Zitatform

Kvart, Signild, Isabel Cuervo, Virginia Gunn, Wayne Lewchuk, Kim Bosmans, Letitia Davis, Astrid Escrig-Piñol, Per-Olof Östergren, Eva Padrosa, Alejandra Vives, Alessandro Zaupa, Emily Q. Ahonen, Valentina Álvarez-López, Mireia Bolíbar, Ignacio Diaz, Mariana Gutiérrez-Zamora, Lars Ivarsson, Mireia Julià, Carles Muntaner, Patricia O'Campo, Marisol E. Ruiz, Kristian Vänerhagen, Emilia F. Vignola, David Vílchez, Mattias Vos, Theo Bodin & Sherry L. Baron (2025): Labour and social protection gaps impacting the health and well-being of workers in non-standard employment: An international comparative study. In: PLoS ONE, Jg. 20. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0320248

Abstract

"Background: World economies increasingly rely on non-standard employment arrangements, which has been linked to ill health. While work and employment conditions are recognized structural determinants of health and health equity, policies aiming to protect workers from negative implications predominantly focus on standard employment arrangements and the needs of workers in non-standard employment may be neglected. The aim of this study is to explore workers’ experiences of gaps in labour regulations and social protections and its influence on their health and well-being across 6 countries with differing policy approaches: Belgium, Canada, Chile, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. Methods: 250 semi-structured interviews with workers in non-standard employment were analyzed thematically using a multiple case-study approach. Results: There are notable differences in workers’ rights to protection across the countries. However, participants across all countries experienced similar challenges including employment instability, income inadequacy and limited rights and protection, due to policy-related gaps and access-barriers. In response, they resorted to individual resources and strategies, struggled to envision supportive policies, and expressed low expectations of changes by employers and policymakers. Conclusions: Policy gaps threaten workers’ health and well-being across all study countries, irrespective of the levels of labour market regulations and social protections. Workers in non-standard employment disproportionately endure economic risks, which may increase social and health inequality. The study highlights the need to improve social protection for this vulnerable population." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Banerjee, Rupa, Laura Lam & Danielle Lamb (2023): Temporary talent: Wage penalties among highly educated temporary workers in Canada. In: The Journal of Industrial Relations, Jg. 65, H. 2, S. 185-210. DOI:10.1177/00221856231151964

Abstract

"Temporary employment (TE) arrangements have become increasingly common in Canada among both high- and low-skilled workers. In this study, we examine the prevalence and earnings effects of TE across education levels with a specific focus on highly educated workers. We also examine the earnings effects of TE across the earnings distribution. We find that higher levels of schooling are negatively associated with the probability of TE. However, the earnings discounts for temporary work are significant and increase in magnitude for individuals with higher levels of educational attainment. For highly educated workers at the top end of the earnings distribution, the discount associated with being in a temporary job is large enough to substantially reduce, although not entirely negate, the sizeable earnings premiums associated with higher levels of education." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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O'Brady, Sean (2021): Fighting precarious work with institutional power: Union inclusion and its limits across spheres of action. In: BJIR, Jg. 59, H. 4, S. 1084-1107. DOI:10.1111/bjir.12596

Abstract

"Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of institutional power is not adequately addressed. Through an investigation of eight retailers in four countries, this study uniquely examines how inclusive union strategies, cost competition and institutional power interact in different ‘spheres of action’. In the product market sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost competition between firms from eroding working conditions. In the production sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost competition between workers in a single firm from eroding working conditions. This article finds that multi‐level sources of institutional power are a precursor to effective union inclusion and articulating action towards threats from cost competition. I thereby argue that union efforts to resist precarious work are contingent on access to power from institutions. The article concludes with reflections on how institutional power relates to other forms of power." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))

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Chafe, David & Lisa Kaida (2020): Harmonic dissonance : Coping with employment precarity among professional musicians in St John's, Canada. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 34, H. 3, S. 407-423. DOI:10.1177/0950017019865877

