Employment relations, traditionally known as industrial or labour relations, forms an integral part of the activities of labour, employers and the government in business. It centres on balancing, integrating and reconciling the partly common and partly divergent interests of these parties. South African employment relations has reached the milestone of having been available for more than a quarter of a century and is the longest running book in this field in South Africa. This 8th edition of South African employment relations redefines the various role players in employment relations management and broadens the field to incorporate them. It brings the direction the labour market is going in terms of collective bargaining into sharper focus and proposes ways in which fair workplace relations can be established. It furthermore deals with the latest legislative developments, union activities and other contemporary issues. Besides the case studies and a comprehensive glossary, this edition now includes short inserts entitled "ER in practice" to highlight the challenges posed by industry and the business community, and to empower readers and practitioners to utilise the insights gained from these examples with confidence in their daily business activities. Lecturer support material is also available. South African employment relations is aimed at both students and practitioners in this field.

Presenting a contemporary outlook on how organizations must adjust to the 'Era of Me', this timely book analyses contemporary learning paradigms, sustainability, performance management, and theories of work-related attitudes to promote organizational culture and productivity in workplaces in the volatile modern era. In the 21st century, the organizational environment in most western-oriented societies is dynamic, multifaceted, complex, and ambiguous. This comprehensive book explores the unique challenges faced by modern organizations due to increasingly varied, flexible, and virtual work arrangements, shifting employee characteristics, technological developments, increased competition, and enhanced diversity in business. Covering a broad range of salient topics and shifting the employee-employer relationship to one of mutual goals and trust, chapters challenge old management styles while recommending novel future methods of engineering the world of work in an era of constant change. Using a symbiosis of research, theory, and practice, Engineering the World of Work will be an invaluable resource for students, and scholars of psychology, organizational studies and business administration. It will also be an essential guide to managers, stakeholders, consultants, and policymakers who are interested in practical ways of adjusting to the changes of the 21st century.

Piero Ferri expertly broadens the analysis of the canonical growth cycle approach by presenting a Minsky-Harrod model, examining how the relationship between income distribution, growth and unemployment becomes increasingly complex. Exploring this new technique to generate a process of growth, based not only on history but disequilibrium, he investigates the current income distribution debate further and the challenges it faces. Written in a succinct yet comprehensive style, Piero Ferri begins by addressing the basic principles, followed by an in-depth look at growth cycle models and how the Minsky-Harrod integrated model would help to unravel the current complexities. The empirical analysis reaches insightful conclusions by justifying the existence of a variety of results and by studying the distributive loop in a dynamic context which is prone to instability. Teachers of macroeconomics and scholars will find this an invaluable read and will benefit from the practical study and results. Researchers interested in labour economics and political economy will also find this a thought-provoking book.

Positioning industrial relations in a discussion that is sensitive to broader political, historical, and ideological tensions, this insightful book offers reflections on the politics of de-regulation that have developed in southern European work and employment relations over the past 20 years. Interwoven with case studies from Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, the book reviews critical debates and issues related to de-regulation in employment relations and neoliberalism in southern Europe. Taking stock of major changes and crises affecting these national contexts over time, from austerity politics to the COVID-19 pandemic, chapters investigate how new voices, actors, and social movements are beginning to emerge and engage with the politics of work. The book ultimately posits that debates on production and work need to pay closer attention to changes in patterns of consumption and the changing nature of worker voice, and highlights how these changes are being used to undermine collective and social rights. Surveying political shifts in collective worker voice and representation over time, the book will benefit students and scholars of industrial relations, labour studies, the sociology of work, and employment politics. Its evaluation of the impact of de-regulation strategies imposed across southern Europe will prove invaluable to practitioners and policymakers involved in public employment and industrial relations.

In Precarious Battle tells how labour broking was defeated in the South African Post Office (SAPO). Labour broking has become synonymous with worker exploitation. By 2011, a third of SAPO’s workforce was employed through labour brokers. These ‘casuals’ worked alongside permanent employees, some for over a decade, but for a quarter of the salary.

David Dickinson shares the story of how labour broking provided cheap and compliant labour, and how the use of labour brokers in SAPO divided the workplace and the workforce. He charts the attempts of casuals to organise within the law and how their efforts were defeated at every turn. He describes the increasing ferocity of the wildcat strikes that followed and explains how eventually 294 casuals, the Mabarete, fought their own battle and ended labour broking.

