DOCSLIB.ORG

Working Long Hours: a Review of the Evidence. Volume 1 — Main Report

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Working Long Hours: a Review of the Evidence. Volume 1 — Main Report EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS RESEARCH SERIES NO.16 Working long hours: a review of the evidence. Volume 1 — Main report J. KODZ et al. THE INSITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT STUDIES Published in November 2003 by the Department of Trade and Industry. URN 03/1228 ISBN 0 85605 363 5 © Crown Copyright 2003 This and other DTI publications can be ordered at: www.dti.gov.uk/publications Click the ‘Browse’ button, then select ‘Employment Relations Research Series’. Alternatively call the DTI Publications Orderline on 0870 1502 500 (+44 870 1502 500) and provide the URN, or email them at: [email protected] This document can be accessed online at: www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar Postal enquiries should be addressed to: Employment Market Analysis and Research Department of Trade and Industry 1 Victoria Street London SW1H 0ET United Kingdom Email enquiries should be addressed to: [email protected] The views expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Trade and Industry or the Government. Acknowledgements The full project team and their affiliations are as follows: Jenny Kodz, Sara Davis, David Lain, Marie Strebler, Jo Rick, Peter Bates, John Cummings and Nigel Meager (IES); Dominique Anxo (Centre for European Labour Market Studies, Göteborg); Sandrine Gineste (Quat’alyse, Paris); Rainer Trinczek and Susanne Pamer (Technische Universität, München). 1 The Institute for Employment Studies The Institute for Employment Studies is an independent, apolitical, international centre of research and consultancy in human resource issues. It works closely with employers in the manufacturing, service and public sectors, government departments, agencies, professional and employee bodies, and foundations. For over 30 years the Institute has been a focus of knowledge and practical experience in employment and training policy, the operation of labour markets and human resource planning and development. IES is a not-for-profit organisation which has a multidisciplinary staff of over 50. IES expertise is available to all organisations through research, consultancy, publications and the Internet. IES aims to help bring about sustainable improvements in employment policy and human resource management. IES achieves this by increasing the understanding and improving the practice of key decision makers in policy bodies and employing organisations. 2 Foreword The Department of Trade and Industry's aim is to realise prosperity for all. We want a dynamic labour market that provides full employment, flexibility and choice. We want to create workplaces of high productivity and skill, where people can flourish and maintain a healthy work-life balance. The Department has an ongoing research programme on employment relations and labour market issues, managed by the Employment Market Analysis and Research branch (EMAR). Details of our research programme appear regularly in the ONS journal Labour Market Trends, and can also be found on our website: http:/www.dti.gov.uk/er/emar DTI social researchers, economists, statisticians and policy advisors devise research projects to be conducted in-house or on our behalf by external researchers, chosen through competitive tender. Projects typically look at individual and collective employment rights, identify good practice, evaluate the impact of particular policies or regulations, or examine labour market trends and issues. We also regularly conduct large-scale UK social surveys, such as the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS). We publicly disseminate results of this research through the DTI Employment Relations Research series and Occasional Paper series. All reports are available to download at http:/www.dti.gov.uk/er/inform.htm Anyone interested in receiving regular email updates on EMAR’s research programme, new publications and forthcoming seminars should send their details to us at: [email protected] The views expressed in these publications do not necessarily reflect those of the Department or the Government. We publish them as a contribution towards open debate about how best we can achieve our objectives. Grant Fitzner Director, Employment Market Analysis and Research 3 Contents Acknowledgements 1 The Institute for Employment Studies 2 Forward 3 Contents 4 Executive Summary 10 Background 10 Methodology 10 Caveats 11 What are long hours? 