Contingent Workers (contingent + worker)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


The Influence of Regular Work Systems on Compensation for Contingent Workers

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2003
Article first published online: 16 SEP 200, Brenda A. Lautsch
Using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. establishments, this article explores how features of regular work influence outcomes for contingent workers. The results show that firms combine regular and contingent work in varied ways: Some managers design contingent work to achieve performance objectives not possible with the regular workforce, whereas managers in other cases create contingent jobs to reinforce the same goals as regular work. In the latter case, contingent workers are more likely to be integrated with regular workers and to receive benefits. Benefit provision for contingent workers is also influenced by traditional internal labor market rules and by spillover effects in which efficiency or regulatory requirements lead benefits to be extended to contingent staff once offered to regular workers. [source]


Contingent and Non-Contingent Working in Local Government: Contrasting Psychological Contracts

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2002
Jacqueline A-M.
Given that the contingent worker is likely to be a familiar presence in the public service workplace of the future, this paper explores the consequences of contingent work arrangements on the attitudes and behaviour of employees using the psychological contract as a framework for analysis. Drawing upon survey evidence from a sample of permanent, fixed term and temporary staff employed in a British local authority, our results suggest that contract status plays an important role in how individuals view the exchange relationship with their employer and how they respond to the inducements received from that relationship. Specifically, contingent employees are less committed to the organization and engage in organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to a lesser degree than their permanent counterparts. However, contrary to our hypothesis, the relationship between the inducements provided by the employer and OCB is stronger for contingent employees. Such findings have implications for the treatment of contingent and non-contingent employees in the public services. [source]


The Influence of Regular Work Systems on Compensation for Contingent Workers

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 4 2003
Article first published online: 16 SEP 200, Brenda A. Lautsch
Using data from a nationally representative survey of U.S. establishments, this article explores how features of regular work influence outcomes for contingent workers. The results show that firms combine regular and contingent work in varied ways: Some managers design contingent work to achieve performance objectives not possible with the regular workforce, whereas managers in other cases create contingent jobs to reinforce the same goals as regular work. In the latter case, contingent workers are more likely to be integrated with regular workers and to receive benefits. Benefit provision for contingent workers is also influenced by traditional internal labor market rules and by spillover effects in which efficiency or regulatory requirements lead benefits to be extended to contingent staff once offered to regular workers. [source]


Globalization, Financial Crisis, and Industrial Relations: The Case of South Korea

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, Issue 3 2003
Dong-one Kim
The South Korean case shows that the globalization trend in the 1990s and the 1997,1998 financial crisis had two contrasting effects on labor rights. First, these developments resulted in negative labor market outcomes: increased unemployment, greater use of contingent workers, and widened income inequalities. On the other hand, they led international organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) to play important roles in improving labor standards in Korea. Also, continued restructuring drives prompted unions to merge into industrial unions and wage strikes with increased frequency and intensity. Contrary to the common belief, the Korean case shows that globalization and intensified competition resulted in stronger and strategic responses from labor by stimulating employees' interest in and reliance on trade unionism. [source]


Possibilities and challenges in occupational injury surveillance of day laborers

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010
Sarah J. Lowry MPH
Abstract Background Day laborers in the US, comprised largely of undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America, suffer high rates of occupational injury according to recent estimates. Adequate surveillance methods for this highly transient, largely unregulated group do not currently exist. This study explores chart abstraction of hospital-based trauma registry records as a potential injury surveillance method for contingent workers and day laborers. We sought to determine the degree of completeness of work information in the medical records, and to identify day laborers and contingent workers to the extent possible. Methods Work-related injury cases from a hospital-based trauma registry (2001,2006) were divided by ethnicity (Hispanic vs. non-Hispanic origin) and presence of social security number (SSN: yes, no), resulting in four groups of cases. Medical records were abstracted for 40 cases from each group; each case was assigned values for the variables "day labor status" (yes, no, probably not, probable, unknown) and "employment type" (contingent, formal, unknown). Results Work information was missing for 60% of Hispanic cases lacking SSN, as compared with 33,47% of the other three groups. One "probable" day laborer was identified from the same group. Non-Hispanics with SSN were less frequently identified as contingent workers (5% as compared with 15,19%). Conclusions This method revealed severe limitations, including incomplete and inconsistent information in the trauma registry and medical records. Approaches to improve existing resources for use in surveillance systems are identified. The potential of an active surveillance approach at day labor hiring centers is also briefly discussed. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:126,134 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


The Role of Government in the Expansion of the Contingent Workforce

ASIAN POLITICS AND POLICY, Issue 2 2010
Jiyoung Kim
This article examines the government's role in expansion of the contingent workforce in South Korea. I argue that the government played a determining role in transforming the South Korean labor market and increasing the number of contingent workers. Through the active adoption of a flexible labor market policy as a part of its globalization movement, the South Korean government directly contributed to a rise in contingent work. Also, the South Korean government indirectly supported the expanded use of non-regular workers through its tacit approval of companies' illegal use of contingent workers. The existing literature on contingent workers has focused primarily on economic factors. This case study highlights the need to include the role of government as an important cause of the growth of the contingent workforce. [source]