This book reflects on how labour broking created misery for those trapped in precarious employment, how the Constitution failed casual workers and how the South African industrial relations system is unravelling.

This incisive Handbook offers a timely and critical analysis of the gendered nature of public sector employment. Bringing together key theoretical, conceptual, and empirical research from around the world, Hazel Conley and Paula Koskinen Sandberg examine the ways in which female public sector workers experience intersectional discrimination in the workplace. Covering key sites of employment for women across the globe, the Handbook considers a comprehensive range of gendered public sector occupations. Chapters investigate how women's employment in public services is influenced by complex political and economic tensions, exploring core issues such as the relationship between gender, ethnicity, occupational segregation and work-life balance, flexible working, and workplace bullying; gendered pay and pension inequality; the sources of feminist activism in public sector employment; and the impact of the pandemic on feminised public sector occupations. Ultimately, the Handbook highlights that while change is possible, it will require a radical rethinking of how public services are valued and funded in society. Providing cutting-edge analysis and empirical data on gender and public sector employment, this Handbook will be an essential resource for academics and researchers interested in the role of the State as Employer. Its thought-provoking yet accessible insights into gendered employment will further benefit students of social policy, gender politics, employment relations, and the sociology of work.

This Modern Guide presents a comprehensive synthesis of contemporary thought on the informal economy, which, far from being a peripheral feature of the global economy, the author demonstrates, is a system in which the majority of the global workforce are employed and which has pervasive detrimental effects; formalising it is therefore a priority for most governments. Employing theoretical and empirical methodologies, Colin C. Williams explores the latest research on methods of understanding and measuring the informal economy in its various forms, and discusses the rationale behind its participants. Its rigorous discussion of the need to shift away from solely using tools that punish the practice and towards aligning social norms with the regulations of formal institutions is complemented by a rich analysis of how jobs and enterprises across the world can be encouraged to make the transition towards formalism. Incentives, education and reform are among the strategies advocated in this Modern Guide's compelling and lucid roadmap for the transition to formality. An invaluable resource for policymakers involved in tax, social security and labour policies, belonging to both governments and supra-national institutions, the book will also be valuable for academics and researchers in sociology, economics and business studies, especially those with an interest in taxation, industrial relations, entrepreneurship and labour economics.

Providing original insights into the factors causing early job insecurity in European countries, this book examines the short- and long-term consequences. It assesses public policies seeking to diminish the risks to young people facing prolonged job insecurity and reduce the severity of these impacts. Based on the findings of a major study of nine European countries, this book examines the diverse strategies that countries across the continent use to help young people overcome employment barriers. The authors present recommendations for governments to improve the job market environment and to support young people in finding suitable and stable employment. A vital tool for European policymakers, this book provides new knowledge that will help improve existing policies, at both national and European levels. The detailed analysis of original data collected through innovative methods will prove highly useful to public policy and European studies scholars. Contributors include: M.-L. Assmann, P. Boyadjieva, M. Bussi, I. Dingeldey, O. Hora, M. Horakova, B. Hvinden, C. Hyggen, P. Ilieva-Trichkova, C. Imdorf, M. Karamessini, P. Michon, J. O'Reilly, D. Parsanoglou, S. Sacchi, R. Samuel, M.A. Schoyen, L.P. Shi, T. Sirovatka, G. Stamatopoulou, L. Steinberg, R. Stoilova, M. Symeonaki, A. Yfanti, G. Yordanova

The challenge of including youth in the labour market is a problem which many European countries are facing. Examining the transition from education to employment, Youth, Diversity and Employment combines insights from law and the social sciences to link the challenges and specific barriers facing young and vulnerable people today. Based on original research, this book presents ways in which social protection policies in Europe can utilise the synergy between redistribution and regulations to combat economic inactivity and exclusion of young people. Drawing on the experiences of Nordic countries, which represent cases of high theoretical and political relevance, and systematically examining the significance of social regulation on the employment opportunities for young adults, this book develops an original approach to social protection policies. This book focuses on ways to strengthen the demand for the work capacity of European youth, identifying principles which will make the best progress in policy making to assist youth transitions into work. Arguing that gender, ethnicity, and disability are increasingly important factors to consider, chapters reveal how to ensure that the full use of skills that young adults have can be brought to the workforce effectively. This book will be a valuable tool for students and scholars of social policy, sociology, employment and human rights law, and cultural studies, as well as for researchers, who will find the analytical framework and new data useful for future research into youth transitions, policy, and social protection policies. Contributors include: O.M. Arnardottir, O. Backman, R. Halvorsen, M.J. Hotvedt, B. Hvinden, C. Hyggen, V. Jakobsen, K. Jokumsen, L. Kolouh-Soederlund, S. Kuivalainen, T. Lorentzen, S. Niknami, K. Nousianen, T. Olsen, E. OEsterbacka, J.G. Rice, M.A. Schoyen, L. Schroeder, M. Seeleib-Kaiser, T.F. Spreckelsen, J. Tagtstroem, R. Traustadottir, M. Ventegodt, E. Wadensjoe