11 Who works long hours? 11 Are things getting better? 12 Reasons given for long hours working 12 The international context 14 EU member states 14 Selected non-European developed economies (USA, Australia and Japan) 14 Reasons for international differences 15 Employee satisfaction with long hours 15 Impact of long hours on employers and employees 16 Employment and productivity 16 Work performance 16 Health and safety 16 Motivation, absence and turnover 16 Health 17 Work-life balance 17 Are women more likely to be disadvantaged by long hours working? 17 Perceived benefits of long hours working 18 Conclusions 18 1. Background to the Study 19 1.1 Aims and objectives 19 1.2 Methodology 19 1.2.1 The literature review 19 1.2.2 Secondary data analysis 19 1.2.3 The case studies 22 1.3 The Working Time Regulations 23 1.4 Focus and outline of the report 23 1.4.1 Outline of the report 24 2. Measurement and Meaning of Long Working Hours 26 2.1 Annual and weekly working hours 26 2.2 Basic, usual, actual and total working hours 27 2.3 Travel to work, working off-site and ‘working’ breaks 27 2.4 Who reports? 24 4 2.5 Recall or record 28 2.6 Main job and other jobs 28 2.7 Which survey? 29 2.8 Economic cycle 29 2.9 Part-time hours 29 2.10 What are long hours? 29 2.11 Conclusions 31 3. Working Long Hours in the UK 32 3.1 Working long hours — evidence from the Workplace Employee Relations Survey, 1998 32 3.1.1 Who works long hours? 33 3.1.2 Multi-variate analysis 40 3.1.3 Conclusions from the WERS data 42 3.2 Working long hours — evidence from previous research 42 3.2.1 Trends and cycles 42 3.2.2. Gender differences 44 3.2.3 Age differences 45 3.2.4 Household characteristics 45 3.2.5 Industrial Sector differences 48 3.2.6 Occupational differences 48 3.2.7 Ethnicity 50 3.2.8 Regional differences 51 3.3 Evidence from the case studies 51 3.3.1 Working hours in organisations employing mainly manual employees 52 3.3.2 Working hours in orga nisations employing mainly non-manual employees 55 3.4 Conclusions 59 4. Reasons for Working Long Hours 61 4.1 Reasons for working long hours — previous research 61 4.1.1 Regulatory and institutional framework 61 4.1.2 Collective and workforce agreements 62 4.1.3 Wages and promotion 63 4.1.4 Workload 64 4.1.5 ‘Culture’: influence of managers and colleagues 66 4.1.6 Job insecurity 67 4.1.7 Working hours preferences 68 4.1.8 Commitment to work 68 4.2 Evidence from the Workplace Employee Relations Survey, 1998 70 4.2.1 Attitudes towards work 72 4.2.2 Influence over job 74 4.3 Evidence from the UK case studies 76 4.3.1 Manual employees 76 4.3.2 Non-manual employees 77 4.4 Conclusions 80 5 5. International Comparisons: Findings from the European Community Labour Force Survey 82 5.1 Overview 83 5.2 Occupations 88 5.3 Industrial sector 93 5.4 Age 97 5.5 Changes over time 99 5.6 Conclusions 100 6. International Comparisons: Findings from the Literature and Case Studies 102 6.1 Working hours in the USA, Australia, Japan and Europe 102 6.1.1 Working hours in the USA 102 6.1.2 Working hours in Australia 107 6.1.3 Working hours in Japan 109 6.1.4 Working hours in European countries: findings from the literature 110 6.1.5 Summary conclusions 112 6.2 Reasons for levels of long hours working 114 6.2.1 Preferences and economic considerations 114 6.2.2 Regulation and legislation 121 6.2.3 Regulation: collective bargaining agreements and the role of trade unions 126 6.3 Evidence from the case studies 132 6.3.1 Legislative and institutional context of the case study countries 133 6.3.2 Manual employees: European comparisons 138 6.3.3 Non-manual employees: European comparisons 141 6.4 Conclusions 145 7. The Implications of Long Working Hours for Employers 147 7.1 Effects on productivity 147 7.1.1 Long hours and productivity 148 7.2 Effects of reducing working hours 150 7.2.1 Methodological issues 150 7.2.2 Case study evidence in the literature 151 7.2.3 Economic modelling 157 7.2.4 Other determinants of productivity 159 7.2.5 Conclusions 159 7.3 Individual performance and error-making 160 7.3.1 Error-making among hospital doctors 161 7.3.2 Social behaviour of hospital doctors 164 7.3.3 Impact of long hours on performance in other occupations 165 7.3.4 Conclusions 166 7.4 Safety and accidents 166 7.4.1 Medical professionals 167 7.4.2 Long distance drivers 168 7.4.3 Employees