Search results

1 – 10 of over 5000
Article
Publication date: 14 August 2009

Stefanie Toh and Michael Quinlan

The purpose of this paper is to examine occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers' compensation legal entitlements and policy issues raised by the use of foreign temporary

2412

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers' compensation legal entitlements and policy issues raised by the use of foreign temporary workers under the s457 visa scheme in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with 15 representatives of unions and employers along with written responses from government agencies and examination of government statistics, court and other documents.

Findings

The study suggests that foreign temporary workers can face significant difficulty in accessing their OHS rights and entitlements. This represents a challenge for government as well as unions and human resource professionals trying to manage workforce diversity.

Research limitations/implications

Further detailed investigation is required into the extent of problems identified in this paper in Australia and other countries.

Practical implications

The study indicates that governments making use of guestworkers need to investigate whether these workers have effective access to the protection of OHS and workers' compensation laws and, if not, as indicated by this study, to make suitable policy interventions.

Originality/value

The human resource implications of managing guestworkers have been under‐researched to date despite the global growth in numbers. The paper starts to fill this gap, identifying a number of important policy issues in relation to OHS.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 March 2015

Joon K. Kim

To examine an exceptional case of international labor solidarity and advocacy in a nontraditional labor-receiving country of South Korea.

Abstract

Purpose

To examine an exceptional case of international labor solidarity and advocacy in a nontraditional labor-receiving country of South Korea.

Methodology/approach

Ethnographic research on migrant advocacy organization in Korea from its inception in the mid-1990s to the present; theoretical and comparative review of literature on migrant labor mobilization, with a focus on labor unions and migrant advocacy organizations.

Findings

The significance of the Korean case is that there are an unusually high number of migrant advocacy organizations that increasingly espouse an internationalist ideology. Furthermore, their effectiveness and sustainability rest on embedded solidarity networks across a spectrum of progressive labor and civic organizations.

Originality/Value

The chapter underscores the agentic power of society’s vulnerable populations, such as undocumented immigrant workers, despite the market-driven forces of globalization that disrupts communities and disciplines workers. Embedded solidarity with migrants from a transnational perspective adds to the much-needed discussion about global protests in the context of globalization and neoliberalism.

Book part
Publication date: 5 August 2019

Gabrielle E. Clark

Since the late 1970s, US employers have increasingly drawn upon legal temporary labor under the H-2 visa to address their labor needs in low-waged sectors. Ever since, what Clark…

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, US employers have increasingly drawn upon legal temporary labor under the H-2 visa to address their labor needs in low-waged sectors. Ever since, what Clark calls migrant labor activism and conflict in the courts has similarly erupted. However, as she argues in this chapter, making “adversarial legalism” the H-2 way of law has also been a story of comparative state formation. For, the litigation largely reflects the structure of labor migration created after the demise of government-run migration. In this regard, activists wrestle with the problems created by the new role of global labor intermediaries in the recruitment process, absolute employer control over hiring and firing, and the coercion produced in the shadow of a now minimally interventionist state. Drawing upon archival research, interviews with legal professionals, and the entire case law docket in this area, this chapter puts “adversarial legalism” under the H-2 visa in its historical and political context.

Details

Studies in Law, Politics, and Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-058-0

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1998

Yves Flückiger

This paper presents a general survey of the Swiss economy. It emphasises the various factors that have been put forward to explain the very low unemployment rate recorded in…

2332

Abstract

This paper presents a general survey of the Swiss economy. It emphasises the various factors that have been put forward to explain the very low unemployment rate recorded in Switzerland up to the beginning of the 1990s. It also analyses the factors which may be held responsible for the dramatic reversal of the Swiss labour market situation, by considering the modification in the employers’ and workers’ behaviour in Switzerland as well as the changes observed in the structure of the foreign labour force. It comes to the conclusion that the unemployment observed since 1991 is not simply a consequence of a deterioration in the functioning of the Swiss labour market compared with earlier periods, but rather a result of changes in immigration policies and also the reflection in the statistics of a truer picture of the labour market imbalance created by the restructuring of the economy.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 19 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2019

Charles Chih and Chieh-Peng Lin

The purpose of this paper is to review two work groups’ (local vs foreign) perceptions, attitudes and behavior and propose a moderated mediation model to examine perceived HR…

1055

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review two work groups’ (local vs foreign) perceptions, attitudes and behavior and propose a moderated mediation model to examine perceived HR practices’ impact on identification with the company and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Design/methodology/approach

This paper selects 320 local and foreign production operators at high-tech firms in Taiwan. The hypotheses are tested using SEM-AMOS, and the mediation effects are analyzed by Sobel test with bootstrapping.

Findings

Results show that: first, the relationship influence between identification with the company and OCB is stronger for foreign workers than for local workers; and, second, the moderated mediation of work status exists in perceived practice of rewards for the whole worker model.

Research limitations/implications

To concentrate on research objective, the authors only consider the same characteristics in local and foreign workers’ job environment, neglecting differences in employment conditions, living environment and cultural background.

Practical implications

Two major implications are that: first, different perceptions on HR practices are based on employees’ work status; and, second, in addition to adopting appreciative HR practices for the target group, firms should help employees develop a stronger identification with the company in order to encourage OCB.

