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Precarious Work
Precarious work is a term that critics use to describe non-standard or temporary employment that may be poorly paid, insecure, unprotected, and unable to support a household. From this perspective, globalization, the shift from the manufacturing sector to the service sector, and the spread of information technology have created a new economy which demands flexibility in the workplace, resulting in the decline of the standard employment relationship, particularly for women. The characterization of temporary work as "precarious" is disputed by some scholars and entrepreneurs who see these changes as positive for individual workers. Contrast with regular and temporary employment The term "precarious work" is frequently associated with the following types of employment: Part-time jobs, self-employment, fixed-term work, temporary work, on-call work, and remote workers. Scholars and critics who use the term "precarious work" contrast it with the "standard employment relationship", which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Employment
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work. Employees work in return for wages, which can be paid on the basis of an hourly rate, by piecework or an annual salary, depending on the type of work an employee does, the prevailing conditions of the sector and the bargaining power between the parties. Employees in some sectors may receive gratuities, bonus payments or stock options. In some types of employment, employees may receive benefits in addition to payment. Benefits may include health insurance, housing, disability insurance. Employment is typically governed by employment laws, organisation or legal contracts. Employees and employers An employee contributes labour and expertise to an endea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zero-hour Contract
A zero-hour contract is a type of employment contract between an employer and an employee whereby the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum number of working hours to the employee. The term 'zero-hour contract' is primarily used in the United Kingdom. In 2015, employers in the UK were prohibited from offering zero-hour contracts that prevented employees from also working for a different employer at the same time. In September 2017, the UK Office for National Statistics estimated that there are over 900,000 workers on zero-hours contracts, 2.9% of the employed workforce. In the UK, zero-hour contracts are controversial. Trade unions, other worker bodies and newspapers have described them as an exploitation of labour. Employers using zero-hours contracts include Sports Direct, McDonald's and Boots. United Kingdom Definition A 'zero-hour contract' is a type of contract between an employer and a worker according to which the employer is not obliged to provide any minimum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Workforce Casualisation
Workforce casualisation is the process in which employment shifts from a preponderance of full-time and permanent positions to casual and contract positions. In Australia, 35% of all workers are casual or contract employees who are not paid for sick leave or annual leave. While there has been considerable talk of the increasing casualisation of the workforce, data shows that figures have actually remained relatively stable since the turn of the century with the greatest changes occurring in the period between 1992 to 1997 (casual only, not contracted employees). The greater concern is the increase in "insecure employment" which is difficult to quantify due to no clear definition of what this actually means. In the United Kingdom, 53% of academics teaching or doing research in British universities manage on some form of insecure, non-permanent contract, ranging from short-term contracts that typically elapse within nine months, to those paid by the hour to give classes or mark ess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Precariat
In sociology and economics, the precariat () is a neologism for a social class formed by people suffering from precarity, which means existing without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare. The term is a portmanteau merging ''wiktionary:precarious, precarious'' with ''proletariat''. Unlike the proletariat class of industrial workers in the 20th century who lacked their own means of production and hence sold their Wage labour, labor to live, members of the precariat are only partially involved in labor and must undertake extensive unremunerated activities that are essential if they are to retain access to jobs and to decent earnings. Classic examples of such unpaid activities include continually having to search for work (including preparing for and attending job interviews), as well as being expected to be perpetually responsive to calls for "gig economy, gig" work (yet without being paid an actual wage for being "on call"). The hallmark of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labour Market Flexibility
The degree of labour market flexibility is the speed with which labour markets adapt to fluctuations and changes in society, the economy or production. This entails enabling labour markets to reach a continuous equilibrium determined by the intersection of the demand and supply curves. Labour unions can limit labor market flexibility by negotiating higher wages, benefits, and better working conditions with employers. In the words of Siebert, labour unions were seen to inhibit "the clearing functions of the market by weakening the demand for labor, making it less attractive to hire a worker by explicitly pushing up the wage costs or by introducing a negative shadow price for labor; by distorting the labor supply; and by impairing the equilibrating function of the market mechanism (for instance, by influencing bargaining behavior)." Theory The most well-known concept of labour market flexibility is given by Atkinson. Based on the strategies companies use, he notes that there can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gig Economy