in other occupations 169 6 7.4.4 Conclusions 169 7.5 Absence, recruitment, retention, motivation and morale 170 7.5.1 Absence 170 7.5.2 Recruitment and retention 170 7.5.3 Motivation and morale 171 7.6 Evidence from the Workplace Employee Relations Survey 171 7.6.1 Incidence of long hours working within workplaces 172 7.6.2 Employees’ views about workload 174 7.7 Long hours and productivity, absence levels and staff turnover 175 7.7.1 Staff turnover 175 7.7.2 Results of multiple regression 177 7.7.3 Summary of multiple regression analysis 179 7.7.4 Productivity 180 7.7.5 Staff absence 184 7.8 Evidence from the case studies 184 7.8.1 Impact on employers of long hours worked by manual employees 184 7.8.2 Impact on employers of long hours working by non-manual employees 186 7.9 Conclusions 189 8.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Implementing 10 Days of Paid Sick Leave
    May 28, 2020 Implementing 10 days of paid sick leave: What workers' need Recommendations from the Fight for $15 and Fairness, Workers’ Action Centre, and Parkdale Community Legal Services 1. Introduction Public Health Officers across the country are telling people to stay home from work when sick. The government proposal for 10 days paid sick leave across the country is a crucial step to enable workers, particularly in the midst of the COVID recession, to actually go home, or stay home from work when sick. 2. What do people need to be able to stay home from work when sick? Sick days must be paid by the employer • Paid sick days must be received in regular paychecks because bills and rent are due regularly; • CERB program sick pay would have to be a paid on a flat rate amount to be timely such as $500 per week – i.e., one paid sick day is $100. This may not be appropriate for paid sick days (too little for people earning more than minimum wage which in Ontario would be over $100 per day). This may be inadequate to achieve the public health objective of enabling people to stay home from work when sick due to loss in earnings. • It is unlikely that the EI system will have the capacity to process and payout individual worker’s sick day pay. The requirement for sick days are often intermittent, requiring multiple applications to an already overloaded system. Paid sick leave must be job protected • Any paid sick leave provision would have to provide employees with a job- protected right to take leave without reprisals.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Occupational Health Services in Psychosocial Risk Management and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-Being at Work
    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Review The Role of Occupational Health Services in Psychosocial Risk Management and the Promotion of Mental Health and Well-Being at Work Aditya Jain 1 , Juliet Hassard 2 , Stavroula Leka 2,3,* , Cristina Di Tecco 4 and Sergio Iavicoli 4 1 Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK; [email protected] 2 School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK; [email protected] 3 Cork University Business School, University College Cork, T12 K8AF Cork, Ireland 4 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, Italian Workers’ Compensation Authority INAIL), 00078 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (C.D.T.); [email protected] (S.I.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: The development and enhancement of occupational health services (OHS) at the national level is central to ensuring the sustainable health, well-being and work engagement of the work- ing population. However, due to differences in national health, social security and occupational safety and health systems, the content, capacity, coverage and provisions of OHS vary considerably across national contexts. Obtaining a better understanding in terms of such similarities and varia- tions internationally is essential as such comparative information can help inform evidenced-based decision-making on OHS at both policy and practice levels. This paper therefore reviews and analyses Citation: Jain, A.; Hassard, J.; Leka, the key policies, standards and approaches in OH systems and services, using both academic and S.; Di Tecco, C.; Iavicoli, S. The Role of grey literature, across 12 industrialised countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Occupational Health Services in Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and the United States of America).
