since the war and, as Figure 1 shows, between 1973 and 1977 the proportion of females in employment who worked part‐time rose in the majority of EEC member countries. Outside the Scandinavian countries the UK now has one of the highest proportions of part‐time workers in Europe.