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AbstractThe impact of Indian state labour law reforms on employment, output, new industrial units, investment and size of industrial units is examined from 2000–01 to 2017–18. States with inflexible labour laws had lower growth of large industrial units and regular employment. Contract worker hiring spiked in firms with 301–500 workers in both flexible and inflexible states. Capital growth was higher than growth of workers in all state categories. Rajasthan, the first state to carry out additional reforms in 2014, had good performance. Regressions carried out to control for factors that impact employment other than labour laws indicate that: (i) reforms had a positive impact on employment; (ii) good infrastructure, reduction in industrial disputes, low crime and better education resulted in significant employment generation. Difference-in-differences estimates show that post-reform, employment, fixed capital, and output were higher for flexible labour law states, when compared to inflexible labour law states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we study the extension of paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks in India to estimate its effect on the contractual arrangements of working women. To identify causal effects, we exploit the variation generated by the institutional features of the policy mandate in India, which applies only to establishments employing 10 workers or more. We find that women are 4.3 percentage points less likely to be employed as regular salaried workers in the establishments as a result of this policy. We also show that there is an increase in the employment of women as unpaid and wage labourers in establishments, but no change takes place in women entrepreneurship. The effects appear to be driven by married and younger women confirming that the extension of maternity leave imposes a motherhood penalty in terms of women's labor market opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the viability of employer claims against at-will employees amid changing labor and employment law. Topics discussed include history of at-will employment, limits to the doctrine of at-will employment such as termination, breach of employment contract claims, claims against at-will employees, breach of contract action against an employee and employee compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and unequal balance of power in employment relations.

We develop a general equilibrium model of a small open economy with performance-pay worker compensation and occupational choice. We analytically and numerically examine the distributional effects of entrepreneurial talent and performance-pay contracts. Risk-neutral, more talented individuals become entrepreneurs, inducing workers to exert effort through incentive contracts. Entrepreneurial talent and worker effort significantly influence income inequality through complex general equilibrium channels. Economies with higher tariffs, more entrepreneurs, less skilled or more heterogeneous workers, and economies without worker effort, display higher income inequality measured by the top one percent income share and the Gini Coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Unfavorable working conditions may place workers in a vulnerable position in the labour market, but studies on the clustering of these factors and their relation to burnout symptoms are lacking. This study aims to identify subgroups of workers in potentially vulnerable positions in the labour market and examine whether burnout symptoms differ across the established subgroups. Methods: This study utilizes cross-sectional data from 2019 of the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey (n = 55,283). Working conditions included employment contracts, working hours, multiple jobs, tenure, physical strain, autonomy, and workload. Burnout symptoms were measured with five items on a 7-point Likert scale. Latent Class Analysis was used to identify vulnerability subgroups based on working conditions and educational level. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to examine whether burnout symptoms differed between the identified subgroups. Results: Three out of nine subgroups (i.e., classes 4, 6, and 7) presented combinations of multiple unfavourable working conditions. The vulnerability of class 4, characterized by low educational level, physically demanding work, low autonomy, and a high workload, was underscored by a significantly higher burnout symptom score (M = 2.91;SD = 0.97) compared to all other subgroups. Subgroups 3 (M = 2.69;SD = 1.43) and 8 (M = 2.41;SD = 1.41), without striking unfavourable conditions, had the second and third highest scores on burnout symptoms. Conclusions: Determining vulnerability in the labour market is not straightforward as not all profiles that presented clusters of unfavourable working conditions scored high on burnout symptoms, and vice versa. Future research should investigate whether findings are similar to other mental health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Refugee women face significant challenges when seeking employment in Western host countries. To advance gender-sensitive perspectives within migration and refugee research, this study examines differences in employment outcomes between refugee women and men. Specifically, this study provides a nuanced picture of six indicators of employment outcomes, including pay, fixed-term versus permanent employment contract, overqualification, career prospects, an at-home feeling in the workplace and the ability to talk to colleagues about personal problems. The study also shows that individuals’ occupational status plays a role in gender disparities. Our findings, based on a recent survey of refugees working in Austria, reveal several gender gaps, with an especially significant gap regarding fixed-term employment contracts. Refugee women, who are more likely to be disadvantaged in employment outcomes, benefit disproportionately from working in high-skill jobs. The findings underscore the complex nature of gendered patterns in labour market integration of refugees and imply specific policies addressing gender inequality in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the studies of Araujo et al. (AI Soc 35:611–623, 2020) and Lee (Big Data Soc 5:1–16, 2018), this empirical study uses two scenario-based online experiments. The sample consists of 221 subjects from Germany, differing in both age and gender. The original studies are not replicated one-to-one. New scenarios are constructed as realistically as possible and focused on everyday work situations. They are based on the AI acceptance model of Scheuer (Grundlagen intelligenter KI-Assistenten und deren vertrauensvolle Nutzung. Springer, Wiesbaden, 2020) and are extended by individual descriptive elements of AI systems in comparison to the original studies. The first online experiment examines decisions made by artificial intelligence with varying degrees of impact. In the high-impact scenario, applicants are automatically selected for a job and immediately received