Employment
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Employment is a relationship between two
Employees and employers
An employee contributes labour and expertise to an endeavor of an employer or of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCB)
Independent contractor
An issue that arises in most companies, especially the ones that are in the gig economy, is the classification of workers. A lot of workers that fulfill gigs are often hired as independent contractors.
To categorize a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee, an independent contractor must agree with the client on what the finished work product will be and then the contractor controls the means and manner of achieving the desired outcome. Secondly, an independent contractor offers services to the public at large, not just to one business, and is responsible for disbursing payments from the client, paying unreimbursed expenses, and providing his or her own tools to complete the job. Third, the relationship of the parties is often evidenced by a written agreement that specifies that the worker is an independent contractor and is not entitled to employee benefits; the services provided by the worker are not key to the business; and the relationship is not permanent.[4]
As a general principle of employment law, in the United States, there is a difference between an agent and an independent contractor. The default status of a worker is an employee unless specific guidelines are met, which can be determined by the ABC test.[5][6] Thus, clarifying whether someone who performs work is an independent contractor or an employee from the beginning, and treating them accordingly, can save a company from trouble later on.
Provided key circumstances, including ones such as that the worker is paid regularly, follows set hours of work, is supplied with tools from the employer, is closely monitored by the employer, acting on behalf of the employer, only works for one employer at a time, they are considered an employee,[7] and the employer will generally be liable for their actions and be obliged to give them benefits.[8] Similarly, the employer is the owner of any invention created by an employee "hired to invent", even in the absence of an assignment of inventions. In contrast, a company commissioning a work by an independent contractor will not own the copyright unless the company secures either a written contract stating that it is a "work made for hire" or a written assignment of the copyright. In order to stay protected and avoid lawsuits, an employer has to be aware of that distinction.[4]
Employer–worker relationship
Employer and managerial control within an organization rests at many levels and has important implications for staff and productivity alike, with control forming the fundamental link between desired outcomes and actual processes. Employers must balance interests such as decreasing wage constraints with a maximization of labor productivity in order to achieve a profitable and productive employment relationship.
Labor acquisition / hiring
The main ways for
Training and development
Training and development refers to the employer's effort to equip a newly hired employee with the necessary skills to perform at the job, and to help the employee grow within the organization. An appropriate level of training and development helps to improve employee's job satisfaction.[10]
Remuneration
There are many ways that employees are paid, including by hourly wages, by
Under the faithless servant doctrine, a doctrine under the laws of a number of states in the United States, and most notably New York State law, an employee who acts unfaithfully towards his employer must forfeit all of the compensation he received during the period of his disloyalty.[11][12][13][14][15]
Employee benefits
Employee benefits are various non-wage compensation provided to employees in addition to their wages or salaries. The benefits can include: housing (employer-provided or employer-paid), group insurance (health, dental, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), social security, profit sharing, funding of education, and other specialized benefits. In some cases, such as with workers employed in remote or isolated regions, the benefits may include meals. Employee benefits can improve the relationship between employee and employer and lowers staff turnover.[16]
Organizational justice
Organizational justice is an employee's perception and judgement of employer's treatment in the context of fairness or justice. The resulting actions to influence the employee-employer relationship is also a part of organizational justice.[16]
Workforce organizing
Employees can organize into trade or
Ending employment
Usually, either an employee or employer may end the relationship at any time, often subject to a certain notice period. This is referred to as
Wage labor
Wage labor is the
In modern mixed economies such as that of the
Wage slavery
Wage labor, as institutionalized under today's market economic systems, has been criticized,[17] especially by socialists,[18][19][20][21] using the pejorative term wage slavery.[22][23] Socialists draw parallels between the trade of labor as a commodity and slavery. Cicero is also known to have suggested such parallels.[24]
The American philosopher John Dewey posited that until "industrial feudalism" is replaced by "industrial democracy", politics will be "the shadow cast on society by big business".[25] Thomas Ferguson has postulated in his investment theory of party competition that the undemocratic nature of economic institutions under capitalism causes elections to become occasions when blocs of investors coalesce and compete to control the state plus cities.[26]
American business theorist Jeffrey Pfeffer posits that contemporary employment practices and employer commonalities in the United States, including toxic working environments, job insecurity, long hours and increased performance pressure from management, are responsible for 120,000 excess deaths annually, making the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.[27][28]
Employment contract
Australia
Australian employment has been governed by the
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (
Canada
In the Canadian province of Ontario, formal complaints can be brought to the Ministry of Labour. In the province of Quebec, grievances can be filed with the Commission des normes du travail.[21]
Germany
Two of the prominent examples of work and employment contracts in Germany are the Werksvertrag[30][31] or the Arbeitsvertrag,[32][33][34][35] which is a form of Dienstleistungsvertrag (service-oriented contract). An Arbeitsvertrag can also be temporary,[36] whereas a temporary worker is working under Zeitarbeit[37] or Leiharbeit.[38] Another employment setting is Arbeitnehmerüberlassung (ANÜ).[39][40][41]
India
India has options for a fixed term contract or a permanent contract. Both contracts are entitled to minimum wages, fixed working hours and social security contributions.[21]
Pakistan
Pakistan has no contract Labor, Minimum Wage and Provident Funds Acts. Contract labor in Pakistan must be paid minimum wage and certain facilities are to be provided to labor. However, the Acts are not yet fully implemented.[18]
Philippines
In the Philippines, employment is regulated by the Department of Labor and Employment.[42]
Sweden
According to Swedish law,[43] there are three types of employment.