Abstract

"Precarious employment literature has addressed a myriad of occupations increasingly characterized by employment uncertainty and reduced commitment between workers and employers due to short-term contracts and self-employment, with particular attention given to creative industries and the gig economy in recent years. The authors argue that research on creative industries also requires consideration of the role of place in the experience of employment insecurity and career commitment. This article focuses on self-employed musicians in the mid-sized city of St John's, Canada. Interviews with 54 musicians draw attention to coping strategies for long periods of low pay and employment insecurity. These strategies include downplaying competition and conflict, acquiring higher education and changing career. It is argued that population size and location of the community where work is based have implications on such coping strategies and on career longevity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Stecy-Hildebrandt, Natasha, Sylvia Fuller & Alisyn Burns (2019): 'Bad' jobs in a 'good' sector: Examining the employment outcomes of temporary work in the Canadian public sector. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 33, H. 4, S. 560-579. DOI:10.1177/0950017018758217

Abstract

"Canada's public sector has historically provided good jobs, but its increasing reliance on temporary workers has important implications for job quality. We compare temporary and permanent workers in the public sector on three dimensions of job quality (employment security, access to benefits and income trajectories) to assess whether favourable conditions in the public sector are extended to temporary employees, or whether polarization between temporary and permanent workers is the norm. We find provisions related to employment security and access to leave benefits in public sector collective bargains are clearly two-tiered. Drawing on nationally representative panel data, we also find a persistent earnings gap between matched permanent and temporary employees. Further, although temporary public sector workers out-earn their private sector counterparts, the earnings disadvantage relative to matched permanent workers is more pronounced and longer lasting in the public sector. Underlying this difference is greater persistence in temporary employment within the public sector." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Pullmann, Ashley (2018): Gendered pathways from school to work: The association between field of study and non-standard employment outcomes in Canada. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 58, H. December, S. 44-53. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2018.10.001

Zitatform

Taylor, Stephanie & Susan Luckman (Hrsg.) (2018): The new normal of working lives. Critical studies in contemporary work and employment. (Dynamics of virtual work), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 356 S. DOI:10.1007/978-3-319-66038-7

Abstract

"This critical, international and interdisciplinary edited collection investigates the new normal of work and employment, presenting research on the experience of the workers themselves. The collection explores the formation of contemporary worker subjects, and the privilege or disadvantage in play around gender, class, age and national location within the global workforce.
Organised around the three areas of: creative working, digital working lives, and transitions and transformations, its fifteen chapters examine in detail the emerging norms of work and work activities in a range of occupations and locations. It also investigates the coping strategies adopted by workers to manage novel difficulties and life circumstances, and their understandings of the possibilities, trajectories, mobilities, identities and potential rewards of their work situations." (Publisher information, IAB-Doku) ((en))
Inhalt: Stephanie Taylor, Susan Luckman Collection Introduction: The 'New Normal' of Working Lives (1-15);
Part I Creative Working ;
Susan Luckman, Jane Andrew: Online Selling and the Growth of Home-Based Craft Micro-enterprise: The 'New Normal' of Women's Self-(under)Employment (19-39);
Ana Alacovska: Hope Labour Revisited: Post-socialist Creative Workers and Their Methods of Hope (41-63);
Karen Cross: From Visual Discipline to Love-Work: The Feminising of Photographic Expertise in the Age of Social Media (65-85);
Frédérick Harry Pitts: Creative Labour, Before and After 'Going Freelance': Contextual Factors and Coalition-Building Practices (87-107);
Frédérik Lesage: Searching, Sorting, and Managing Glut: Media Software Inscription Strategies for 'Being Creative' (109-126);
Part II Digital Working Lives ;
Katariina Mäkinen: Negotiating the Intimate and the Professional in Mom Blogging (129-146);
Daniel Ashton, Karen Patel: Vlogging Careers: Everyday Expertise, Collaboration and Authenticity (147-169);
Johanna Koroma, Matti Vartiainen: From Presence to Multipresence: Mobile Knowledge Workers' Densified Hours (171-200);
Iva Josefssonn: Affectual Demands and the Creative Worker: Experiencing Selves and Emotions in the Creative Organisation (201-217);
Silvia Ivaldi, Ivana Pais, Giuseppe Scaratti: Coworking(s) in the Plural: Coworking Spaces and New Ways of Managing (219-241);
Part III Transitions and Transformations ;
Kori Allan: 'Investment in Me': Uncertain Futures and Debt in the Intern Economy (245-263);
Hanna-Mari Ikonen: Letting Them Get Close: Entrepreneurial Work and the New Normal (265-283);
Elin Vadelius: Self-Employment in Elderly Care: A Way to Self-Fulfilment or Self-Exploitation for Professionals? (285-308);
Ingrid Biese, Marta Choroszewicz: Creating Alternative Solutions for Work: Expertences of Women Managers and Lawyers in Poland and the USA (309-325);
Stephanie Taylor: Beyond Work? New Expectations and Aspirations (327-345).

