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From Job Strain to Employment Strain: Health Effects of Precarious Employment

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From Job Strain to Employment Strain: Health Effects of Precarious Employment Lewchuk, de Wolff and King 23 FROM JOB STRAIN TO EMPLOYMENT STRAIN: HEALTH EFFECTS OF PRECARIOUS EMPLOYMENT Wayne Lewchuk Labour Studies Program, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada Alice de Wolff Community University Research Alliance on Contingent Employment, Toronto, Canada Andy King United Steelworkers of America, Toronto, Canada Michael Polanyi Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina, Regina, Canada The growth of precarious is as important as exposure to employment relationships described dangerous substances and exposure in this issue of Just Labour raises a to biomechanical risks in range of bargaining and policy understanding work-related health issues (Vosko, Zukewich and outcomes in permanent, full-time Cranford 2003; Fudge, this issue). jobs (Cooper 1998). Our challenge Many of the daily concerns of has been to design a research workers in precarious employment method that captures the unique relationships centre on the issues of characteristics and effects of the stress and health. This article organisation of precarious reports on our investigation into the employment. Precarious relationship between health and the employment is, in our unique organisation of precarious understanding, a cumulative employment. In 2002-2003, we combination of atypical employment designed and conducted an contracts, limited social benefits, Employment Strain and Health poor statutory entitlements, job Survey with over 400 workers in insecurity, short tenure and low precarious employment wages. We have developed the relationships in Ontario. The concept of “employment strain” and preliminary analysis and findings indicators of “employment that we discuss here have uncertainty” to capture the implications for contracts, characteristics of precarious bargaining, workplace health and employment, and these are central safety and broader social policy. to the design of the survey and to Since the 1970s research has our analysis. shown that the organisation of work 24 JUST LABOUR vol. 3 (Fall 2003) Forum on Precarious Employment HEALTH RISKS AND CONTROL employment than for those in OVER WORK ORGANISATION standard employment relationships. Much of the research on work organisation and health traces its THE RETURN TO PRECARIOUS theoretical roots to the Job Demand- EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS Control model developed by AND LOSS OF CONTROL Karasek (1979) and Karasek and Theorell (1990). Job Demand- In 2002, approximately one-third of Control studies have shown that workers in Canada were part-time, employees’ control over how work temporary, working on contract, is done and their workload each holding multiple jobs or own- affect health directly, and that the account self-employed. This figure interaction between these two has increased from approximately elements has a further health one-quarter of employed workers in impact. Jobs characterised by low the early 1990s. While the majority levels of worker control and high of workers in precarious expenditures of psychosocial effort employment are young, female appear to expose employees to “job and/or recent immigrants, the new strain”. "Job strain" appears to lead growth in this kind of employment to lower job satisfaction, exhaustion has been, proportionally, among and depression, and in the long run mid-career men and women in to stress-related illness, including temporary jobs and self- cardiovascular disease. Jobs employment (see Vosko, Zukewich characterised by high levels of and Cranford 2003; Cranford and control and expenditure of Ladd this issue; Fudge this issue). psychosocial effort are considered Precarious employment “active jobs”. “Active jobs” include relationships are not new in the challenges, opportunities, and Canadian labour force. The labour learning on and off the job which history of much of the first half of can lead to positive health outcomes. the 20th century can be described as Control over how work is done is the successful struggle to reduce recognised as providing employees workers’ uncertainty and to gain with a buffer from the negative some control over the precarious health effects of workload-related conditions of their work. Early in stress. It provides “the opportunity the 20th century, many dock for individuals to adjust to demands workers, construction, agricultural, according to their needs and food processing, forestry, factory circumstances" (Wall, et al. 1996). and garment workers were hired at Control, however, is likely to be very plant gates, street corners or hiring different for workers in precarious halls for a day, a week or a month at a time. The subsequent movements Lewchuk, de Wolff and King 25 to establish “living wages” were through the intermediary of a concerned with raising wages and subcontractor. These casualised reducing uncertainties: employment contracts significantly limit labour relationships became less casual and relations protection for the worker were governed by legally and transfer additional enforceable contracts that defined responsibilities to the individual rights to continuing employment, worker (Cameron 2001). Together, the terms and conditions of work, business and governments have and in many cases, seniority-based restructured employment so that job rights. These were significant increasing numbers of workers are victories for the predominantly male “free agents” in a weakly regulated workforce that created control over labour market. access to, and the terms and conditions of full-time permanent CONTROL AND PRECARIOUS wage work. These victories, EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPS however, left workers in other forms of employment unprotected. Many workers in precarious The current growth of precarious employment face constant employment is a predictable uncertainty about their future outcome of employment strategies employment prospects and the and policies of both private sector terms and conditions of their work. employers and governments of the Low pay and lack of benefits can past fifteen years, and reflects a loss create added uncertainties, of control over employment by including workers’ ability to provide larger groups of workers. Through for their basic household needs. the 1990s many institutions cut back Further, workers in precarious on core permanent workers and employment may need to search for increased the periphery of flexible work on a regular basis, manage pay workers. Employers and policy systems based on completed tasks makers have used fears about global rather than hours expended, balance competitiveness, and tools like the multiple jobs at multiple work sites, privatisation of services, just-in-time and provide their own equipment production and flexible human and training. These types of resource management to create a uncertain work organisation are climate where employers have associated with three categories of permission to break the implicit work-related health risks: weak agreements associated with labour market regulation; increased standard employment relationships. injury and illness risks that are Employers have casualised their similar to permanent workers; and relationship with employees in two over-all stress-related health risks. ways: either directly by creating temporary and part time jobs, or 26 JUST LABOUR vol. 3 (Fall 2003) Forum on Precarious Employment Weak labour market regulation injury and illness. Researchers have Occupational health and safety consistently found evidence of research identifies three major increased injury and ill health from factors that contribute to injury and outsourcing, labour shedding illness prevention in “the (restructuring) and casualisation. workplace”: management (Quinlan et al 2001). In 1999 Quinlan commitment, worker participation, demonstrated a worsening of health and regulatory compliance (Walters outcomes associated with three and Frick 2000). Precarious broad causal factors: economic and employment relationships weaken reward systems (competition, long and undermine these factors in a hours, piecework, etc); number of ways. Laws regulating disorganisation (ambiguity of rules, the basic relationships between splintering occupational health and workers and employers, the right to safety management systems, etc); organise and bargain, minimum and increased likelihood of labour standards, and worker regulatory failure (laws do not apply compensation schemes, both assume to these employment relationships). and are designed to support the He revealed increased risks of injury standard employment relationship and illness in very different sectors, (Cranford and Ladd, this issue; and found that the consistent factor Fudge, this issue). Precarious was minimal regulatory protection. employment is largely defined by Workers in precarious employment the absence of laws, regulations and relationships are poorly protected in practices that support the standard hazardous work situations, and their employment relationship. The legal often unregulated hours of work, relationships relating to precarious intense workloads and limited employment are blurred as a result decision making latitude contribute of third party employment agencies, to high rates of workplace injury own-account self-employment, and illness. The point here, however, temporary and short-term contracts is that while these risks are higher that make labour market regulations for workers in precarious less effective. Every manner in employment, they are workplace which the legislation is blurred or specific and qualitatively similar in where workers are not covered
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