an employment contract. In the low-impact scenario, three applicants are automatically invited for another interview. In addition, the relationship between age and risk perception is investigated. The second online experiment tests subjects' perceived trust in decisions made by artificial intelligence, either semi-automatically through the assistance of human experts or fully automatically in comparison. Two task types are distinguished. The task type that requires "human skills"—represented as a performance evaluation situation—and the task type that requires "mechanical skills"—represented as a work distribution situation. In addition, the extent of negative emotions in automated decisions is investigated. The results are related to the findings of Araujo et al. (AI Soc 35:611–623, 2020) and Lee (Big Data Soc 5:1–16, 2018). Implications for further research activities and practical relevance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Court of Appeal decision in Burn v Alder Hey (Burn), there are obiter suggestions that the employment contract contains an implied term that would require the employer to act fairly during a disciplinary process. In an article in this journal, Collins and Golding (the authors) endorse this direction of travel and explore what they see as a number of advantages that would accrue for employees (and other workers) should the courts hold that such a term is indeed part of the law of contract. This article seeks to argue that recognition of the term would be misguided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implication of a new term by law into contracts of employment is significant and relatively rare. In somewhat of a revelation, members of the Court of Appeal in Burn v Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust were receptive to the introduction of a duty that would require employers to act in accordance with procedural fairness during disciplinary processes. This article offers the first detailed examination of this development, commencing by exploring the nature, scope and necessity of such a term in the context of contracts of employment. The relationship between this emergent duty and the ' Johnson exclusion zone', which limits the remedies available at common law if the breach of the employer's obligations alleged is the manner or fact of an employee's dismissal, will be considered. We argue that the real potential of this duty lies in the prospect that it could be extended beyond contracts of employment and implied into, for example, contracts between workers and their employers. Such a development would be novel for the common law and make a substantial contribution to the regulation of a wider category of working relationships and to the pursuit of the objectives and aims of employment law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between modern labour law, trust-based management, and collective labour relations. It begins by examining the historical origins of labour law, which was established to give employers the means to govern their workforce, based on the assumption that workers were untrustworthy. We argue that this notion still persists, albeit in a refined form, and that advancements in technology can exacerbate the negative consequences of managerial prerogatives. The article highlights the need to re-examine the extent of managerial prerogatives and provides several examples of businesses that have adopted trust-based models of organization, leading to positive outcomes. However, the study cautions that trust-based models can be used as a guise for employers to retain greater control over their employees and emphasizes the critical role of collective labour relations in ensuring true trust. The article concludes by arguing that policymakers must challenge the hierarchy-centred model of the employment contract and promote practices that reinforce social dialogue and collective voice in order to reap the benefits of trust-based business practices. This study sheds light on the need to re-evaluate the current employment landscape and consider alternative models that prioritize trust, autonomy, and social dialogue in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces the ongoing debate surrounding workers' rights, highlighting concerns about coercive employment contracts and their impact on workers' ability to quit, voice concerns, and seek legal recourse. It discusses the challenges faced by federal agencies in enforcing labor and employment protections, including inefficiencies and delays in administrative processes. It advocates for their proactive enforcement of state laws and protection of workers' rights.

It is analyzed and concretized from the participatory action on those rulings of the Constitutional Court, focused on highlighting the transversal introduction of due process in labor relations in the private sector, filling the gaps left by the labor law. To that extent, the labor disciplinary process must be structured from the characteristics, principles and purposes of the material and formal labor law, to ensure respect for the human dignity of workers. From the question, does due process have a cross-cutting effect on labor relations in the private sector? Understanding the reflexive analysis of due process as a phenomenon and circumstance of transversalization in labor contracts and private labor relations, from its transdisciplinarity between the disciplinary process and labor law. From the qualitative, transdisciplinary and transversalization approach, deductive, phenomenological and hermeneutic complex method, being explanatory and exploratory. It is corroborated that currently the due process is a dogmatic category within the national legal system that fulfills the ontological function of transversality, the pro homine principle of human dignity in private labor relations. It is a contribution in the labor relations of the private sector, which shows the need to constitutionalize the substantive labor code in relation to the disciplinary due process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to watching Netflix's hit show, Squid Game, I was proud to say that I was someone who was a true connoisseur of reality television. Like millions of Americans who tune in to their favorite "trash TV" show, I would always look forward to turning on my TV at the end of a long day, sitting back in my pajamas, and binge-watching my favorite reality television shows. And, unlike many viewers, I was not ashamed to say this was one of my favorite hobbies. However, after watching Squid Game, my passion for reality television also grew into a concern for the potential welfare of the various participants. Although the show is highly dramatized in its portrayal of the harm done to participants in a competition-based reality program, Squid Game provides a useful springboard for discussion to see what could possibly happen if we continue to allow executives and networks to do as they like (without regard for the welfare of their participants) . . . all for the sake of drawing in ratings and maintaining the attention of viewers. This article examines the