Changing Work Relationships in Industrialized Economies: (De Gruyter Studies in Organization)

The contributors to this volume, from a variety of backgrounds and regions of the world, bring their varied expertise to a worldwide phenomenon: the changing work relationships in all industrialized economies, within the broader context of economic restructuring and demographic factors. Their focus is on those work relationships that have shifted from marginal to significant factors: part-time employment, temporary contracts, telework and telecommuting, and self-employment. The goal of the book is to examine the patterns of work experience entailed in such new work relationships and to discuss their policy implications. The book's major proposition is that in restructuring economies, such nonstandard employment forms have affected all workers, but women and younger workers in particular. Other demographic variables - contributors adduce education level, economic status, the racial and ethnic composition of the work force, immigrant status, and professional skill levels - as additional underlying forces in the construction and arrangements of nonstandard work. As for the effects of these new relationships on workers as a whole, the research points to both positive and negative effects, without conclusive indications of which effect is stronger. Instead, for the present, the discussion presents various sides of an important debate and sheds light on its issues. "Changing Work Relationships" is comprehensive in its coverage of a variety of work arrangements; in its analysis of the topic within the experience of economic restucturing; and in the breadth of its collaboration. Its canvas is equally broad, instancing relevant experience in North America, Europe and Australia, and offering the viewpoints of representative unions, employed associations and intergovernmental organizations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction and overview, Isik Urla Zeytinoglu; changing work relationships - enacting gender, race/ethnicity and economic class variables, Isik Urla Zeytinoglu and Jacinta Khasiala Muteshi. Part 1 Developments in changing work relationships in the US and Canada: flexible work arrangements - an overview of developments in the US, Stanley Nollen; flexible work arrangements - an overview of developments in Canada, Isik Urla Zeytinoglu; part-time employment and the worker, Daniel G. Gallagher; telework and teleworkers, Andrew Templer et al. Part 2 Developments in changing work relationships in the European Union: developments in changing work relationships in the European Union, Lei Delsen; European employment policies' potential impact on female workers, Daniele Meulders and Robert Plasman; regulating the distanced workforce -self-employment in the UK, Janet Druker. Part 3 Developments in changing work relationships in Australia: changing work relationships in Australia, Michael Quinlan and Claire Mayhew. Part 4 Views of the stakeholders: a union perspective on emerging trends in the workplace, Louisette Hinton et al; between strategic choice and adaptation - the role of UNICEF in the European social dialogue, Carsten Stroby Jensen; atypical forms of work in the European Union - experiences at establishment level, Harald Bielenski and Eberhard Kohler; international policy-making - the ILO standards on changing work relationships, Isik Urla Zeytinoglu.