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Fuller, Sylvia & Natasha Stecy-Hildebrandt (2015): Career pathways for temporary workers. Exploring heterogeneous mobility dynamics with sequence analysis. In: Social science research, Jg. 50, H. March, S. 76-99. DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.11.003

Abstract

"Because temporary jobs are time-delimited, their implications for workers' economic security depend not only on their current characteristics, but also their place in longer-term patterns of mobility. Past research has typically asked whether temporary jobs are a bridge to better employment or trap workers in ongoing insecurity, investigating this question by analyzing single transitions. We demonstrate that this approach is ill-suited to assessing the often more complex and turbulent employment patterns characteristic of temporary workers. Our analysis instead employs sequence methods to compare a representative sample of temporary workers' month-by-month mobility patterns through 8 potential (non)employment states over five years. We derive a typology of trajectories and describe their relative precariousness in relation to employment stability and wage and earnings levels and growth. While some of the pathways correspond quite closely to frameworks used by past research, others reveal new and important distinctions. Multinomial logit models reveal job, employer, and worker characteristics associated with different pathways. Age, gender, and type of temporary work stand out as important factors shaping subsequent mobility patterns." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Baines, Donna, John Campey, Ian Cunningham & John Shields (2014): Not profiting from precarity. The work of nonprofit service delivery and the creation of precariousness. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 22, H. Autumn, S. 74-93.

Abstract

"This paper examines the impact of precarity on the nonprofit service providing sector (NPSS). Using in depth qualitative interviews, recent empirically-based surveys of the Ontario nonprofit sector and key academic and grey literature, we explore the deeper meaning of precarity in this sector. We contend that the NPSS is a unique, and in many respects, an ideal location in which to explore the workings and impact of precarity. Looking at the nonprofit sector reveals that precarity operates at various levels, the: 1) nonprofit labour force; 2) organization structure and operation of nonprofit agencies; and, 3) clients and communities serviced by these nonprofit organizations. By observing the workings of precarity in this sector, precarity is revealed to be far more than an employment based phenomenon but also a force that negatively impacts organizational structures as well as vulnerable communities." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Goldring, Luin & Marie-Pier Joly (2014): Immigration, citizenship and racialization at work. Unpacking employment precarity in Southwestern Ontario. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 22, H. Autumn, S. 94- 121.

Abstract

"This paper examines the relationship between precarious employment, legal status, and racialization. We conceptualize legal status to include the intersections of immigration and citizenship. Using the PEPSO survey data we operationalize three categories of legal status: Canadian born, foreign-born citizens, and foreign-born non-citizens. First we examine whether the character of precarious work varies depending on legal status, and find that it does: Citizenship by birth or naturalization reduces employment precarity across most dimensions and indicators. Next, we ask how legal status intersects with racialization to shape precarious employment. We find that employment precarity is disproportionately high for racialized non-citizens. Becoming a citizen mitigates employment precarity. Time in Canada also reduces precarity, but not for non-citizens. Foreign birth and citizenship acquisition intersect with racialization unevenly: Canadian born racialized groups exhibit higher employment precarity than racialized foreign-born citizens. Our analysis underscores the importance of including legal status in intersectional analyses of social inequality." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lewchuk, Wayne, Michelynn Laflèche, Diane Dyson, Luin Goldring, Alan Meisner, Stephanie Procyk, Dan Rosen, John Shields, Peter Viducis & Sam Vrankulj (2014): Is precarious employment low income employment? The changing labour market in Southern Ontario. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 22, H. Autumn, S. 51-73.

Abstract

"This paper examines the association between income and precarious employment, how this association is changing and how it is shaped by gender and race. It explores how precarious employment has spread to even middle income occupations and what this implies for our understanding of contemporary labour markets and employment relationship norms. The findings indicate a need to refine our views of who is in precarious employment and a need to re-evaluate the nature of the Standard Employment Relationship, which we would argue is not only becoming less prevalent, but also transitioning into something that is less secure." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Lewchuk, Wayne & Michelynn Laflèche (2014): Precarious employment and social outcomes. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 22, H. Autumn, S. 45-50.