multitude of potential legal issues involved in reality television show participation through an exploration of the various abuses done to both Squid Game and "real life" reality TV participants. Then, after evaluating the near unconscionability of real-life reality television arrangements, this Article will provide two solutions that could even out the playing field between networks/producers/executives and participants: (1) adoption of the Ofcom duty of care standard in reality television contracts that the UK implemented in December 2020 and (2) permitted unionization of reality television participants in order to ensure more effective bargaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Bulgaria, according to the Institute for Market Economics, 16 economic centers have been defined, which form a large part of the national economy. The paper focuses on the economic centers located in the territory of the North Central Planning Region and the North Western Planning Region, emphasizing their role in revealing the potential for development of the rural areas within their scope. In this context, the specific features of their development have been analyzed and the possibilities for future development have been assessed in order to achieve the goals of sustainable development of the territory, to increase the living standards of the population, and to reduce the risk of poverty in rural areas. The study utilized statistical methods for analyzing dynamic trends, hypothesis testing, regression, and correlation analysis. It was found that the indicators for the municipalities within the economic centers are more favorable compared to those outside of them. The results of the analysis demonstrate that the presence of economic centers in the region has a statistically significant impact on indicators such as population, age dependency ratio, population density, average annual salary of employees under labor and service contracts, and unemployment rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Uniform Restrictive Employment Agreement Act (UREAA) which was drafted by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC). Topics include factors that led the ULC to decide that a uniform act on noncompete and other post-employment agreements was desirable and practicable, the ULC drafting process and procedures, and features of the Act.

Noncompete law stands at the intersection of competition, equality, innovation, and employment policy. While the Uniform Restrictive Employment Agreements Act (UREAA or the Act) is a positive step forward in curtailing the use of restrictive covenants, the Act is limited in its scope because it adopts a partial noncompete ban rather than a comprehensive ban. Because noncompetes harm not only workers by suppressing mobility and wages but also innovation, entrepreneurship, competition, equality, and market growth, enforcing noncompetes for higher-skilled workers can be particularly harmful from an economic policy perspective. The research on noncompetes-which has become robust in recent years-supports a national, absolute ban on all nonconipetes at all employment levels. This Article, written for the University of Florida Levin College of Law's Journal of Law & Public Policy symposium on U REAA, argues that an absolute ban on noncompetes is superior to the standard of reasoiiableness that the UR-EAA would adopt for higherskilled employees. At the same time, it explains why the Act rightfully tackles not only noncompetes but also the family of restrictive covenants that limit workers' ability to compete post-employment. This Article describes a growing body of academic, empirical, experimental, and theoretical research that demonstrates that the common use of boilerplate employment contracts, which bundle restrictive clauses-including noncompete, non-disclosure, non-solicit, non-poaching, non-dealing, and non-disparagement clauses, with choice-of-law, choice-of-forum, and severability clauses-have detrimental effects on mobility and innovation. This Article concludes that a national solution is superior to a uniform act adopted by states because the research shows that state variation, choice-of-law and choice-of-forum clauses, and misinformation among workers have led to noncompetes and other restrictive covenants being highly prevalent even in states that do not enforce them. Therefore, this Article commends the Federal Trade Commission's recent action in implementing the rule to ban all noncompetes and de facto noncompetes in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an economic environment defined by precarious and gig-based labour contracts, academic research has been reimagined as a source of income for research participants. In addition, with the rise of online labour platforms, researchers have turned to online labour platforms as a solution to the increasing difficulty in recruitment of participants in research. This present context makes explicit the hidden labour that research participants have always done in the production of research outputs within academia. This paper develops a Marxist lens through which we can understand the material conditions of the circulation of capital through academia and the role of research participants in this mode of production. By developing this broad analytical framework for the academic mode of production, this paper further argues that our present economic epoch of the gig economy and specifically the use of digital labour platforms for academic research, has accelerated the subsumption of research participation as a source of income through the fragmentation of work and the gigification of everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automating workplaces that results in a loss of jobs has become a topic of public debate and study but has paid little attention to differential impacts on age groups. This paper applies OECD data on the risk of jobs being automated to Australian longitudinal survey data following 15 years old students over a ten-year period as they enter the job market. Whilst in the early stages of their working lives, these young Australians often worked in jobs projected to be at high risk of automation, they gradually moved into jobs and occupations projected to be less exposed to automation. Young Australians were also less likely to work in jobs at risk of automation than the average Australian. Besides socio-demographic factors, including educational attainment but also domestic wealth, the incidence and kind of computer use at home were associated with working in jobs at a higher or lower risk of automation, as were young workers' type of employment contract and whether young employees changed employers. Whilst suggestions of large-scale job losses owing to automation may be exaggerated, the socio-economic divide that extends to exposure to at risk occupations ought to be a matter of policy concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: International mobility of health workforce affects the performance of health systems and has major relevance in human resources for health policy and planning. To date, there has been