Gig workers are independent contractors, online platform workers, contract firm workers, on-call workers, and temporary workers. Gig workers enter into formal agreements with on-demand companies to provide services to the company's clients. In many countries, the legal classification of gig workers is still being debated, with companies classifying their workers as "independent contractors", while organized labor advocates have been lobbying for them to be classified as "employees", which would legally require companies to provide the full suite of employee benefits like time-and-a-half for overtime, paid sick time, employer-provided health care, bargaining rights, and unemployment insurance, among others. In 2020, the voters in California approved 2020 California Proposition 22, which created a third worker classification whereby gig-worker-drivers are classified as contractors but get some benefits, such as minimum wage, mileage reimbursement, and others. Etymology of ''gig'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flexicurity
Flexicurity (a portmanteau of "flexibility" and "security") is a welfare state model with a pro-active labour market policy. The term was first coined by the social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s. The term refers to the combination of labour market flexibility in a dynamic economy and security for workers. The Government of Denmark views flexicurity as entailing a "golden triangle" with a "three-sided mix of (1) flexibility in the labour market combined with (2) social security and (3) an active labour market policy with rights and obligations for the unemployed". The European Commission considers flexicurity as an integrated strategy to simultaneously enhance flexibility and security in the labour market. Flexicurity is designed and implemented across four policy components: 1) flexible and reliable contractual arrangements; 2) comprehensive lifelong learning strategies; 3) effective active labour market policies; and 4) modern social sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Contingent Work
Contingent work, casual work, or contract work, is an employment relationship with limited job security, payment on a piece work basis, typically part-time (typically with variable hours) that is considered non-permanent. Although there is less job security, freelancers often report incomes higher than their former traditional jobs. Contingent workers are also often called consultants, freelancers, independent contractors, independent professionals, temporary contract workers or temps. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the nontraditional workforce includes "multiple job holders, contingent and part-time workers, and people in alternative work arrangements". These workers currently represent a substantial portion of the US workforce, and "nearly four out of five employers, in establishments of all sizes and industries, use some form of nontraditional staffing". "People in alternative work arrangements" includes independent contractors, employees of contract com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and oldest specialised agency of the UN. The ILO has 187 member states: 186 out of 193 UN member states plus the Cook Islands. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with around 40 field offices around the world, and employs some 3,381 staff across 107 nations, of whom 1,698 work in technical cooperation programmes and projects. The ILO's standards are aimed at ensuring accessible, productive, and sustainable work worldwide in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity. They are set forth in 189 conventions and treaties, of which eight are classified as fundamental according to the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work; together they protect freedom of association and the effective recognition of the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ''bazaar'' (from the Persian), a fixed '' mercado'' (Spanish), or itinerant ''tianguis'' (Mexico), or ''palengke'' (Philippines). Some markets operate daily and are said to be ''permanent'' markets while others are held once a week or on less frequent specified days such as festival days and are said to be ''periodic markets.'' The form that a market adopts depends on its locality's population, culture, ambient and geographic conditions. The term ''market'' covers many types of trading, as market squares, market halls and food halls, and their different varieties. Thus marketplaces can be both outdoors and indoors, and in the modern world, online marketplaces. Markets have existed for as long as humans have engaged in trade. The earlies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knowledge Worker
Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include programmers, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, public accountants, lawyers, editors, and academics, whose job is to "think for a living". Definition Knowledge work can be differentiated from other forms of work by its emphasis on "non-routine" problem solving that requires a combination of convergent and divergent thinking. But despite the amount of research and literature on knowledge work, there is no succinct definition of the term. Mosco and McKercher (2007) outline various viewpoints on the matter. They first point to the most narrow and defined definition of knowledge work, such as Florida's view of it as specifically, "the direct manipulation of symbols to create an original knowledge product, or to add obvious value to an existing one", which limits the definition of knowledge work to mainly creative work. They then contrast this view of knowle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