    [Show full text]
  • E-Journal of International and Comparative LABOUR STUDIES Volume 1, No
    OPEN ACCESS I S S N 1 4 2 2 - 0067 E-Journal of International and Comparative LABOUR STUDIES Volume 1, No. 1-2 March-June 2012 UNIVERSITY PRESS Working Time Regulation in Georgia Zakaria Shvelidze * Introduction In 2006, the Parliament of Georgia passed the new Labour Code. Before that, employment relations in the country were governed by the Soviet Labour Code, in force since 1 October 1973. However, and notwithstanding the amendments made in 1997, existing labour legislation faced serious difficulty in keeping up with recent developments within employment relationships. Starting from the period 2003-2004, a series of sweeping political changes led to the rise of the liberal economy, with trade liberalisation that significantly marked national labour laws. The newly-adopted Labour Code is mainly oriented towards favouring employers’ interests, as it waters down regulatory restrictions and standardises labour law provisions. In passing employer-friendly laws, the Georgian government aims at creating a more attractive and liberal economic environment, which, in turn, should encourage job creation and employment. In this connection, this paper discusses the new patterns of working time regulation introduced by the Georgian Labour Code. A comparative analysis between the working time regulation now in place, the Soviet Labour Code previously in force, and the European Union Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time will be carried out. This is done to assess the harmonisation of the new Labour Code with the EU Working Time Directive, also as an instrument to facilitate European integration. On 1 July 1999, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Georgia, the European Communities, and their Member States entered into force.
    [Show full text]
  • The Overtime Game: Select Issues in Working Past the Clock—Part I
    EMPLOYMENT LAW CONFERENCE 2018 PAPER 7.1 The Overtime Game: Select Issues in Working Past the Clock—Part I If you enjoyed this Practice Point, you can access all CLEBC course materials by subscribing to the Online Course Materials Library These materials were prepared by Melissa Vander Houwen, Moore Edgar Lyster, Vancouver, BC, for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, May 2018. © Melissa Vander Houwen 7.1.1 THE OVERTIME GAME: SELECT ISSUES IN WORKING PAST THE CLOCK—PART I I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 II. Legislative Overview ..................................................................................................................... 2 A. The Employment Standards Act, RSBC 1996, c 113 (the “ESA”) and Employment Standards Regulation, BC Reg 396/95 (the “ESA Regs”) ............................. 2 1. Exclusions ........................................................................................................................ 2 2. Maximum hours of work ................................................................................................ 2 3. Overtime Banks ............................................................................................................... 3 4. Averaging Agreements .................................................................................................... 3 5. Variances .........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Labour Code Slovak Republic
    Labour Code Slovak Republic - Slovakia Collection of Laws Years 2001 - 2012 Full Wording 1 Capitulation of the Slovak Labour Code – full wording (2012) FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES Articles 1 – 11 Part One GENERAL PROVISIONS Scope of the Labour Code § 1 – 6 Employer § 7 – 10 Employee § 11 Employees´ representatives § 11 a Employees´ representatives § 12 Prohibition of discrimination–Title is deleted with effect from 1 July 2004 § 13 Settlement of disputes § 14 Legal actions § 15 – 16 Invalidity of legal action § 17 Contract § 18 – 19 Securing of rights and obligations resulting from labour-law relations § 20 Employees‟ claims resulting from labour-law relations in the event of § 21 insolvency of employer Obligation to provide information § 22 Sections 23 to 26 are deleted with effect from 1 January 2004 § 23 – 26 Transfer of rights and obligations resulting from labour-law relations § 27 – 31 Agreement on disputed claims § 32 – 34 Death of employee § 35 Extinction of a right § 36 Calculation of time § 37 Delivery § 38 Interpretation of selected terms § 39 – 40 Part Two EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP Pre-contractual relations § 41 Employment contract § 42 – 44 Probationary period § 45 Establishing of employment relationship § 46 Obligations resulting from employment relationship § 47 Fixed term employment relationship § 48 2 Employment relationship with reduced working time § 49 – 50 Job sharing § 49a Section 51 is deleted with effect from 1 July 2003 § 51 Home work and telework § 52 Employee performing a clerical activity § 52a Conclusion of an employment
    [Show full text]
  • Handbook on Code on Wages