Abstract

Der Beitrag führt in das Schwerpunktthema der Ausgabe der Zeitschrift ein, in dem neuere Arbeiten aus dem Umfeld des PEPSO-Projekts (POVERTY & EMPLOYMENT PRECARITY IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO PROJECT) vorgestellt werden. Diese stützen sich zum Teil auf den Bericht "It's More than Poverty: Employment Precarity and Household Well-being", den das PEPSO-Projekt im Jahr 2013 veröffentlicht hat und der Ergebnisse einer Befragung von 4000 Personen aus dem Arbeitsmarktbezirk Toronto-Hamilton präsentiert. Zum anderen Teil stützen sie sich auf vertiefende und begleitende Untersuchungen prekär Beschäftigter. Die Beiträge fragen u.a. ob prekäre Beschäftigung gleichbedeutend ist mit Niedrigeinkommen, untersuchen Prekarität im Non-Profit-Sektor, in dem prekär Beschäftigte Dienstleistungen für andere prekär Beschäftigte erbringen, fragen nach dem Einfluss ethnischer Faktoren, speziell bei Einwanderinnen, oder nach der Besonderheit einer Beschäftigung von Saisonarbeitern in der Landwirtschaft im Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Außerdem wird der Erfolg städtischer Reinigungskräfte in Toronto dokumentiert, die verhindert haben, dass ihre Arbeitsplätze outgesourct und sie in die gewerbliche Wirtschaft überführt werden. (IAB)

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Scott-Marshall, Heather & Emile Tompa (2011): The health consequences of precarious employment experiences. In: Work. A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, Jg. 38, H. 4, S. 369-382. DOI:10.3233/WOR-2011-1140

Abstract

"Objective: This study provides a test of a conceptual framework of the stress-related health consequences of 'precarious' employment experiences defined as those associated with instability, lack of protection, insecurity across various dimensions of work, and social and economic vulnerability...
Results: Certain work characteristics (low earnings, the lack of an annual wage increase, substantial unpaid overtime hours, the absence of pension benefits, manual work) predict an increased risk of adverse general and/or functional health outcomes.
Conclusions: Proactive regulatory initiatives and all-encompassing benefits programs are urgently required to address emerging work forms and arrangements that present risks to health." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Zitatform

Cao, Shutao, Enchuan Shao & Pedro Silos (2010): Fixed-term and permanent employment contracts. Theory and evidence. (CESifo working paper 3150), München, 49 S.

Abstract

"This paper constructs a theory of the coexistence of fixed-term and permanent employment contracts in an environment with ex-ante identical workers and employers. Workers under fixed-term contracts can be dismissed at no cost while permanent employees enjoy labor protection. In a labor market characterized by search and matching frictions, firms find optimal to discriminate by offering some workers a fixed-term contract while offering other workers a permanent contract. Match-specific quality between a worker and a firm determines the type of contract offered. We analytically characterize the firm's hiring and firing rules. Using matched employer-employee data from Canada, we estimate the wage equations from the model. The effects of firing costs on wage inequality vary dramatically depending on whether search externalities are taken or not into account." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Eichhorst, Werner, Paul Marx & Eric Thode (2010): Atypische Beschäftigung und Niedriglohnarbeit. Benchmarking Deutschland: Befristete und geringfügige Tätigkeiten, Zeitarbeit und Niedriglohnbeschäftigung. Gütersloh, 53 S.