little research exploring the reasons why general practitioners (GPs) migrate. This mixed methods study aimed to investigate the reasons why Spain-trained GPs migrate and develop GP retention and recruitment health policy recommendations relevant to Spanish primary care. Methods: The study followed an explanatory sequential mixed methods study design combining surveys with semi-structured interviews and focus groups with GPs who qualified in Spain and were living overseas at the time of the study. The survey data examined the reasons why GPs left Spain and their intention to return and were analysed using quantitative methods. The transcripts from interviews and focus groups centred on GPs' insights to enhance retention and recruitment in Spain and were analysed thematically. Results: The survey had 158 respondents with an estimated 25.4% response rate. Insufficient salary (75.3%), job insecurity and temporality (67.7%), excessive workload (67.7%), poor primary care governance (55.7%), lack of flexibility in the workplace (43.7%) and personal circumstances (43.7%) were the main reasons for leaving Spain. Almost half of the respondents (48.7%) would consider returning to Spanish general practice if their working conditions improved. Interviews and focus groups with respondents (n = 24) pointed towards the need to improve the quality of employment contracts, working conditions, opportunities for professional development, and governance in primary care for effective retention and recruitment. Conclusion: Efforts to improve GP retention and recruitment in Spain should focus on salary, job security, flexibility, protected workload, professional development, and governance. We draw ten GP retention and recruitment recommendations expected to inform urgent policy action to tackle existing and predicted GP shortages in Spanish primary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a descriptive analysis of labor indicators in Venezuela based on the results of the 2023 Living Conditions Survey (ENCOVI). It highlights the evolution of economic activity, employment, and wages indicators. It is mentioned that the Institute of Economic and Social Research of the Andrés Bello Catholic University has been studying these indicators since 2014. The economic activity rate in Venezuela has stabilized around 56%, below the regional average. The economically inactive population has experienced changes due to forced migration and premature aging. Employment has increased in 2023 but remains below 2016 levels. Unemployment has decreased, indicating an increase in informality and a decrease in job search. Most workers are concentrated in the tertiary sector, especially in trade and services. The trend towards informalization of employment has continued, with an increase in precarious jobs and a decrease in formal jobs. The survey also reveals data on labor formality in Venezuela, such as the percentage of respondents receiving a food bonus, having a signed employment contract, having mandatory social security deductions, working in a company with more than 5 employees, receiving paid vacations, and having paid sick leave. A statistical history of the minimum wage and food bonus from 2008 to the present date is also provided. The article also explains terms related to economic and labor indicators in Venezuela and mentions the monetary revaluations of the Bolivar and the decree of a general economic war bonus. [Extracted from the article]

This paper estimates the effect of the U.S. Army's June 2020 decision to increase the service obligation for Army aviators from six to ten years on West Point cadets' preferences for aviation. We use a difference-in-differences identification strategy, exploiting how the policy took effect after the Class of 2021 submitted four sets of interim preferences but before cadets submitted two final sets of preferences, using preferences from cadets in the Classes of 2015 to 2020 to form counterfactual outcomes. The increased service obligation made aviation less popular, reducing the percentage of cadets who ranked aviation as their first choice by 4.1 percentage points (baseline of 18.5%) and increasing the percentage of cadets who ranked aviation as among their three lowest choices by 6.9 percentage points (baseline of 8.9%). The reduction in aviation's popularity is most pronounced among cadets with above-median grade-point-averages, above-median aviation talent scores, and above-median SAT scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to analyze whether the average income of the rural worker followed the evolution of the gross production value (GPV) between the years 2010 and 2021. Linear regressions were estimated for the Immediate Geographical Regions of Paraná using data from the average income of Annual Social Information Report (RAIS) and GPV provided by the Department of Rural Economics of the Secretariat of State for Agriculture and Supply (DERAL), according to the type of employment contract (fixed-term and indefinite-term). It was found that, in the case of indefinite-term contracts, GPV had a significant influence on the average income of rural workers in all regions. On the other hand, for fixed-term contracts, the results were heterogeneous, with no significant influence of GPV on the average income of rural workers. Subsequently, elasticities between GPV and the average income of rural workers were calculated, and the results indicated greater homogeneity for indefinite-term contracts as opposed to fixed-term contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the process of construction of the feminist general strike of March 8, 2019 in Chile, from the "fee" workers of the University of Chile, i.e. workers without a labor contract, organized in a union. By analyzing this process from the perspective of precarious workers and feminist activists, the authors seek to highlight a thread that is woven in Chile between the feminist movement in May 2018, the 8M strike of 2019 and the social revolt of October 2019. The hypothesis is that from the struggles against precarious work and feminisms, a repertoire of struggle of social movements and wage workers is renewed and extended. From a situated and self-reflexive knowledge, the authors analyze their practices in the process of feminist general strike, from a self-narration and content analysis of social networks and public statements of the union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under what conditions do dictators enact pro-worker legislation? Conventional wisdom suggests that heightened mass discontent motivates dictators to make policy concessions to defuse revolutionary threats. However, a more protective labor law may decrease elites' economic benefits--and thus loyalty to the regime. I argue that limited judicial independence helps dictators control the distributional outcomes of the law and therefore better respond to the twin challenges magnified by labor reforms. To test this argument, I conduct a cross-national analysis of sixty-eight autocracies from 1970 to 2008. I then examine an illustrative case--China's 2008 Labor Contract Law--to