The Fissured Workplace

The Fissured Workplace
Author: David Weil
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2014-02-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 067472612X

In the twentieth century, large companies employing many workers formed the bedrock of the U.S. economy. Today, on the list of big business's priorities, sustaining the employer-worker relationship ranks far below building a devoted customer base and delivering value to investors. As David Weil's groundbreaking analysis shows, large corporations have shed their role as direct employers of the people responsible for their products, in favor of outsourcing work to small companies that compete fiercely with one another. The result has been declining wages, eroding benefits, inadequate health and safety protections, and ever-widening income inequality. From the perspectives of CEOs and investors, fissuring--splitting off functions that were once managed internally--has been phenomenally successful. Despite giving up direct control to subcontractors and franchises, these large companies have figured out how to maintain the quality of brand-name products and services, without the cost of maintaining an expensive workforce. But from the perspective of workers, this strategy has meant stagnation in wages and benefits and a lower standard of living. Weil proposes ways to modernize regulatory policies so that employers can meet their obligations to workers while allowing companies to keep the beneficial aspects of this business strategy.

The Notion of Employer in the Era of the Fissured Workplace

The Notion of Employer in the Era of the Fissured Workplace
Author: Roger Blanpain
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2017-01-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9041184716

The word 'fissured' aptly describes the effect on the workplace of the enormous retreat from direct employment on the part of large enterprises that began several decades ago and shows no sign of slowing down. Market-leading companies, even though they continue to wield considerable influence on the fate of actual workers, may thus be relieved of legal responsibility as employers. How extensive is this phenomenon? Do recourses exist in labour law? What ongoing trends can be discerned? This groundbreaking book tackles these questions and more, with thoroughly researched reports from ten of the world's leading market-driven economies - Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Recognizing that law should squarely grasp and tackle this new reality, the authors consider such questions as the following: - How far can current labour law go in determining the responsibility of persons who have no direct contractual relationship with the workers? - Do other measures such as soft law or reputation mechanisms in the market deal with the undesirable consequences of the fissurization more properly? - What managerial motives and socioeconomic backgrounds give rise to such fissurization? - What distinct phenomena compose fissuring? - Are measures available to protect workers that go beyond the boundary of the legal entity (e.g., initiatives toward piercing the corporate veil)? Each contributor describes, for his or her country, how far the fragmentation and externalization of employment has gone, current legislation protecting workers in a multilayered contractual relationship or indirect employment relationship (e.g., on health and safety, wages, bargaining, dismissal), and emerging developments and trends. This book ably responds to the question posed by a recent study: Why has work became so bad for so many and what can be done to improve it? Although concerned scholars worldwide will rally to the call, the reports in this volume will also be of great practical value to business persons and labour and employment lawyers everywhere.

Restatement of Labour Law in Europe

Restatement of Labour Law in Europe
Author: Bernd Waas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 875
Release: 2017-07-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509912428

The concept of 'employee' is arguably the most important one in labour law, defining, as it does, the scope of the discipline as a whole. This important new publication aims to develop a restatement of the concept of the employee in European labour law. The study identifies both problems and solutions that have emerged, clearly setting out comparisons between the different member states' approaches. The country reports explore both statutes and case law, tracking their contribution to legal doctrine. The objective of the restatement is to increase knowledge and gain a better understanding of one of the most crucial aspects of European labour law. Assistant Editors: - Marta Otto - Effrosyni Bakirtzi

The Collective Dimensions of Employment Relations

The Collective Dimensions of Employment Relations
Author: Tindara Addabbo
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 364
Release: 2021-08-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030755320

This edited volume explores the old and new “collective dimensions” of employment relations. It examines specific challenges stemming from new forms of work of the digital and sharing economy, such as measurement, monitoring, assessment, and remuneration of work, the protection of work-life balance, the impact of new technologies on health and safety, the adaptation of occupational skills to new work processes, and the responses to the digital restructuring of undertakings. It addresses a series of questions such as how the representational action of unions and works councils can adapt to the challenges posed by new production systems and whether the legislative framework needs to be reformed to ensure that digital workers enjoy the right to collective representation. This important collection offers readers a renewed theoretical perspective and justification of the role that the dialogue between workers (representatives) and companies could play in an increasingly complex world of work.

