Employment Relations

The Emotional Textual Analysis is a method of text and discourse analysis which was developed for enabling psychoanalytically informed psychosocial interventions in and with organisations. By exploring how the different social actors variously symbolise their shared social and organisational reality, ETA allows the psychologist to identify
crisis factors as well as development resources in local relations, thereby supporting targeted interventions. This presentation discusses the results of an intervention research study commissioned within the framework of an apprenticeship program in Italy and aimed at fostering youth participation in the labour market. Interviews and focus groups with young workers and their corporate mentors were conducted and comparatively analysed through ETA in order to understand: a) what value does work acquire today for young people entering the labour market? b) what does the hiring of young workers represent within company life? Significant points of divergence and intersection emerge between these two perspectives. The youngsters’ ecological view of work as a learning environment where social relations are essential clashes with the companies' emphasis on dehumanised velocity, linearity and control. At the same time, both young workers and mentors see labour protection as a primary factor for belonging and cohesion. The study points to the symbolic link between youth and work as a central issue in future psychological research and intervention.

European Congress of Psychology 2017, July 12-14 Amsterdam

Il presente contributo si sviluppa intorno a una duplice domanda: 1) quale valore assume il lavoro oggi per i giovani, all'interno di una problematica esistenziale più ampia?; e complementarmente, cosa l'assunzione di lavoratori giovani rappresenta  nella visione e nella vita delle aziende?
L'autrice discute i risultati di una ricerca-intervento commissionata nell'ambito di un progetto volto a creare opportunità di lavoro e qualità del lavoro per giovani neo-laureati in Italia, attraverso la partecipazione di istituzioni formative e di un vasto partenariato di aziende, comprendente società leader nel settore delle comunicazioni e dell'energia. I dati sono basati su interviste e focus group realizzati con i giovani partecipanti al progetto da un lato e i loro mentori aziendali dall'altro, e analizzati attraverso Analisi Emozionale del Testo (AET).
L'AET è un metodo psicologico di analisi di testi e discorsi (quali quelli tratti da interviste e focus group) che consente di esplorare come le diverse componenti di un'organizzazione simbolizzano emozionalmente la realtà condivisa o aspetti di questa, individuando i fattori di crisi ma anche le risorse di sviluppo presenti nelle relazioni locali.
All'interno di un quadro sociale caratterizzato da crescente flessibilità dell'impiego e finanziarizzazione dell'economia, le attese dei giovani lavoratori e dei loro referenti aziendali tendono a divergere in modo significativo, ci dicono i dati dello studio, ma si vedono al contempo interessanti aree di convergenza e condivisione. La visione ecologica proposta dai giovani interpellati, secondo la quale il lavoro è un ambiente di apprendimento, motore e parte integrante di un movimento di vita più complesso dove le relazioni e lo scambio sono essenziali, si scontra con l'enfasi posta dalle aziende su velocità, linearità dei processi e controllo deumanizzati. Al tempo stesso sia i giovani che i loro mentori aziendali vedono nella protezione del lavoro, in quanto bene sociale e attraverso regole chiare, un fattore centrale di appartenenza e di coesione.
I giovani rappresentano ad oggi la componente più vulnerabile della realtà economica presente, visti gli altissimi tassi di disoccupazione e inoccupazione, in Italia e nell'intera sfera dei paesi ad alto redditto. I risultati della ricerca aiutano a comprendere le radici e le ripercussioni simboliche di questa crisi dell'impiego giovanile sul piano non sono delle esperienze individuali ma della vita dei sistemi sociali.

"Culture del lavoro e intervento psicologico"
10 giugno 2017
Seminario organizzato dalla Scuola di Specializzazione in Psicoterapia Psicoanalitica, Intervento Psicologico Clinico e Analisi della Domanda
di SPS - Studio di Psicosociologia, Roma

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht empirisch-analytisch die Entstehung und die ökonomischen Auswirkungen der Unternehmensmitbestimmung. Zunächst wird auf Basis der gängigen Staatstätigkeitstheorien untersucht, warum und in welchem Ausmaß in EU- und OECD-Staaten Aufsichtsratsmitbestimmung eingeführt wurde. Danach wird der Einfluss der Stärke der Unternehmensmitbestimmung auf die ökonomische Performanz deutscher DAX- und MDAX-Unternehmen sowie auf Arbeitslosigkeit, Beschäftigung, Wirtschaftswachstum und Einkommensverteilung im EU- und OECD-Staatenvergleich analysiert.

