United We Stand? Marketization, institutional change and employers’ associations in crisis

The continuous process of marketization of employment relations in a variety of European countries has raised questions about the power of collective social actors and their legitimizing role in policy-making. The article examines the responses of employers’ associations to institutional changes towards marketization in the context of the Greek economic crisis. The analysis exposes the hidden fractures between and within the peak-level employers’ associations and unveils a variation in their strategic responses towards institutional changes. To explain this variation, the article advances a power-based explanation and argues that the institutional changes altered the associations’ interest representation and power resources, which in turn, redefined their role and identities in the employment relations system

Improving productivity: the case for employee voice and inclusive workplace practices

This policy brief examines the effectiveness of policies which aim to dismiss labour market institutions, in the name of competitiveness, across the European Union (EU). It also assesses the evidence which supports a positive relationship between deregulation and decentralization and productivity. The new publication also explores the negative consequences of deregulation, especially regarding the redistribution of power among the social actors, quality of work, and wage and income inequality, which cast doubt on the desirability of these policies as tools for the achievement of smart, inclusive and sustainable growth with ‘more and better jobs’ in the labour market. The policy implications, which suggest that if companies want to improve their productivity, then they should focus amongst other things on upgrading the human capital of their employees, reshaping job design towards more teamwork-oriented work organisation, and incentivise employees through group-based performance-related pay systems, is also examined within this new policy brief

The dark side of the labour market: institutional change, economic crisis and undeclared work in Greece

Book synopsis: Employment Relations in the 21st Century provides a full and integrated insight into labour law and industrial relations. It cannot be denied that in recent decades, for many, if not most people, work has become unstable and insecure, with serious risk and few benefits for workers. As this reality spills over into political and social life, it is crucial to interrogate the transformations affecting employment relations, shape research agendas, and influence the policies of national and international institutions. This implies to focus on transnational regulatory structures and new forms of social protection and representation for different typologies and forms of work as a way to avoid increasing inequalities across (and within) countries. This volume brings together thirty-nine scholars (both academics and experienced industrial relations actors) in the fields of employment relations and labour law in a forthright discussion of new approaches, theories, and methods aimed at ameliorating the world of work

Temporary Employment, Job Satisfaction and Subjective Well-being

This paper is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mediated by differences in dimensions of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, this paper finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. In fact, after controlling for differences in satisfaction with security, our results suggest that temporary employees report higher psychological well-being and life satisfaction. This leads us to believe that an employment contract characterised by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through heightened job insecurity

Work After Lockdown, 2020-2021

This dataset consists of primary data from a mixed method longitudinal project: (1) Qualitative data: interviews in 4 case study organisations across three waves. Some transcripts are retracted where interviewees have not provided their permission for anonymised archiving. In wave 1, a combination of leaders, managers and employees without line management responsibiliy are interviewed in each of the 4 organisations. In wave 2, leaders are interviewed in each of the 4 case study organisations. In wave 3, a combination of leaders, managers and employees without line management responsibiliy are interviewed in each of the 4 organisations. Some new interviews are conducted with people have joined organisations over the course of the pandemic. (2) Quantitative data: employee surveys across PST and PAD sectors We conducted two surveys in Wave One. The first went to subjects working in Local Government and the second to subjects working in the legal profession. At the end of each questionnaire respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to participate in a follow-up (Wave Two) survey to capture data on their views, circumstances and preferences several months later. Over 300 respondents from the Local Government population indicated that they would be willing to complete a Wave Two questionnaire, but the overall response from the Wave One survey of subjects working in the legal profession was poor and only a very few from this already small group opted into the Wave Two survey. As a result, the team decided to: • Conduct a Wave Two follow up survey, as planned, among Local Authority respondents; • Discontinue plans for follow up survey among respondents working in the legal profession; • Conduct a second, cross-sectional, survey using the same questionnaire as the Wave Two survey targeted at respondents in both public administration and professional services roles. This represented a pragmatic compromise and that it has meant that our Wave One and Wave Two survey data from local government employees was the only explicitly longitudinal element to our survey work, but it enabled us to conduct useful cross-sectional analysis and to make meaningful comparisons between occupational and demographic subgroups.This research is designed to support economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, providing timely, actionable insight and recommendations about Working from Home (WfH), and the implications of crisis-driven adaptations for longer-term organisational practice and policy. This project engages with three research questions: (1) how the pandemic has influenced different sectors in the UK; (2) the longer-term implications of WfH; and (3) which new behaviours and working practices will remain and which should be encouraged? A mixed-methods approach is used, consisting of online surveys, organisational case studies, and secondary analysis of national datasets. The research explores both employer actions, practices and strategic decision-making, and employee experiences and outcomes of WfH during lockdown and its aftermath. Focusing on Professional Services and Public Administration, the longitudinal perspective contours and contextualises the recovery process in these sectors, selected for their contrasting business models, frontline pandemic responses, and levels of WfH prior to the crisis-driven mass migration of white-collar workers into roles performed entirely from home.</p

Emerg Infect Dis

We report a case of Argentine hemorrhagic fever diagnosed in a woman in Belgium who traveled from a disease-endemic area. Patient management included supportive care and combination therapy with ribavirin and favipiravir. Of 137 potential contacts, including friends, relatives, and healthcare and laboratory workers, none showed development of clinical symptoms of this disease