- Test employment (Swedish: Provanställning), where the employer hires a person for a test period of 6 months maximum. The employment can be ended at any time without giving any reason. This type of employment can be offered only once per employer and in employee combination. Usually, a time limited or normal employment is offered after a test employment.[44]
- Time limited employment (Swedish: Tidsbegränsad anställning). The employer hires a person for a specified time. Usually, they are extended for a new period. Total maximum two years per employer and employee combination, then it automatically counts as a normal employment.
- Normal employment (Swedish: Tillsvidareanställning / Fast anställning), which has no time limit (except for retirement etc.). It can still be ended for two reasons: personal reason, immediate end of employment only for strong reasons such as crime, or lack of work tasks (Swedish: Arbetsbrist), cancellation of employment, usually because of bad income for the company. There is a cancellation period of 1–6 months, and rules for how to select employees, basically those with shortest employment time shall be cancelled first.[44]
There are no laws about minimum salary in Sweden. Instead, there are agreements between employer organizations and trade unions about minimum salaries, and other employment conditions.
There is a type of employment contract which is common but not regulated in law, and that is Hour employment (Swedish: Timanställning), which can be Normal employment (unlimited), but the work time is unregulated and decided per immediate need basis. The employee is expected to be answering the phone and come to work when needed, e.g. when someone is ill and absent from work. They will receive salary only for actual work time and can in reality be fired for no reason by not being called anymore. This type of contract is common in the public sector.[44]
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, employment contracts are categorized by the government into the following types:[45]
- Fixed-term contract: last for a certain length of time, are set in advance, end when a specific task is completed, ends when a specific event takes place.
- part-time contract: has no defined length of time, can be terminated by either party, is to accomplish a specific task, specified number of hours.[42]
- Agency staff
- Contractors
- Zero-hour contracts
United States
For purposes of U.S. federal income tax withholding, 26 U.S.C. § 3401(c) provides a definition for the term "employee" specific to chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code:
"For purposes of this chapter, the term "employee" includes an officer, employee, or elected official of the United States, a State, or any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing. The term "employee" also includes an officer of a corporation."[46] This definition does not exclude all those who are commonly known as 'employees'. "Similarly, Latham's instruction which indicated that under 26 U.S.C. § 3401(c) the category of 'employee' does not include privately employed wage earners is a preposterous reading of the statute. It is obvious that within the context of both statutes the word 'includes' is a term of enlargement not of limitation, and the reference to certain entities or categories is not intended to exclude all others."[47]
Employees are often contrasted with
In non-union work environments, in the United States, unjust termination complaints can be brought to the United States Department of Labor.[48]
Labor unions are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries in the United States. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level.[42]
Most unions in America are aligned with one of two larger umbrella organizations: the
Younger age workers
Young workers are at higher risk for
High-risk industries for young workers include agriculture, restaurants, waste management, and mining.
Youth employment programs are most effective when they include both theoretical classroom training and hands-on training with work placements.[53]
In the conversation of employment among younger aged workers, youth unemployment has also been monitored. Youth unemployment rates tend to be higher than the adult rates in every country in the world.[citation needed]
Older age workers
Those older than the statutory defined retirement age may continue to work, either out of enjoyment or necessity. However, depending on the nature of the job, older workers may need to transition into less-physical forms of work to avoid injury. Working past retirement age also has positive effects, because it gives a sense of purpose and allows people to maintain social networks and activity levels.[54] Older workers are often found to be discriminated against by employers.[55]
Working poor
Employment is no guarantee of escaping
Researchers at the
Growth, employment and poverty[44] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number of episodes |
Rising agricultural employment |
Rising industrial employment |
Rising services employment | |
Growth episodes associated with falling poverty rates | 18 |
6 |
10 |
15
|
Growth episodes associated with no fall in poverty rates | 6 |
2 |
3 |
1
|
Models of the employment relationship
Scholars conceptualize the employment relationship in various ways.