Abstract

"Die Diskussion über die Schaffung neuer, zusätzlicher Arbeitsplätze durch institutionelle Reformen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt dreht sich im Kern in zahlreichen europäischen Staaten um die Rolle 'atypischer' Beschäftigungsverhältnisse. Diese orientieren sich nicht an unbefristeter Vollzeitarbeit (dem sogenannten Normalarbeitsverhältnis), die in der Regel tarifvertraglich geregelt ist und den vollen Schutz der sozialen Sicherungssysteme in Deutschland gewährt. Auf der einen Seite bieten atypische Arbeitsverhältnisse tatsächlich zusätzliche Erwerbschancen insbesondere im Dienstleistungssektor, auf der anderen Seite zeichnen sie sich oft durch Abweichungen vom jeweiligen tarif-, unternehmens- oder betriebsüblichen Standard hinsichtlich Arbeitszeiten, Entlohnung oder Bestandssicherheit aus. Die Notwendigkeit der Re-Regulierung atypischer Beschäftigungsformen steht deshalb auf dem Prüfstand und wird je nach Perspektive - beschäftigungspolitische vs. sozialpolitische Orientierung - unterschiedlich bewertet. Auf der Grundlage der empirischen Beobachtungen ist ein differenziertes Urteil über die Bedeutung atypischer Beschäftigung und von deren Chancen und Risiken möglich." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)

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Galarneau, Diane (2010): Temporary employment in the downturn. In: Perspectives on Labour and Income, Jg. 11, H. 11, S. 5-15.

Abstract

"This article tracks trends in temporary employment since the Labour Force Survey (LFS) began measuring it from 1997 to 2009 with particular attention to the recent economic downturn. It also examines the earnings gap between temporary and permanent positions and looks at whether that gap changed during the recent employment slowdown." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Wilson, Amanda (2010): Co-opting precariousness: can worker cooperatives be alternatives to precarious employment for marginalized populations? A case study of immigrant and refugee worker cooperatives in Canada. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 16, S. 59-75.

Abstract

"This article seeks to analyze whether, or to what degree, worker cooperatives are providing immigrant and refugee populations in Canada with a viable alternative to precarious employment, and if so, in what ways. Much of the existing research on precarious employment is limited in that it fails to address the root causes of precarious employments and fails to offer solutions or alternatives that can be organized by workers themselves, today. While several challenges remain to organizing and sustaining worker cooperatives, the cooperatives studied were successful in creating an alternative space of employment that provided control and flexibility over their work and lives and a sense of community and empowerment. More research is needed to better support and facilitate the development of cooperatives to truly harness the potential for the model." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Arsdale, David van & Michael Mandarino (2009): The proliferation and consequences of temporary help work. A cross-border comparison. In: Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Jg. 14, S. 1-12.

Abstract

"In the summer of 2008, we set out to hear from Ontario's growing population of temporary help workers, also known as, temporary service workers. Having already conducted studies of temporary help workers in the United States, we sought to compare the working conditions of temporary workers in Ontario to those of workers south of the border. We visited temporary agencies in Toronto and conducted in-depth interviews with over a dozen temporary help workers. Their circumstances are not unlike those of their U.S. counterparts - they are not adequately rewarded for their vital on-call role in contemporary capitalism and they become 'stuck' in this relatively new type of work, unable to find and secure full-time employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Evans, Patricia M. (2009): Lone mothers, workfare and precarious employment. Time for a Canadian basic income? In: International social security review, Jg. 62, H. 1, S. 45-64. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-246X.2008.01321.x

Abstract

"The growth of precarious employment poses significant challenges to current social assistance income support policies yet it remains largely neglected in policy-making arenas. Drawing upon qualitative data from a study in Ontario, Canada, this paper examines the particular implications of these challenges for lone mothers, who figure prominently both in non-standard employment and as targets for workfare policies. In the context of changing labour markets, the article considers the potential strengths and limitations of Basic Income approaches to achieving economic security for lone mothers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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Fournier, Geneviève, Lise Lachance & Charles Bujold (2009): Nonstandard career paths and profiles of commitment to life roles. A complex relation. In: Journal of vocational behavior, Jg. 74, H. 3, S. 321-331. DOI:10.1016/j.jvb.2009.02.001

Abstract

"The career paths (ascending, interesting, uninteresting, descending) of 124 White Canadian francophones (62 men, 62 women) who had experienced nonstandard and precarious work for the last three years were examined in relation to the participants' profiles of commitment to three life roles (work, family, and duality, that is, investment in both career and family). The paths were derived from the content analysis of the data collected through semi-structured individual interviews. Quantitative tools were used to assess the importance of life roles and to compare the career paths as well as the commitment profiles with respect to specific and general anxiety. Among other results, a significant relationship was found between unsatisfying career paths and the duality profile, on the one hand, and higher levels of specific and general anxiety, on the other. The results are discussed with respect to the scientific literature. Implications for career counseling are suggested." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))