illuminate how a non-independent judiciary gives autocrats more leeway to balance the interests of elites and the masses. This article contributes to our understanding of authoritarian survival strategies amid distributive tensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of emotional labour pervades recent popular discourse. However, this discourse tends to emphasize the unpaid work performed in personal and familial relationships. This erases Arlie Russell Hochschild's distinction between emotion work and emotional labour, the latter of which is a waged 'management of feeling' that 'create[s] a publicly observable facial and bodily display'. This focus on unwaged emotion work identifies a real site of exploitation, but tends to obscure the recent historical tendency of care work to be subsumed increasingly into new forms of low-waged labour. I examine this tendency by turning to Catherine Lacey's speculative novel The Answers (2017), which follows an indebted young woman, Mary, who takes a contract job in an experiment run by a celebrity seeking love. Alongside 'girlfriends' with other intimate roles, Mary is paid to be an 'Emotional Girlfriend.' I argue that the novel's thought experiment of splitting the various roles of a romantic partner into separate, waged jobs not only commodifies affective labour, but also replicates the process of industrial deskilling in its depiction of the real subsumption of affective work into the service sectors. Next, I discuss the role of the experiment's Research Division, which not only monitors experimental subjects via cameras, sensors, and interviews, but also directly influences their behaviour using 'internal directives', or chemical instructions that biologically optimize emotion. I argue that these directives intensify the management of feeling to make working subjects' emotions more productive for capital. The argument concludes that The Answers updates Hochschild's theory to account for work that is now often less secure, but fails to address the political questions it raises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Special Fees in Germany - Part 3" deals with the remuneration and billing of medical and non-medical elective services according to German law. It explains the point system of the official fee schedules that is used to calculate the amount of remuneration. In addition, the framework conditions of the liquidation rights of chief physicians are presented. The article deals with various aspects of the fee schedule for doctors (GOÄ) and dentists (GOZ). It is pointed out that the billing of services always depends on the individual case. In order to enable a better allocation of non-coded cases, the medical associations issue analog lists. The fee demand must be reasonable and must not be disproportionate to the services provided. There is a mandatory flat-rate reduction of 25% for certain private medical services. Deviating agreements on the amount of fees are possible, but must not be contrary to public policy. The remuneration becomes due when an invoice meets the legal requirements. The article deals with the liquidation rights of doctors in Germany. The liquidation right refers to the right of doctors to demand separate remuneration for personally provided services and to bill them directly to the patient. It is discussed whether the liquidation right has an influence on hospital remuneration. The question is also raised whether subordinate doctors should be involved in the revenues generated by elective services. The inclusion of non-medical personnel in these regulations is inconsistent. In some federal states, hospital operators and/or chief physicians are legally obliged to involve senior and assistant doctors in the revenues from the liquidation right. The revenues generated are collected in a pool and paid out according to qualification and participation. Doctors are also professionally obliged to involve subordinate doctors in the revenues from billable services. In case of disputes over the entitlement to remuneration, a lawsuit can be filed before the ordinary courts. The place of jurisdiction is determined by the place of performance of the hospital admission contract. The elective service can be provided either as an employment contract service or as an independent activity, which entails tax differences. The classification of the activity as independent or dependent also has an impact on social security contributions and insurance coverage. The assessment of whether the elective service is provided independently or dependently is based on the overall picture of the circumstances and the contractual arrangements. The text deals with the distinction between independent and dependent service provision in hospitals. An essential characteristic is the formal and actual separation between the services of the hospital and the doctor. A uniform appearance of the hospital and a uniform obligation to pay by the patient speak for dependent service provision, while individual assignability and sole access to the revenues by the chief physician are strong indications of independence. Other criteria are ownership of entrepreneurial initiative and the distribution of economic risk. The integration into the business organization of the hospital and the use of the hospital's infrastructure and personnel are also relevant factors. The distinction between independent and dependent activity is made based on the circumstances in each individual case. [Extracted from the article]

Following Marx's general law of capitalist accumulation, the present article seeks to evaluate the impact of fixed capital stock, labor productivity, and the mass of profits on the dynamics of employment in Colombia from 1965 to 2019 using a Vector Error Correction Model. The results show that the level of employment exhibits a significant long-term relationship with both the fixed capital stock and labor productivity. In line with Marx's theory, employment expands with fixed capital stock and contracts with labor productivity. In turn, the mass of profits has positive effects on both the capital stock and labor productivity. The empirical findings also support the existence of Marx's biased technical change as well as a negative feedback effect from employment to profits. JEL Classification: J21, C21, C22, B51 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Iran, the issue of the nursing shortage and unequal distribution exist simultaneously. The shortage of healthcare workers is one of the most important concerns of the health systems. In addition, the disparity in the distribution of healthcare workers between large metropolises and remote or non-capital areas has become a serious concern and a top priority to address. We conducted this study to identify and create a sufficient understanding of the different financial and non-financial preferences of nurses for working in deprived areas. Methods: This research was carried out in June and April 2022. It was carried out in three major phases. The factors influencing the nurses' job preferences were first discovered using qualitative methods. The second phase was conducting a pilot study and determining the best design for discrete choice experiment scenarios. The last phase involved publishing the questionnaire to gather information. Data were analyzed (discrete choice analysis) using JMP Pro 16 software. Results: A desirable job for the participants (nurses) in this study would have a higher salary, work in a city, the Rasmi employment contract, a low workload, adequate workplace facilities, an appropriate work schedule, and 1 to 3 years spent on the assigned job to promote to a higher position. Willingness to pay (WTP) and the probability of selecting different attribute levels were also calculated and reported. For example, the highest amount of money that a nurse expected to be paid was for changing the geographical location of the workplace from a city to a deprived area. In this case, a nurse tends to receive 91.87 million IRR more to move from a city to a deprived area to work. This amount of money was by far the most among other WTPs. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that nurses are willing to forego net income in exchange for other favorable characteristics of their working environment and conditions. This shows that a variety of actions are accessible to policymakers that can greatly enhance the working conditions for nurses. The WTP and the probability of selecting various attributes may help policymakers plan more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article develops the concept of 'unfree wage labour' that refers to a situation in which a worker must (temporarily and conditionally) give away possession of his labour power to a third party who then sells it to the buyers of labour power. From the perspective of contract freedom and legal equality, it seems irrelevant whether a worker sells his or her labour power to an employer or to an intermediary. However, there is no doubt that labour intermediation increases the economic dependence and social subordination of workers. First, given that the intermediary negotiates with the employer, the worker has a lower ability to influence the terms of employment. Second, given that he or she is a contract worker, they have a lower ability to engage in collective action in the company. Undoubtedly, this worker has significantly lower control over her or his working and living conditions. The question arises whether his or her contract freedom lessened to the extent that we can speak of unfree wage labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first to provide up-to-date assessment of the characteristics of parttime employees, then to explore the factors that affect the likelihood of working part-time in Türkiye for 2005-2020 period with two probit models. Statistics show that part-timers’ share is steadily increasing, part-timers are getting younger and more educated, most part-timers are women between ages 25 and 55 and married. Results of two probit models show that, education enables employees to be a in full-time employment rather than in part-time employment yet, this effect is not as prominent for women as it is for men. However, for less educated women, part-time employment serves as a bridge between full-time employment and unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text explores locally recruited staff within a growing category of organisations in the international aid industry: Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). DFIs are banks that offer risk capital to development projects in the global South, increasingly using tax-funded aid money. Based on interviews with 13 DFI investment managers, I show how Kenyan DFI staff challenge three of the signature attributes commonly assigned to local development professionals: their 'local' expertise does not contrast with or preclude international expertise, but rather overlaps with it; their formal authority and career ladders are not restricted to technical or support positions – many field offices are headed by local employees; and they rarely face job insecurity given their competitive qualifications and permanent employment contracts. Meanwhile, decisions on investments are rarely taken by these field office staff but by their colleagues at headquarters, and unlike the latter, even those local recruits who head their field offices usually lack a secure place in the global organisation of their DFIs. This suggests that structural inequalities between donor and recipient country staff – integral to the development industry – have not disappeared in DFIs but rather relocated: from within the walls of field offices to the relationship between these offices and headquarters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many of the more than 27 million refugees in the world today are highly educated professionals, but resolving their displacement via skilled migration pathways is typically not possible. At the request of employers facing severe skill shortages and the coordination of Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB)–a non-profit organisation–the Australian government introduced in 2018 a pilot program enabling employers to sponsor refugees through an employment contract meeting existing skilled visa requirements. The pilot effectively added immigration places to refugees, as employer-sponsored visa are uncapped in Australia. We highlight some insights collected from TBB's 2018 and subsequent pilots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy decisions in business and economic fields are often informed by surveys of employees. Many employee surveys use costly interviewer-administered modes to reach this special population. However, certain employee subgroups may be especially hard to reach using these modes. Thus, besides high administration costs, nonresponse bias is a concern. To reduce costs and potential nonresponse bias, some employee surveys have introduced web as part of a sequential mixed-mode design. However, the impact of introducing web on response rates, nonresponse bias, and costs in employee surveys is understudied. The present study addresses this research gap by analyzing a mode design experiment in which employees selected for a national survey in Germany were randomly assigned to a single-mode telephone design or a sequential web-telephone mixed-mode design. The study revealed four main findings. First, introducing the web mode significantly increased the response rate compared to the single-mode design. Second, despite the higher response rate, aggregate nonresponse bias was higher in the mixed-mode design than in the single-mode design. Third, the likelihood of web participation varied across certain employee subgroups, including occupation type and employment contract. Lastly, potential cost savings were evident under the mixed-mode design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the higher education and science sector is characterized by a high prevalence of precarious labour contracts. This essay explores how academics in precarious and permanent positions interpret teaching and research activities, as well as the labour conditions under which these activities are