- Mainstream economics: employment is seen as a mutually advantageous transaction in a free market between self-interested legal and economic equals
- Human resource management (unitarism): employment is a long-term partnership of employees and employers with common interests
- Pluralist industrial relations: employment is a bargained exchange between stakeholders with some common and some competing economic interests and unequal bargaining power due to imperfect labor markets[44]
- Critical industrial relations: employment is an unequal power relation between competing groups that is embedded in and inseparable from systemic inequalities throughout the socio-politico-economic system.
These models are important because they help reveal why individuals hold differing perspectives on human resource management policies, labor unions, and employment regulation.[62] For example, human resource management policies are seen as dictated by the market in the first view, as essential mechanisms for aligning the interests of employees and employers and thereby creating profitable companies in the second view, as insufficient for looking out for workers’ interests in the third view, and as manipulative managerial tools for shaping the ideology and structure of the workplace in the fourth view.[63]
Academic literature
Literature on the employment impact of economic growth and on how growth is associated with employment at a macro, sector and industry level was aggregated in 2013.[64]
Researchers found evidence to suggest growth in manufacturing and services have good impact on employment. They found GDP growth on employment in agriculture to be limited, but that value-added growth had a relatively larger impact.
They found that most available literature focuses on
Researchers have also explored the relationship between employment and illicit activities. Using evidence from Africa, a research team found that a program for Liberian ex-fighters reduced work hours on illicit activities. The employment program also reduced interest in mercenary work in nearby wars. The study concludes that while the use of capital inputs or cash payments for peaceful work created a reduction in illicit activities, the impact of training alone is rather low.[65]
Globalization and employment relations
The balance of economic efficiency and social equity is the ultimate debate in the field of employment relations.[66] By meeting the needs of the employer; generating profits to establish and maintain economic efficiency; whilst maintaining a balance with the employee and creating social equity that benefits the worker so that he/she can fund and enjoy healthy living; proves to be a continuous revolving issue in westernized societies.[66]
Globalization has affected these issues by creating certain economic factors that disallow or allow various employment issues. Economist Edward Lee (1996) studies the effects of globalization and summarizes the four major points of concern that affect employment relations:
- International competition, from the newly industrialized countries, will cause unemployment growth and increased wage disparity for unskilled workers in industrialized countries. Imports from low-wage countries exert pressure on the manufacturing sector in industrialized countries and foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted away from the industrialized nations, towards low-waged countries.[66]
- Economic liberalization will result in unemployment and wage inequality in developing countries. This happens as job losses in uncompetitive industries outstrip job opportunities in new industries.
- Workers will be forced to accept worsening wages and conditions, as a global labor market results in a “race to the bottom”. Increased international competition creates a pressure to reduce the wages and conditions of workers.[66]
- Globalization reduces the autonomy of the nation state. Capital is increasingly mobile and the ability of the state to regulate economic activity is reduced.
What also results from Lee's (1996) findings is that in industrialized countries an average of almost 70 per cent of workers are employed in the service sector, most of which consists of non-tradable activities. As a result, workers are forced to become more skilled and develop sought after trades, or find other means of survival. Ultimately this is a result of changes and trends of employment, an evolving workforce, and globalization that is represented by a more skilled and increasing highly diverse labor force, that are growing in non standard forms of employment (Markey, R. et al. 2006).[66]
Alternatives
Subcultures
Various youth subcultures have been associated with not working, such as the hippie subculture in the 1960s and 1970s (which endorsed the idea of "dropping out" of society) and the punk subculture.
