Globalisation, the shift from manufacturing to services as a source of employment, and the spread of information-based systems and technologies have given birth to a new economy, which emphasises ...flexibility in the labour market and in employment relations. These changes have led to the erosion of the standard (industrial) employment relationship and an increase in precarious work - work which is poorly paid and insecure. Women perform a disproportionate amount of precarious work. This collection of original essays by leading scholars on labour law and women's work explores the relationship between precarious work and gender, and evaluates the extent to which the growth and spread of precarious work challenges traditional norms of labour law and conventional forms of legal regulation.The book provides a comparative perspective by furnishing case studies from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Quebec, Sweden, the UK, and the US, as well as the international and supranational context through essays that focus on the IMF, the ILO, and the EU. Common themes and concepts thread throughout the essays, which grapple with the legal and public policy challenges posed by women's precarious work.
In the global era, controversies abound over temporary labour migration; however, it has not previously been subjected to a sustained socio-legal analysis on a comparative basis, critiquing the ...underpinning concepts conventionally accepted as fundamental in this area. This collection of essays aims to fill that void. Complex regulatory challenges arise from temporary labour migration. This collection examines these challenges and the extent to which temporary labour migration programmes can be ethical, equitable and efficacious and so deliver decent work for workers. Whilst the tendency for migration law to divide labour law's worker-protective mission has been observed before, the authors of the chapters comprising this collection seek not only to interrogate why and how this is so, but to go further in examining the implications and effects of a wide range of regulatory mechanisms on temporary labour migration.
This groundbreaking book examines the growing phenomenon of internships, and the policy issues that they raise, during a time when internships or traineeships have become an important way of ...transitioning from education into paid work.Featuring contributions from established and emerging scholars in a range of disciplines, the book presents important new research on the use, benefits and regulation of such arrangements. It considers how various countries around the world are meeting the challenge of ensuring decent work for interns, and what more needs to be done to realise that objective. Additionally, the case for new forms of regulation to minimise or prevent the exploitation of interns is explored, against the background of a possible new international labour standard.Presenting new data and analysis on whether internships can - and to what extent do - provide an effective bridge from education to employment, Internships, Employability and the Search for Decent Work Experience will be a key resource for policy-makers and academics in labour law, industrial relations, labour economics, human resource management and education.
More and more young Australians are undertaking periods of work experience as a part of their study or independently to facilitate their transition into employment. They are often subject to a ...significant power disparity compared to others in the workplace, and need the placement to finish a course, and/or to get practical experience, connections and industry references. This makes them vulnerable, including to sexual harassment and sex discrimination. However, whether prohibitions of such conduct apply to them is a complex question, which this article explores.
Many students feel that they are caught in a catch-22: they cannot gain work experience because they cannot find a job, but they cannot secure a job without having work experience. Consequently, ...opportunities to gain experience while studying, including work-integrated learning (‘WIL’) associated with university study, are becoming increasingly important, and the position of students undertaking work experience increasingly vulnerable. Students who wish to engage in WIL face a range of challenges, including accessing quality opportunities, maximising the learning benefits they can obtain from the experience, and ensuring they are treated appropriately within the workplace. Consideration of these issues indicates that the regulation of WIL is both complicated and fractured, not least because WIL may be envisaged as either 'work' or 'learning' - each of which is regulated by different actors through different regulatory schemes and with different objectives.
This article introduces the concept of WIL, identifies some of the reasons for its rapid growth in the tertiary sector in recent years, and considers the ways it is regulated in Australia. It argues that, as a consequence of the gaps and lack of transparency in the current regulatory approach, the law is complicit in maintaining the precarious position of students trying to enter the workforce. Failing to extend protections against discrimination and harassment to those engaged in WIL, and failing to provide a sufficiently consistent or transparent regime to ensure educational quality, compound students’ existing vulnerability. This is contrasted with the regulatory systems in other countries, notably France, which offer protections to workplace learners against exploitation and seek to ensure educational outcomes.
Increasing attention is being given to the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in Australia, especially in relation to wage underpayments and 'cashback scams' where visa holders are coerced ...into returning a portion of their wage to their employer. However, very little focus has been given to the incidence of unpaid work performed by temporary migrants. This article examines how previous forms of regulation affecting visas for working holiday makers and international students actively encouraged the performance of unpaid work by allowing unpaid work to count towards either permanent residency or an extension of a visa holder's temporary stay. The article also assesses the current regulation of temporary migrant workers and the likelihood that it creates incentives for this cohort to perform unpaid work. We argue that this likelihood largely stems from the employer-driven nature of Australia's temporary and permanent migration program, and the ability for visa holders to achieve a favourable migration outcome through the performance of paid work, for which unpaid work is often a gateway.
Concept of workplace bullying - evidence suggesting bullying a problem within legal profession - culture of the legal workplace - environment that make bullying behaviours more likely - analysis of ...whether existing regulatory framework adequate to respond to bullying with in profession - consideration of criminal laws, workplace safety laws and professional codes of ethics - recommendations of practical steps to address problem of bullying.
Regulating for decent work experience Owens, Rosemary; Stewart, Andrew
International labour review,
December 2016, Letnik:
155, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
An important (if under‐researched) feature of modern labour markets has been the growth of unpaid “internships” and other forms of “work experience”. These arrangements may reflect an understandable ...desire by jobseekers to gain a foothold in highly competitive job markets. But they can open up the possibility of exploitation, as businesses and non‐profit organizations replace what might previously have been paid entry‐level jobs, and may reduce social mobility. Reviewing the legal and policy responses of selected developed countries, the authors seek to lay the foundation for a more effective response to what has become a clear challenge to the objective of securing decent work.
Resumen
Una tendencia actual importante (aunque poco estudiada) en el ámbito laboral es la proliferación de las pasantías no remuneradas y otras formas de ≪adquisición de experiencia≫. Si bien ...responden al deseo comprensible de los solicitantes de empleo de afianzarse en mercados laborales muy competitivos, también posibilitan la explotación en empresas y organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro, al reemplazar puestos anteriormente remunerados para principiantes, y pueden reducir la movilidad social. Los autores analizan medidas jurídicas y políticas de países desarrollados seleccionados para tratar de sentar las bases de una respuesta más eficaz a un fenómeno que constituye ya un problema evidente para la consecución del trabajo decente.