    HANDBOOK ON THE CODE ON WAGES, 2019 i November, 2020 Price : Rs.175/- (excluding postage) © THE INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA All rights reserved. No part of this Publication may be translated or copied in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India. DISCLAIMER Although due care and diligence have been taken in preparation of this Publication, the Institute shall not be responsible for any loss or damage, resulting from any action taken on the basis of the contents of this Publication. Anyone wishing to act on the basis of the material contained herein should do so after cross checking with the original source. Issued by : THE INSTITUTE OF COMPANY SECRETARIES OF INDIA ICSI House, 22, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi 110 003 Phones : 011-4534 1000 • Fax +91-11-2462 6727 E-mail : [email protected] • Website : www.icsi.edu ii Foreword I am happy to learn that the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is releasing the publication Handbook on the Code on Wages, 2019 and extending its whole hearted support in spreading awareness about various initiatives of the Government of India including labour laws reforms. The Ministry with a view to facilitate ease of doing business, generate employment and safeguard interest of workers and employers, has taken various legislative, administrative and e-governance initiatives relating to labour laws in India. The Ministry has been working towards simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the Central Labour Laws and consolidating the same into four labour codes for bringing out reforms in the provisions relating to minimum wages, bonus, industrial relations, social security and safe working environment, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Abolishing Slavery and Its Contemporary Forms
    HR/PUB/02/4 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR Abolishing Slavery and its Contemporary Forms David Weissbrodt and Anti-Slavery International* United Nations New York and Geneva 2002 * Michael Dottridge, Director NOTE The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat con- cerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Copyright © United Nations 2002 All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may be freely quoted or reproduced or stored in a retrieval system for non-commercial purposes, provided that credit is given and a copy of the publication containing the reprinted material is sent to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. No part of this publica- tion may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of the copyright owner if the purpose relates to profit-making ventures. The licensing of rights for commercial purposes is encouraged by the United Nations. HR/PUB/02/4 CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... v Paragraphs Introduction ................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • LABOR CODE of the REPUBLIC of ARMENIA (Unofficial Translation) Adopted on November 9, 2004
    LABOR CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA (unofficial translation) Adopted on November 9, 2004 PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS CHAPTER 1. LABOR CODE AND THE RELATIONS REGULATED BY IT Article 1. Relations regulated by Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia 1. This code regulates collective and individual working relations, defines the bases for the establishment, modification and termination of these relations and the order for their realizations, rights, obligations and responsibilities of subjects of the labor relations, as well as conditions for the providing of security and maintenance of the health of employees. 2. The peculiarities for regulating the individual spheres of labor relations may be determined by other laws. Article 2.The objective of the labor legislation The objective of the labor legislation is: 1) Establish state guaranties for labor rights and freedoms for natural persons, i.e., citizens of RA, citizens of foreign country, persons without citizenship (hereinafter citizen) , 2) Contribute to the creation of favorable labor conditions, 3) Protect the rights and interests of the employees and employers. Article 3. Principles of Labor Legislation 1. The main principles of the labor legislation are: 1) freedom of employment, including the right to employment, which should be freely selected or agreed upon by each person; the right to administer the labor capacities, choose the profession and type of activity; 2) prohibition of any type of compulsory work and violence with respect to employees; 3) Legal equality of parties of labor
    [Show full text]
  • Labour Standards Code
    Labour Standards Code CHAPTER 246 OF THE REVISED STATUTES, 1989 as amended by 1991, c. 14; 2000, c. 35; 2001, c. 6, s. 110; 2003 (2nd Sess.), c. 4, ss. 1, 2; 2003 (2nd Sess.), c. 7, ss. 4-14; 2004, c. 6, ss. 15-20; 2005, c. 38, ss. 3, 4; 2006, c. 10, ss. 1-5; 2006, c. 13, ss. 8, 9; 2006, c. 32; 2007, c. 11, s. 3; 2009, c. 18; 2010, c. 37, ss. 84-116; 2011, cc. 19, 64; 2013, c. 11; 2013, c. 35, s. 4; 2015, cc. 41, 42; 2016, c. 11; 2018, c. 1, Sch. A, s. 121; 2018, cc. 13, 36; 2020, cc. 13, 14 © 2020 Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of Nova Scotia Published by Authority of the Speaker of the House of Assembly Halifax This page is intentionally blank. CHAPTER 246 OF THE REVISED STATUTES, 1989 amended 1991, c. 14; 2000, c. 35; 2001, c. 6, s. 110; 2003 (2nd Sess.), c. 4, ss. 1, 2; 2003 (2nd Sess.), c. 7, ss. 4-14; 2004, c. 6, ss. 15-20; 2005, c. 38, ss. 3, 4; 2006, c. 10, ss. 1-5; 2006, c. 13, ss. 8, 9; 2006, c. 32; 2007, c. 11, s. 3; 2009, c. 18; 2010, c. 37, ss. 84-116; 2011, cc. 19, 64; 2013, c. 11; 2013, c. 35, s. 4; 2015, cc. 41, 42; 2016, c. 11; 2018, c. 1, Sch. A, s. 121; 2018, cc. 13, 36; 2020, cc. 13, 14 An Act to Provide for a Labour Standards Code Table of Contents (The table of contents is not part of the statute) Section Short title..........................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Termination of Employment Relationship: the Legal Situation in Poland