developed, to discuss its roots and connections to the consolidation of this sector during the democratic period in Portugal. It reflects on the persisting legitimisation of closure mechanisms to the permanent integration of researchers in the academia that results in the normalisation of precarious labour, currently extending to all academic activities. This dual system fosters internal disparities, contributes to the reproduction of power structures and promotes an environment of exacerbated competition that hinders the fulfilment of the missions of higher education and science organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the rights contained in the Freedom of Information Act, we collected data on the teaching undertaken by staff at 52 UK universities. In contrast to workload modelling, our data reveals the extent of the variation in contact hours by institution, subject, and seniority. We provide for the first time an accurate measure of the teaching undertaken by staff on different contract types. One of our findings is that few universities employ full-time Teaching-only staff. It is some of the most prestigious universities that are leading the way in promoting this specialisation, with important implications for teaching and research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of migration on local workers and high school dropouts of local students. A conventional approach without addressing the endogeneity issue may lead to biased results. Our endogeneity‐corrected estimates show a positive impact of migration on the monthly wages of local workers. A higher share of migrants increases the probability of local workers with employment contracts, social insurance, and holiday pay. Heterogeneity analysis shows that local workers, no matter their educational level, work experience, or occupation sectors, benefit from the inflow of migrants. Finally, migration inflow lowers the probability of high school dropouts among local students. Our findings resulting from rigorous statistical approaches suggest that internal migration produces positive impacts on the economic well‐being of local residents, refuting the argument about the adverse effects associated with internal migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- To analyze the factors related to the internal communication process that influence the organizational bonds (commitment, entrenchment, and consent) between workers and their employing organizations. Design/methodology/approach -- Qualitative and quantitative research instruments were employed in a sample field consisting of four large organizations in Brazil. Findings emerged from Content Analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).The qualitative phase involved the participation of 23 respondents. The quantitative phase sample comprised 401 respondents. A scale was developed to assess workers' perceptions of communication processes. Findings -- A relationship between communication processes and organizational bonds was confirmed. Immediate leader communication proved to be a highly significant factor in the internal communication process, as well as affective communication, which directly impacts commitment and acts on engaging communication, which in turn influences commitment. It was observed that the consent bond, through the subordination, directly impacts commitment, albeit in a negative manner. Originality/value -- The study contributes to the field of organizational communication by introducing the IOCS (Internal Organizational Communication Scale) and paves the way to further the still nascent debate on the forms of interaction between organizations and their employees resulting from new management models, labor contracts, as well as organizational value and purposes, stemming from the changes brought about by the Covid-19 heath crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the underdeveloped nature of organized labor, it is possible to view the 'individual' and 'collective' components of labor legislation in China as separate and severable. This article aims to challenge such thinking by arguing that collective labor law and collective bargaining practices in China have profoundly shaped the law of employment contracts and individual employment relations. To this end, analyzing the laws surrounding individual employment contracts should not proceed without considering collective labor law. This article investigates, in the first three decades following the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the significance of collective rights to the underdevelopment of legal rules of employment rights and the emergence of the socialist social contract. This article also examines, after the economic reform of 1978, the various ways collective bargaining contributed to the transformation from the socialist social contract to the standard contract of employment and from an underdeveloped to a comprehensive framework of employment legislation. Finally, in the post-economic-reform decades, the analysis suggests that collective bargaining encourages the empowerment of trade unions with legislative and administrative efforts and facilitates the incorporation of terms and conditions improvement into individual employment contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022 the High Court rewrote the rules for determining whether a worker is an employee, favouring a contract-centric approach that confines attention to agreed rights and obligations, not substance or reality. We explain how previous debates and disagreements were resolved, and examine how the new rules are being applied. By ignoring the balance of power in work relations, and the protective purpose of labour laws, the Court has made it much easier to contract out of labour standards. To protect the integrity of those standards, and prevent a growth in arrangements that disguise what is functionally employment as independent contracting, a new statutory definition of employment is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employment contracts often restrain the employee from competing with their former employer after their employment ends. These restraints can have a serious impact on employees, as they inhibit their ability to earn a livelihood. According to the restraint of trade doctrine, such restraints are only enforceable if they provide 'reasonable' protection for a legitimate interest of the employer. In this article, we attempt to resolve several continuing legal issues and uncertainties in the enforcement of post-employment non-compete restraints, including the scope of the employer's legitimate interests, the relevance of the employee's interests, the requirements for severing unreasonable restraints, the enforceability of 'cascading' restraints, and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article details how Romanian courts failed to justify the interference with an individual's freedom of expression concerning judicial integrity, resulting in a violation of Article 10 of the Convention. Topics include freedom of expression, judicial integrity, and national court decisions.