European Board-Level Employee Representation

European Board-Level Employee Representation
Author: Jeremy Waddington
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2018-06-23
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9041192034

It is often assumed that employee representatives exert power at the company board, but it is rarely made explicit how power is exercised and to what effect. This book, the first to assess national differences between board-level employee representatives in their exercise of influence and power, examines coordination among board-level employee representatives, trade unions, representatives from other institutions of labour representation within the company, management and other board members. Drawing on a large-scale survey distributed to board-level employee representatives, eleven expert contributors analyse for seven European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden) how such issues and topics as the following affect the participation of employee representatives at the board: – capacity of board-level employee representatives to exercise power over long-term strategic corporate decision making; – how changed circumstances impinge on the role of employee representatives; – how coordination of workers’ interests has been established and maintained, if at all; – how board-level employee representatives are selected; – influence of board-level employee representatives on corporate restructuring; – effect of corporate codes of governance; – impact of the establishment of groups of companies; and – protections against dismissal and discrimination of board-level employee representatives. Each country chapter reviews the legislation that underpins board-level employee representation, the timeliness and quality of the information provided, and the capacity of the representatives to apply information made available, with the purpose of establishing whether the legislation tends to constrain or facilitate the exercise of in uence and power. This book takes a giant step towards answering the question of how board-level employee representatives can fulfil their roles in a manner consistent with the intentions of the policymakers who framed the legislation. Moreover, it approaches the possibility of developing pan-European legislation on board-level employee representation that would accommodate national variations. For these reasons, the book will be welcomed by European policymakers concerned with industrial relations or corporate governance, as well as by practitioners and academics in a wide swath of European legal and social studies.

Theorising Labour Law in a Changing World

Theorising Labour Law in a Changing World
Author: Alysia Blackham
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 484
Release: 2019-09-05
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509921567

This collection brings together perspectives from industrial relations, political economy, political theory, labour history, sociology, gender studies and regulatory theory to build a more inclusive theory of labour law. That is, a theory of labour law that is more inclusive of non-traditional workers (including those in atypical work, or from non-traditional backgrounds); more inclusive of a variety of collective approaches to work regulation that foster solidarity between workers; and more inclusive of interdisciplinary and complex explanations of labour law and its regulatory spaces. The individual chapters speak to this theme of inclusivity in different ways and offer different suggestions for how it might be achieved. They break down the barriers between legal research and other fields, to promote fruitful and integrative conversations across disciplines. In the spirit of inclusivity and intergenerational dialogue, the book blends contributions from early career and emerging scholars with those from leading scholars in the field, featuring critical commentary from senior labour law figures alongside theoretically and empirically informed work.

The Future of Unions and Worker Representation

The Future of Unions and Worker Representation
Author: Anthony Forsyth
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2022-01-13
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509924981

This book charts the path to revitalisation for trade unions in Australia, the USA, the UK, and Italy. It examines the examples of innovation and digital campaigning that are enabling unions to build new forms of worker power – and overcome decades of declining membership wrought by neoliberalism, globalisation, and hostility from employers and the state. The study evaluates the responses of unions in each country to falling membership levels since the 1980s. It considers the US 'organising model' and its adoption in Australia and the UK, comparing this with the strategies of Italian unions which have been more deliberately focused on precarious and migrant workers. The increasing reliance of US unions on community alliances, as seen in the 'Fight for $15' and similar campaigns, is scrutinised along with new union prototypes like Hospo Voice in Australia, the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain and SI Cobas in Italy. The book includes an in-depth analysis of union responses to the gig economy in the four countries, and the emergence of self-organised worker collectives to combat this exploitative business model. The vital role played by unions in defending the interests of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic is also examined. As well as highlighting the most successful union initiatives to meet the challenges of the past 30 years, the book assesses the strengths and deficiencies of the legal framework for union representation in the four nations. It identifies the labour law reforms needed to rebuild collectivism, but argues that more is needed than favourable laws. This cross-national study provides a rich basis for identifying the combination of reforms, strategies and linkages required to ensure that unions can remain relevant for a new generation of digitally-active workers.