an important institution for the world of work: wage bargaining. Although there is a widespread
expectation that liberalization and firms’ needs for flexibility brings convergence to the liberal
market model of decentralized industrial relations, recent literature suggests that diversity
persists and that there are a range of different responses. This article contributes to the debate
by applying a coalitional perspective to highlight the factors that influence divergent trajectories
of change in wage bargaining. The case studies of Italian and Greek banking suggest that the
existence of ‘employer associability’ may moderate decentralizing tendencies and facilitate the
reform of industrial relations institutions, while ‘labour–state coalitions’ are critical for the
survival of institutions. Finally, the article discusses the findings in relation to wider debates in
the comparative political economy of work.

This article reports emerging findings from a qualitative research study about lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people at work in the UK. The research focuses on the personal experiences and strategies of LGB people amidst changing organisational responses to sexuality within a new legal and political landscape following the introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003. The article draws specifically on the perceptions of lesbian respondents about a range of issues concerning social inclusion and exclusion in the workplace including coming out at work, treatment by managers and colleagues, workplace and organisational culture and participation in LGBT groups and networks. doi:10.1080/10894160802174284

... The hierarchical-bureaucratic employment structures represented in the traditional internal labour market have been undermined (Rubery 1994; Lovering 1990; Nolan and Walsh 1995). ... All Rights Reserved. Page 3. 708 ROBERT MACKENZIE 1990s (Nolan and Walsh 1995). ...

The author’s use of nondeliberative activities in social work
groups stems from her career as a professional actress and
dancer. The author has taken her passion for acting and dance
and designed activities that utilize nondeliberative action,
instinct, and gut reactions. This is the story of how the author
introduced the work to her groups in New York City and what
happened when we stopped talking and started doing.

ABSTRACT To evaluate the prevalence and impacts of the illegitimate wage practice where employers pay formal employees both a declared wage and an additional undeclared 'envelope wage', a survey involving 10,171 interviews across 10 East–Central European nations is reported to evaluate its commonality and evidence from 313 interviews conducted in Moscow to analyse its impacts. Finding that 10% of employees were paid envelope wages during 2007 amounting on average to two-fifths of their gross wage, and that this ...

... Official URL: http://www.ugbs.org/weru/iera/. Abstract. ... The article follows the effect of trends in outsourcing, government influence, geographic location, technology and the working environment, qualifications, training and staff turnover on the industry. ...

The concept of segmentation is mainly used to describe division in the labour market and the formation of primary and secondary markets, or division within the firm into a core and a peripheral labour force. This theoretical formulation that focuses on employment terms and conditions, although valid at a general level, becomes inadequate once the researcher observes closely actual workplace conditions. I argue that there is a multiplicity of segmentation factors and levels, social as well as work – related which produce identifications and differentiations and social cleavages which reflect and sustain differentials of power resulting in labour force fragmentation. Gender, ethnicity and age may combine with skills and occupational positions leading into the construction of formal and informal hierarchies. Drawing on data from Cyprus this article illustrates the basic institutional, economic, cultural and social factors producing labour force fragmentation contributing to the relevant literature with new empirical findings. 

Published in WorkingUSA: the journal of labor and society Vol. 18:4, December 2015

Unions through their representative processes and practice of collective
bargaining rights not only create a voice for employees within companies but
also enhance democratic attitudes in the society. In the context of the 2010
Tahrir Square movement in Egypt, this article attempts to observe and report
the role of unions and non-union worker organizations in developing grassroots
democracy and general awareness of rights in Hosni Mubarak’s authoritarian,
nonegalitarian, and undemocratic regime. The article finds that
Egyptian worker organizations have long been part of the economic, social,
and political fabric of Egyptian society. Due to this profound involvement,
Egyptian worker organizations became the vanguard in expressing social and
political malcontent. In conclusion, the article argues that to secure a democratic
and somewhat liberal future for Egypt there is a need to further aid the
development of unions, improve their organizing capacities, and train them in
democratic institutional principles.