Originality/value

This paper studies employees’ perception on HR practices, compares a three-variable model between local and foreign workers, and proposes a moderated mediation model to handle HR practices’ effects on identification with the company and OCB.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

SaunJuhi Verma

My research builds upon masculinity studies as well as migration and gender theory to evaluate emerging strategies of gendered labor control at work sites within temporary worker

Abstract

My research builds upon masculinity studies as well as migration and gender theory to evaluate emerging strategies of gendered labor control at work sites within temporary worker programs. In particular, my multisite ethnography consisting of 97 interviews with US guest workers, oil industry employers, and Indian labor brokers shifts focus to the recruitment of male workers into the US oil industry. The study evaluated a multi-country recruitment chain from India to the Middle East and into the US Guest Worker Program. Findings identified a relationship between the construction of masculinities and employer strategies for labor control. The article addresses the following question: how is hegemonic masculinity used as a strategy for labor control? The study identifies the double bind of hegemonic masculinity within contingent employment relationships as a means of labor control for curbing male migrant dissent.

Details

Gendering Struggles against Informal and Precarious Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-368-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 February 2011

João-Paulo Bola Sousa

Canada's rural economy today is a dynamic source of economic growth and jobs are available in the natural resource extraction, manufacturing, agri-food and service sectors, yet…

Abstract

Canada's rural economy today is a dynamic source of economic growth and jobs are available in the natural resource extraction, manufacturing, agri-food and service sectors, yet despite this relatively favourable outlook, a profound socio-economic transformation is taking place. Within Ontario, the nation's largest and most economically diversified province and the focus of this study, the agri-food sector seeks new ways to deal with heightened competitive pressures and unstable commodity prices, in part by securing a relatively inexpensive and reliable labour force, while transnational auto-parts firms have looked increasingly to small town Ontario as fertile ground to transplant new ‘flexible’, niche manufacturing facilities. This multifaceted process has had a distinct impact on the regional economy, migratory labour flows and community social dynamics. As Harvey (1996) makes note, the effects of capital's re-spatialization have been uneven, and the state's role in this process contradictory, simultaneously facilitating capital mobility while regulating labour's (im)mobility (see also, Peck, 1996; Antonio & Bonanno, 2000). This chapter presents research findings and examines the impact of capital/labour flows on the changing character of three small communities in the heart of rural south-western Ontario – Bradford, Strathroy and Tillsonburg – with a particular focus on the conditions under which migrants and immigrants are socially included and excluded from the communities where they work. Based on these case studies, I argue that while small town Canada has managed to benefit partially from opportunities linked to a globalizing economy, the formal and informal means of socially incorporating this new transnationalized labour force is lagging significantly behind, reflecting in fact a regressive turn in Canadian labour-market regulation, while the concern for sustainable community development is largely ignored.

Details

Globalization and the Time–Space Reorganization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-318-8

Book part
Publication date: 10 December 2018

Geraldine Pratt and Migrante BC

We contextualize contemporary domestic worker organizing in Vancouver within a history of domestic worker organizing in Canada and then build the argument that their organizing…

Abstract

We contextualize contemporary domestic worker organizing in Vancouver within a history of domestic worker organizing in Canada and then build the argument that their organizing has been structured by the gendered geographies of: international migration; the location of the work in the private home; and the prevalence of stepwise migration of Filipina domestic workers to Canada. These gendered geographies have led to a distinctive mode of organizing: in the community around a wide range of issues that enfold social reproduction into workplace issues to engage the entirety of individuals’ and families’ lives across the life course. Domestic workers’ organizing is grounded in the spatialities and materialities of their lives, and seemingly familiar gender scripts take on an active force in the domestic workers’ mobilization. Confronting the contradictions of organizing domestic workers and organizing to revalue domestic work points to the enduring undervaluation of feminized workers and their work, as well as the potential for intersectional solidarities along with the need for multisectoral strategies.

Details

Gendering Struggles against Informal and Precarious Work
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-368-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Agnieszka Kosny and Amy R Allen

Many migrants coming to Australia end up in poor quality jobs that can lead to injury or illness. The purpose of this paper is to examine work-related resources available to…

Abstract

Purpose

Many migrants coming to Australia end up in poor quality jobs that can lead to injury or illness. The purpose of this paper is to examine work-related resources available to migrants in Australia to determine whether these contain information on employment standards (ES), occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers’ compensation (WC).

Design/methodology/approach

National and state-based websites of government, unions, WC boards and community organizations were searched for relevant materials. Resources were analysed and categorized according to location, content, resource type, audience and language.

Findings

We found 175 work-related resources that targeted migrants, or those working with them. The greatest numbers of resources were found in New South Wales, Victoria, and at a national level. There was a lack of comprehensive resources, with most resources containing only general work-related information. Those that had information on ES, OHS and WC generally covered only one topic in depth. Few resources were directed at temporary foreign workers. Although there are many resources to help newcomers find employment, these often do not include comprehensive information about rights at work, injury prevention and WC.

Practical implications

Improving the comprehensiveness and accessibility of work-related resources could assist migrant workers in understanding ES, OHS and WC in Australia.

Originality/value

This study, a first of its kind in Australia, examines work-related resources aimed at recent immigrants and whether these contain information related to health and safety, employment rights and responsibilities or what to do in the event of an injury. The analysis suggests that there is a paucity of comprehensive resources that address these topics. This is significant because recent immigrants, compared to native-born workers are more likely to work in jobs that expose them to hazards and increase their risk of injury. Resources preparing newcomers for work in Australia should include work and health-related information.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Abstract

Details

A New Left Economics: An Economy with a Social Conscience
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80455-402-9

1 – 10 of over 5000