Collective Bargaining Developments in Times of Crisis

Collective Bargaining Developments in Times of Crisis
Author: Sylvaine Laulom
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2016-04-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9041190279

In many EU Member States, the various economic crises of recent years provided grounds for a rarely equalled level of state intervention in the regulation of labour relations with an explicit aim: the decentralisation of collective bargaining. An extensive body of research – summed up and analysed expertly in the chapters of this very important book – reveals that the process of decentralisation has more often than not led to a situation where salaries and labour conditions are ever more frequently determined by direct negotiations between employer and employees, with the State becoming the sole guarantor of employee protection even as it encourages decreasing labour costs to ensure that companies remain competitive. The comparative approach offered in this book adds to this synthesis by providing examples of speci c recent developments in fourteen Member States and Turkey. Among the numerous topics and issues that arise are the following: – ‘opt-out’ clauses that derogate unfavourably from sectoral agreement standards; – extension of the employer’s unilateral decision-making power; – ‘memoranda of understanding’ imposed by the ‘troika’ (EU, ECB, and IMF); and – ‘stand-by arrangements’ imposed by the IMF. However, notwithstanding the strong emphasis on changing the structure of collective agreements by shifting the centre of gravity closer to the company, research nds promise in the reconstituted support for sector-level agreements increasingly found among very small businesses, networked businesses, and work via digital platforms. This is the rst book to take stock of the current state of collective bargaining in Europe. It is an essential study for labour and employment law practitioners, and an exemplary analysis of immeasurable value to policymakers and academics in the eld.

Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law

Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law
Author: Janice R. Bellace
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 525
Release: 2019
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1786433117

Inquisitive and diverse, this innovative Research Handbook explores the ways in which human rights apply to people at work, through national constitutional provisions, judicial decisions and the application of rights expressed in supranational instruments. Key topics include evaluation of the role of the ILO in developing and promoting internationally recognized labour rights, and the examination of the meaning of the obligation of business to respect human rights, considering the evolution from international soft law to incorporation in codes of conduct and the emerging requirement of due diligence.

Employment and Vulnerabilities in the World of Orchestral Musicians: Symphonic Metamorphoses

Employment and Vulnerabilities in the World of Orchestral Musicians: Symphonic Metamorphoses
Author: Heather Kurzbauer
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2023-10-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403527471

The state subsidies and philanthropy that traditionally allowed orchestras to flourish have greatly diminished in the wake of recent financial crises and the COVID-19 pandemic. As in other fields affected by the precarious labor arrangements prevalent in the world of work today, it is the employees and freelancers—in this case, the musicians themselves—who suffer most. In this deeply knowledgeable and provocative book, a highly acclaimed scholar who combines the roles of law professor, music journalist, and orchestral violinist presents the first major legal study to focus on labor relations and the institutional dynamics at play within orchestras. Drawing on personal interviews with more than 250 orchestral musicians and other stakeholders—whose testimonies and actions often stand in contradiction to narratives provided by cultural economists and government cultural policymakers—the author uncovers the deteriorating welfare of musicians in two countries, the United States and the Netherlands, in which she has considerable practical orchestral experience. The methodology will reverberate with great intensity to musicians worldwide with its novel system of “movements” that focus on different vulnerabilities besetting orchestral players to highlight such issues and topics as: orchestra financing, with a special focus on the nonprofit sector and the changing nature of state subsidies in Europe; the impact of the perception of orchestras as “elitist” and of limited social value; discriminatory practices in auditions and hiring; legal and practical relevance of contemporary questions of employee categorization (regularly employed; self-employed; false self-employed); and how fair practice codes and collective bargaining agreements can be designed, implemented, and enforced. An interdisciplinary approach to a multiplicity of vulnerabilities in the sector, the study incorporates economic, historical and legal research along with a consideration of sociological factors. Case studies—from the EU Court of Justice, the Dutch Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the U.S. National Labor Relations Board—offer practical insight into specific legal issues, including the fundamental question of how musician employees are differentiated from freelancers. Reflecting on the cutbacks and compromises that traumatize orchestral negotiations in today’s musical world, the book not only provides orchestral musicians with a wealth of useful information and suggestions for future action but also adds to the growing body of legal literature on the self-limitations of labor law and the increasing vulnerability of workers. Practitioners in labor and employment law as well as academics in the field will benefit from a powerful analysis of workers’ vulnerabilities in today’s labor market.