This research examined the rapid formation and proliferation, in New Zealand, of new predominantly workplace-based unions under the Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA). More specifically, it examined the motivations and interests of the individuals responsible for forming New Unions, and the process by which the decision to form a New Union was made. To date, scholars have placed little emphasis on these issues and have given greater weight to describing New Unions, and on comparing their structure, activities and character against that of older, more established unions. When compared, the typical New Union has not fared well its small size, limited finances, and limited interests outside of enterprise based bargaining is argued to be ineffective in comparison to the size, finances and activities of larger, more established unions. The status of New Unions as ‘genuine’ union organisations has also been questioned, particularly as many are regarded as, or more accurately implied to be, incapable of operating at arm’s length from employers. In simple terms’ many New Unions are not seen as genuine unions as their formation is argued to be an employer not an employee driven phenomenon.

IR-MultiLing will research areas of Understanding/misunderstanding and intended/unintended outcomes arising from language policy choices and whether the costs and benefits of linguistic diversity map differently for employers and managers than for employees. Researching with case studies in France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Spain and the UK, it will develop a typology of multilingual work environments contrasting multinational and national/local organisations with different management and non-management linguistic experiences. It will consider whether workers lacking full linguistic access at work are treated differently in terms of their access to trade union participation and support. Where they are members of what are still Europe’s largest civil society organisations, trade unions, the issue of who is appointed or elected to represent their interests is an important one. Supported by National Advisory Groups of social partners and other experts IR-MultiLing will add to industrial relations expertise in this little-researched area, develop recommendations for decision-makers and produce a training DVD aimed at trade unionists.

This paper reports on a small exploratory study of factors significant to the formation, and rapid proliferation of new predominantly workplace-based unions, or New Unions,
under the Employment Relations Act 2000. Specifically, it examines the motivations and interests of workers who decided to form and join those unions and the role of other
parties, notably employers, in that decision. Workers’ dissatisfaction with and mistrust of existing unions were factors significant to their decision to form New Unions, while
the role of employers was found to be less influential and less dominant than previously thought. Overall, this paper argues that New Unions may be a predominantly employee, not an employer, driven phenomenon.

""In this article, we explore the dynamic, indirect effects of employment regulation through a
qualitative study of three medium-sized enterprises and their ongoing, everyday employment
relationships. Whereas owner–manager prerogative is generally associated with informality in small
and medium-sized enterprises, we identify instances of formal policies and procedures implemented
in response to regulation being instrumental in exerting this prerogative. Furthermore, employees
reinforced this process by making judgements regarding the employment relationship in terms of
their perceived, informal psychological contract rather than external regulatory obligations. This
article extends understanding of dynamic, indirect regulatory effects in relation to the interplay of
informality and formality within psychological contracts in medium-sized enterprises.""

This paper aims at answering the following questions: how can we hypothesize the relationship between Italian governments and pressure groups, in “determining” welfare policies? How much governments are able to “get what they want”, at the end of the decision-making process? How much pressure groups are “influent” in negotiating with policy-makers? By proposing an analytical model of interaction between governments and social partners, based respectively on actors’ means and resources and the influence played by the external context, I analyze two important Italian labour market reforms: the 1997 «Pacchetto per l’occupazione Treu» and the 2003 «Legge Biagi». Although the reasons that led to these innovations are strongly «path-dependent», similarities and differences between the two decision-making processes may be adequately interpreted by the analytical model proposed.

Abstract The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically whether under a market system, monetary exchange is always and everywhere based on profit-seeking behaviour. To do this, the paper examines paid informal work, a form of work conventionally conceptualized as low-paid employment heavily imbued with profit motivations on the part of both the consumer and supplier.

Abstract Inspired by a stream of cultural economic geographical thought that has sought to deconstruct the view that monetary transactions are everywhere market-like and profit-motivated, this paper seeks to reread the nature of undeclared work.

Abstract: This article evaluates critically the meta-narrative that a powerful, expansive, hegemonic and totalising market sphere is penetrating deeper into each and every corner of everyday life in the 'advanced market economies'. Drawing theoretical inspiration from an emerging corpus of post structuralist thought that has begun to re-read the mean ing of work, this dom i nant dis course is here challenged by re-evaluating the nature and trajectories of work.