Post-secondary education
One of the alternatives to work is engaging in post-secondary education at a
Social assistance
In some countries, individuals who are not working can receive
Volunteerism
Workers who are not paid wages, such as volunteers who perform tasks for charities, hospitals or not-for-profit organizations, are generally not considered employed. One exception to this is an internship, an employment situation in which the worker receives training or experience (and possibly college credit) as the chief form of compensation.[67]
Indentured servitude and slavery
Those who work under obligation for the purpose of fulfilling a debt, such as
Self-employment
The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (September 2023) |
See also
- Alternative employment arrangements
- Automation
- Bullshit job
- Career-oriented social networking market
- Critique of work
- Domestic inquiry
- Employer branding
- Employment gap
- Employment rate
- Employment website
- The End of Work
- Equal opportunity employment
- Equal pay for equal work
- Ethnic Penalty
- Faithless servant
- Green growth
- Job analysis
- Job description
- Job guarantee
- Jobless recovery
- Labor economics
- Labor power
- Labor rights
- List of largest employers
- Lump of labor fallacy
- Onboarding
- Payroll
- Personnel selection
- Post-work society
- Protestant work ethic
- Refusal of work
- Reserve army of labor(Marxism)
- Salary inversion
- Staffing models
- Universal basic income
- Work ethic
- Work (human activity)
Notes and references
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- ISBN 978-0-17-027079-3. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
The most significant definitions are 'person conducting a business or undertaking' (PCBU). 'worker' and 'workplace'. [...] 'PCBU' is a wider ranging term than 'employer', though this will be what most people understand by it.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-538-74066-1.
- ^ "ABC test". Legal Information Institute (LII). Retrieved 2022-10-06.
- ^ Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court, vol. 4, April 30, 2018, p. 903, retrieved March 30, 2020
- ^ "Overview of Independent Contractor Guidelines". Findlaw. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
- ^ "Employer Liability for Employee Conduct". Findlaw. Retrieved 2020-03-30.
- ^ J. Mayhew Wainwright (1910). Report to the Legislature of the State of New York by the Commission appointed under Chapter 518 of the laws of 1909 to inquire into the question of employers' liability and other matters (Report). J. B. Lyon Company. pp. 11, 50, 144.
- ^ a b Deakin, Simon; Wilkinson, Frank (2005). The Law of the Labour Market (PDF). Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 978-1-5438-0106-4– via Google Books.
- ^ Annual Institute on Employment Law. Vol. 2. Practising Law Institute. 2004 – via Google Books.
- ^ New York Jurisprudence 2d. Vol. 52. West Group. 2009 – via Google Books.
- ^ Labor Cases. Vol. 158. Commerce Clearing House. 2009 – via Google Books.
- ^ Ellie Kaufman (May 19, 2018). "Met Opera sues former conductor for $5.8 million over sexual misconduct allegations". CNN.
- ^ a b c Marx, Karl (1847). "Chapter 2". Wage Labour and Capital.
- ^ a b c d Ellerman 1992.
- ^ a b c d Ostergaard 1997, p. 133.
- ^ Thompson 1966, p. 599.
- ^ Thompson 1966, p. 912.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-674-15416-2.
- merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
- ^ "wage slave". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ "...vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired workmen whom we pay for mere manual labour, not for artistic skill; for in their case the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery." – De Officiis [1]
- ^ "As long as politics is the shadow cast on society by big business, the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance", in "The Need for a New Party" (1931), Later Works 6, p163
- ^ a b Ferguson 1995.
- ISBN 978-0-06-280092-3.
- ^ McGregor, Jena (March 22, 2018). "This professor says the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S." The Washington Post. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
- ^ "House of Reps seals 'death' of WorkChoices". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
- ISBN 978-3-322-99402-8, retrieved 2021-04-11
- ^ "§ 631 BGB – Einzelnorm". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ISBN 3-540-32541-7.
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- ^ "§ 611a BGB – Einzelnorm". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ "Links zu Musterverträgen". IHK Frankfurt am Main (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ "Arbeitsvertrag (Befristet)". IHK Frankfurt am Main (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ "Zeitarbeit in Deutschland: Alle Infos – Arbeitsrecht 2021". Arbeitsrechte.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ "Zeitarbeit = Leiharbeit: häufige Fragen – Bundesagentur für Arbeit". www.arbeitsagentur.de. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
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- ISBN 978-3-540-27450-6, retrieved 2021-04-11
- ^ "AÜG – nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
- ^ a b c d "Brown v. J. Kaz, Inc., No. 08-2713 (3d Cir. Sept. 11, 2009)". Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ Lag om anställningsskydd (1982:80)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Claire Melamed, Renate Hartwig and Ursula Grant 2011. Jobs, growth and poverty: what do we know, what don't we know, what should we know? Archived May 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine London: Overseas Development Institute
- ^ "Contract types and employer responsibilities". gov.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ 26 U.S.C. § 3401(c)
- ^ United States v. Latham, 754 F.2d 747, 750 (7th Cir. 1985).