This article considers the problem of questionable consent in contracts of employment. We suggest that in the context of employment, consent should be understood as a continuum that includes some level of coercion and some level of choice. We show that despite labour law's assumption of inequality of bargaining power, consent is still legally valid in various contexts of employment. We propose some solutions: procedural rules increasing the chance of free and informed consent, and substantive standards restricting recognition of consent due to public policy considerations. The 'menu' we put forward includes some solutions already recognised by law (in some specific contexts) and we also propose some new ones. We then demonstrate how the proposed solutions, both procedural and substantive, can be applied in common contexts where employee consent might be put into question: variation of contractual terms, waiver of access to courts, waiver of legislated rights, waivers related to human rights, and implicit waivers of employee status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare two polar approaches to domestic arbitration—the centralized U.S. policy on arbitration, which permits extensive use of arbitration, and Israel’s restrictive policy on arbitration, which is inspired by European policy yet takes an even more cautious approach. Focusing on consumer agreements, employment contracts, class action, and interim relief, we show that comparing the two approaches can help uncover a middle path to arbitration, which may hearken back to the requirement of consent, constructed anew. The article provides a theoretical basis for consent in arbitration as a moderating force that can ground this method of dispute resolution and conserve its benefits. Critics of arbitration have often proposed steps to liken it to adjudication (e.g., in terms of discovery and rules of evidence) to rein in potential imbalances. We suggest a different approach, which prevents its transformation into an institutionalized form of adjudication while reducing the potential for its abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language training programs have become a crucial part of immigrant integration policies in many developed countries. We examine whether the intensity of training, in terms of duration, increases the likelihood of integration, particularly labor market integration. We investigate a government-sponsored language training program for immigrants in France. Using both difference-in-differences (DiD) and matching-DiD, we find that, for employed immigrants, longer duration of training significantly increases their chances of having a formal-sector job and a permanent employment contract. We also find suggestive evidence that more effective conveyance of knowledge on labor market institutions, and greater opportunities to expand one's social network during the program, underlie the benefits of longer training hours. These effects are more pronounced among more educated immigrants, but disappear for refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article delves into the issue of ultraactivity in collective bargaining agreements in Uruguay and its relationship with their validity. It scrutinizes the doctrine of incorporating the clauses of these agreements into individual employment contracts, arguing that it lacks legal support and impacts collective bargaining negatively. Additionally, the topic is contextualized within the Uruguayan framework, taking into account the employer sector's complaint to the International Labour Organization in 2009 and the pronouncements of its technical bodies. Consequently, a comparison is drawn between the ultraactivity regime outlined in Law No. 18,566 on collective bargaining and its subsequent repeal by Law No. 20,145 in 2023. The potential impact of the principle of progressivity and the rule of the most favorable condition is examined, leading to the conclusion that the repeal of ultraactivity takes immediate and automatic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that temporary employment is negatively associated with many psychological and job-related outcomes, such as well-being, health, wages, organisational commitment, and job satisfaction. Among recent doctoral graduates, the proportion of temporary contracts is particularly high. However, research on the association between contract type and job satisfaction specifically among doctoral graduates is scarce. Therefore, whether and how obtaining permanent employment affects doctoral graduates' job satisfaction remains a notable research gap that we intend to narrow by using panel data from a recent doctoral graduation cohort and by adopting a panel research design. We examine what effect obtaining permanent employment has on doctoral graduates' job satisfaction and whether this effect differs by labour market sector. We use panel data that are representative of the 2014 doctoral graduation cohort in Germany and their career trajectories up to five years after graduation. We apply fixed-effects regression to approximate the within-effect of obtaining a permanent employment contract on job satisfaction. The analyses indicate that obtaining permanent employment increases doctoral graduates' job satisfaction and that this increase is not driven by time-varying confounders. We also find that doctoral graduates' labour market sector moderates the effect: the increase in job satisfaction is highest in the academic sector and statistically significantly different from that in the private sector. Overall, this paper offers new insights into the effect of obtaining a permanent contract on the job satisfaction of recent doctoral graduates throughout their first years after graduation, when they are often employed on temporary contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]