Ce chapitre propose de sonder la dynamique du mouvement de flexibilité à travers l'analyse des différents changements mis en valeur par les acteurs de la relation d'emploi. Cette analyse se fonde sur les résultats d'une importante recherche européenne, de nature à la fois qualitative et comparative, réalisée récemment. Cette recherche avait pour objet l'étude des pratiques, des décisions et des négociations collectives en matière de flexibilité, dans plusieurs secteurs industriels et plusieurs pays de l'UE. Sur la base de l'analyse des ...

"A "political economy effectiveness" model for analyzing the relationships between public agencies and their clients is developed. This model traces the effects of environmental exchange relationships on the goals guiding the behavior
of public agency personnel who are responsible for implementing public policy.
Empirical data for a preliminary test of the proposed model are presented. The results are used to assess several correlates of the effectiveness of the Employment Service in inducing a portion of their clients (employers) to make use of the agencies’ services."

Global social and economic changes, connected mainly with globalization processes, have an impact on changes both in present spatial and division structures of the industry and in its functions in the economic development of various spatial systems. The aim of the paper is to analyze changes in the industry’s role in the Polish economy during the period of economic transformation and European integration based on its share in the employment structure. These changes are set against transformations in other EU countries, diversification and transformations of the division structure of employment in
Polish industry and the similarity of the Polish employment structures to the EU countries as an expression of transformation processes. The analyzed processes are stimulated by the international environment and a change in national conditions for the socio-economic development.

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types of labour used in Ukraine. Analysing the results of 600 interviews conducted across various populations reveals not only the shallow permeation of the formal market economy in this society that has been supposedly undergoing a ‘transition’ to the market but also the existence of diverse work cultures across different populations along with marked socio-spatial variations in the nature of individual labour practices. The outcome is a call for a re-reading of the organisation of labour in Ukraine and the wider application of this conceptual lens that captures the proliferative nature of labour practices in economies.

This paper evaluates the common practice in East European economies whereby formal employers pay their formal employees both a declared wage and an undeclared “envelope wage.” Until now, little survey evidence has been available. Here, an extensive Eurobarometer survey involving 10,171 face-to-face interviews in East European economies conducted in 2007 is reported. It finds that one in ten formal employees had received envelope wages in the previous year, amounting on average to two-fifths of their gross annual wage. This is found to be a ubiquitous practice, albeit more common in some countries, sectors, occupations, and population groups than others. A more in-depth evaluation of this wage practice in Eastern Europe and greater discussion of how  the arrangement might be tackled is called for.

The presentation covered possible effects of the economic crisis on income distribution and on household well-being in Hungary, through the results of the latest wave of the Tárki Household Monitor Survey conducted in 2010. Employment declined substantially during the crisis year 2009, which resulted in significant income loss for the households concerned. Households were also affected by the unfavourable movement of Forint exchange rates, which led to an unexpected increase in repayment instalments on mortgages and other foreign currency denominated loans. The survey permitted analysis of both the effect of rising unemployment on incomes and the effect of the crisis on indebtedness of households

This article analyses a policy of the Japanese Employers’ Federation regarding the ‘desired direction’ of the Japanese employment system. The analysis shows that the Federation in a number of respects advocates radical change, but also that the overall position regarding the relationship between continuity and change is of an ambiguous or unresolved character.

'Perspectives on Work, Employment and Society in Japan' presents the diverse perspectives of eleven researchers from Europe and Japan who analyze work and employment in a rapidly changing Japan.

Using macro- and micro-level data, and employing a range of theoretical approaches, we examine subjects such as lifetime employment, 'freeters', and senior volunteers and describe how the employment landscape in Japan is evolving, as well as how the meanings that individual Japanese attach to their work and employment are changing. The book sets its subject matter within contemporary developments in the Japanese socio-economy and demonstrates the centrality of work to an understanding of 21st century Japan.

The public sector has traditionally been in the forefront of equality employment policy and practice and an employer of choice for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people. The introduction of the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations outlawing discrimination in employment on grounds of sexual orientation in 2003 has undoubtedly
offered a step forward for LGB people in British workplaces. Yet the public sector has been subjected to huge changes as a result of the ‘modernization agenda’ pursued by the Labour government between 1997 and 2010. It has been argued that the pace and direction of change has not only jeopardized but reversed progress made on equal opportunities in the public sector. This article considers LGB employee and trade union
representatives’ views on the inclusion of sexual orientation in
public sector equality policy and practice. It draws on uropean Social Fund-sponsored research in nine ‘good practice’ public sector organisations between 1994 and 1997.