- ^ "Termination". United States Department of Labor. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
- ^ "Bluenomics". Archived from the original on 2014-11-17.
- ^ a b "Young Worker Safety and Health". www.cdc.gov. CDC NIOSH Workplace Safety and Health Topic. Retrieved 2015-06-15.
- ^ a b c d "Work-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes" (PDF). NIOSH Publication 2013-153. NIOSH. September 2013.
- ^ "Work-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes: Preventing Injury to Young Drivers" (PDF). NIOSH Publication 2013-152. NIOSH. September 2013.
- ^ Joseph Holden, Youth employment programmes – What can be learnt from international experience with youth employment programmes? Economic and private sector professional evidence and applied knowledge services https://partnerplatform.org/?fza26891
- ^ Chosewood, L. Casey (May 3, 2011). "When It Comes to Work, How Old Is Too Old?". NIOSH: Workplace Safety and Health. Medscape and NIOSH.
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- ^ Henderson, Kaitlyn (May 3, 2023). "Where hard work doesn't pay off: An index of US labor policies compared to peer nations". Oxfam. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
The US is falling drastically behind similar countries in mandating adequate wages, protections, and rights for millions of workers and their families. The wealthiest country in the world is near the bottom of every dimension of this index.
- ISBN 978-0190212636.
The tendency of our free market economy has been to produce a growing number of jobs that will no longer support a family. In addition, the basic nature of capitalism ensures that unemployment exists at modest levels. Both of these directly result in a shortage of economic opportunities in American society. In addition, the absence of social supports stems from failings at the political and policy levels. The United States has traditionally lacked the political desire to put in place effective policies and programs that would support the economically vulnerable. Structural failing at the economic and political levels have therefore produced a lack of opportunities and supports, resulting in high rates of American poverty.
- ISBN 9780593239919.
- ^ Kaufman, Bruce E. (2004) Theoretical Perspectives on Work and the Employment Relationship, Industrial Relations Research Association.
- ^ Fox, Alan (1974) Beyond Contract: Work, Power and Trust Relations, Farber and Farber.
- ^ Budd, John W. and Bhave, Devasheesh (2008) "Values, Ideologies, and Frames of Reference in Industrial Relations," in Sage Handbook of Industrial Relations, Sage.
- ^ Befort, Stephen F. and Budd, John W. (2009) Invisible Hands, Invisible Objectives: Bringing Workplace Law and Public Policy Into Focus, Stanford University Press.
- ^ Budd, John W. and Bhave, Devasheesh (2010) "The Employment Relationship," in Sage Handbook of Handbook of Human Resource Management, Sage.
- ^ a b c Yurendra Basnett and Ritwika Sen, What do empirical studies say about economic growth and job creation in developing countries? Economic and private sector professional evidence and applied knowledge services https://partnerplatform.org/?7ljwndv4
- S2CID 229170512.
- ^ a b c d e Budd, John W. (2004) Employment with a Human Face: Balancing Efficiency, Equity, and Voice, Cornell University Press.
- ^ a b Rayasam, Renuka (24 April 2008). "Why Workplace Democracy Can Be Good Business". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
General bibliography
- ISBN 978-3-7908-1915-1.
- ISBN 978-0-691-17651-2.
- Dubin, Robert (1958). The World of Work: Industrial Society and Human Relations. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall. p. 213. OCLC 964691.
- ISBN 1-55786-309-1.
- ISBN 978-0-226-26189-8.
- ISBN 0-226-24317-6. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- Lee, Eddy (January 1996). "Globalization and Employment: Is Anxiety Justified?". International Labour Review. 135 (5): 485–98. Archived from the original on 2013-05-16. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
- Markey, Raymond; Hodgkinson, Ann; Kowalczyk, Jo (2002). "Gender, part-time employment and employee participation in Australian workplaces". Employee Relations. 24 (2): 129–50. .
- ISBN 978-0-900384-91-2.
- Stone, Raymond J. (2005). Human Resource Management (5th ed.). Milton, Qld: John Wiley. pp. 412–14. ISBN 978-0-470-80403-2.
- ISBN 978-0-394-70322-0.
- Wood, Jack M. (2004). Organisational Behaviour: A Global Perspective (3rd ed.). Milton, Qld: Wiley. pp. 355–57. ISBN 978-0-470-80262-5.
External links
- Business Link (archived from the original on 29 September 2012)
- "Labor and Employment". Government Information Library. University of Colorado at Boulder. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- "Overview and topics of labour statistics". Statistics and databases. International Labour Organization.