British Journal of Industrial Relations最新文献

On the basis of a comparative analysis of market risks (re)distribution between labour and management in public-service outsourcing in Italy and Denmark, this article examines different cross-national patterns of social solidarity in similar encompassing and co-operative employment relations regimes. It seeks to explain why similar inclusive and collaborative systems of public-sector employment relations are not functionally equivalent in preventing labour inequalities under market-making pressure, as predicted by the extant literature. The analysis demonstrates that variation between the countries considered was due to three interrelated factors which mutually reinforced each other in either virtuous (Denmark) or (semi)vicious (Italy) circles: (i) the availability of legislative loopholes; (ii) the cross-sectoral (public/private) organizational structure and strategy of trade unions and (iii) employers’ outward/inward orientation. The findings confirm the capacity of cross-sectoral public/private dynamics to either build or erode solidarity in inclusive systems, and they highlight the importance of incorporating the strategic agency exerted by unions and public employers as a crucial determinant of the granular differences emerging between similar models.

Despite the rise in women's education and their increased participation in the workforce, there is still a lack of gender convergence in working hours. This study explores how flexible working time arrangements (FWTA) affect the convergence of women's working hours to those of men with similar job-related characteristics. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel and innovative methods to address endogeneity, the analysis suggests that FWTA, compared to fixed schedules, positively influence women's convergence. This is particularly pronounced among those working full-time, the more educated, and those aged between 30 and 45. Transitioning to FWTA is associated with increased overtime and childcare hours but it is not related to more housework.

Compensation and benefit practices are mainly considered as instruments to align employee behaviour to an organization's strategic goals, such as economic outcomes. Going beyond this economic focus, this study examines whether and how employee financial participation, may drive corporate sustainability performance (CSP; i.e. social and environmental performance). We investigate the relationship between employee share ownership, stock option and profit-sharing plans, on the one hand, and CSP, on the other hand. In addition, we investigate the relationship between narrow-based employee share ownership plans (only eligible for top management) and broad-based employee share ownership plans (all employees eligible), on the one side, and CSP, on the other side. Using a unique European panel dataset, the results indicate that companies with (broad-based) employee share ownership plans portray higher CSP, while companies with profit-sharing plans exhibit lower CSP when there is no share ownership plan present. Also, the positive effect of broad-based employee share ownership plans on CSP is magnified when the employees own a larger stake in the company. The results indicate that employee share ownership increases stakeholder orientation, strengthening the mutual interests of the organization and employees to long-term investments in terms of CSP, at the same time broadening their orientation to long-term external stakeholders’ interests.

Recently, a growing number of digital platforms have emerged that intermediate or facilitate connections between care workers and people requiring care. Platforms position themselves as a viable response to the ‘care crisis’, yet have been decried for driving down wages and exposing workers to greater risk and precarity. Unlike more transactional types of intermediated work such as ride-hailing or food delivery, the income of care workers depends not on pricing algorithms but on how much they work and the potential for individual agency in negotiating pay rates with clients. Drawing on three sources of data from a global digital platform business, this study asks how self-employed care workers enact agency in relation to income generation. The findings revealed evidence of three types of agentic action: establishing professional worth; assessing costs and maximizing income; and negotiating with clients. Agency was constrained, however, by the platform's architecture and client-related dynamics. The study provides insights into the nuanced dynamics of individual worker agency in relation to income, in a growing, feminized and largely devalued new market. The findings also demonstrate how platform businesses, despite not managing work or workers directly, play a significant role in the organization and distribution of work.

This article uses the European Structure of Earnings Survey to describe the evolution of collective bargaining coverage in European countries during 2002–2018 and how this affected the pay premium associated with being covered. Pay premia are an outcome of negotiations, reflecting the bargaining power on behalf of employees as well as the system of coverage, separately for the public and private sector. Descriptively, we show a decline in collective bargaining coverage linked to a general reduction in the pay differences. This hides much variation though. In a multivariate analysis of changes over time, we show that centrally bargained agreements are associated with larger pay premia if more people are covered and in countries and sectors with stronger trade unions. As this power declines over time, so do wage premia. At higher rates of coverage, there can be a spillover effect where wages for all workers increase, thereby reducing the premia.