    Termination of Employment Relationship: The Legal Situation in Poland Prof. dr hab. Andrzej SWIATKOWSKI 1 Table of contents Table of contents ........................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 4 1. Sources of law .................................................................................................................... 5 (1) Constitutional status of the rules on the right to work.................................................. 5 (2) International agreements and conventions ................................................................... 5 (3) Sources of law and their hierarchy ............................................................................... 5 (4) Role of judge-made law and custom ............................................................................ 7 2. Scope of rules governing the termination of employment relationships, special arrangements .......................................................................................................................... 7 (1) Ways of terminating an employment relationship........................................................ 7 (2) Exceptions or specific requirements for certain employees or sectors......................... 8 (3) Exceptions or specific requirements for certain types of contract................................ 8 (4) Exceptions or
    [Show full text]
  • Labour Protection in a Transforming World of Work
    ILC.104/VI International Labour Conference, 104th Session, 2015 Report VI Labour protection in a transforming world of work A recurrent discussion on the strategic objective of social protection (labour protection) Sixth item on the agenda International Labour Office, Geneva ISBN 978-92-2-129023-0 (print) ISBN 978-92-2-129024-7 (Web pdf) ISSN 0074-6681 First edition 2015 The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from the above address, or by email: [email protected]. Visit our website: www.ilo.org/publns. Formatted by TTE: Confrep-ILC104-VI[WORKQ-150124-2]-En.docx Printed by the International Labour Office, Geneva, Switzerland Contents Page Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... v Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Issues and challenges for labour protection in a transforming world of work ... 3 1.1. A transforming world of work ...........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Fairness at Work, but Not Efficiency Or Voice
    Forthcoming in Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal FAIRNESS AT WORK, AND MAYBE EFFICIENCY BUT NOT VOICE: AN EVALUATION OF THE ARTHURS’ COMMISSION REPORT John W. Budd Industrial Relations Center University of Minnesota 3-300 Carlson School of Management 321 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455-0438 [email protected] (612) 624-0357 fax: (612) 624-8360 Version Date: September 30, 2007 I. INTRODUCTION Against a backdrop of intense competitive pressures in a global economy, employment and labor law reform is on the public policy agenda in many countries. The approach to such reforms is, unsurprisingly, quite diverse. Germany has attempted to reduce unemployment by loosening labor market regulations and lowering unemployment benefits. Australia has similarly tried to promote labor market flexibility by aggressively deregulating its system of workplace law and exempting a number of employees from its unjust dismissal laws. In contrast, China recently enacted new legislation requiring written employment contracts and other employee protections. The United States increased the national minimum wage in 2007 and debates continue over health care insurance, paid family leave, union recognition procedures, strike replacements, and other contentious issues. Similar debates have occurred in Canada, with a number of employment and labor law reforms enacted by various provinces. The Canadian federal sector has taken a particularly thoughtful approach to the issue of labor standards reform. Specifically, the distinguished law professor Harry W. Arthurs was commissioned in 2004 by the Minister of Labour to review Part III of the Canada Labour Code. Along with his expert advisors—Daphne Taras, Gilles Trudeau, and Sherry Liang—and supported by management and labor advisors as well as a number of independent research studies and public consultations, Professor Arthurs has produced a 295 page report entitled Fairness at Work: Federal Labour Standards for the 21st Century1 that is valuable for anyone interested in the critical issue of contemporary employment and labor law reform.
    [Show full text]