Starting from the premise that learning and career development happen naturally and optimally through collaboration and social relationships, this book challenges the dominant employability skills discourse by exploring socially connected and networked perspectives to learning and teaching in higher education. With 10 empirical case studies of educational practice, chapters investigate the development of learner capabilities, teaching approaches, and institutional strategies to foster lifelong graduate employability through social connectedness. The book argues that higher education institutions have placed themselves at a disadvantage in learning and teaching by limiting and prescribing interactions that prevent multidisciplinary and cross-functional collaboration, and embeddedness into wider industry and community networks. The book offers new strategies and pedagogic approaches that can support learners to build, maintain and make the most of social connections for purposeful participation in life and work. It also demonstrates how universities can forge effective partnerships internally as well as with industry and community partners to ensure the relevance and vibrancy of university learning. Offering an alternative perspective on learning and teaching in higher education with international relevance, this book is a practical resource that can be used by educators to inform teaching practice and curriculum development. It will be essential for university leadership, as well as academics and researchers focused on education policy and university management.

Providing a thorough overview of the political nature of, and dynamics between, the worlds of work, labour and employment, this timely Handbook draws together an interdisciplinary range of top contributors to explore the interdependent relationship between politics and labour, work and employment. Chapters provide a wide range of differing theoretical approaches with which to explore the legal, economic and socio-political aspects of labour, work and employment in pre-capitalist, capitalist and post-capitalist societies. The Handbook explores the purpose, roles, rights and powers of employers and management, workers and unions, states and governments in the age of globalised neo-liberalism. Different non-standard and non-renumerated types of work are examined with their counterparts, offering a thorough insight into the modern economy with a key focus on migration, gender, race and community. An essential reference for political economists as well as business and management scholars, this comprehensive Handbook provides an important analysis of the interconnectedness of politics and labour, work and employment. This will also be a useful read for policy makers looking for broad insights to the ways in which policies can impact labour, work and employment.

Peripheralizing DeLillo tracks the historical arc of Don DeLillo’s poetics as it recomposes itself across the genres of short fiction, romance, the historical novel, and the philosophical novel of time. Drawing on theories that capital, rather than the bourgeoisie, is the displaced subject of the novel, Thomas Travers investigates DeLillo’s representation of fully commodified social worlds and re-evaluates Marxist accounts of the novel and its philosophy of history. Deploying an innovative re-periodisation, Travers considers the evolution of DeLillo’s aesthetic forms as they register and encode one of the crises of contemporary historicity: the secular dynamics through which a society organised around waged work tends towards conditions of under- and unemployment. Situating DeLillo within global histories of uneven and combined development, Travers explores how DeLillo’s treatment of capital and labour, affect and narration, reconfigures debates around realism and modernism. The DeLillo that emerges from this study is no longer an exemplary postmodern writer, but a composer of capitalist epics, a novelist drawn to peripheral zones of accumulation, zones of social death whose surplus populations his fiction strives to re-historicise, if not re-dialecticise as subjects of history.

Offering new knowledge and insights into European job markets, this book explores how young men and women experience job insecurity. Focusing on the ways in which young adults deal with this by actively increasing their chances of getting a job through a variety of methods, it shows how governmental policies can be altered to reduce early job insecurity. By combining analysis of original data collected through a variety of innovative methods, the book compares the trajectories of early job insecurity in nine European countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. It explores the differing reactions to the 2008 Great Recession and socio-economic and institutional characteristics of each country, analysing the strengths and weaknesses of different national policies. Contributions from experts in the field investigate the long-term consequences of having difficulty finding suitable and stable jobs in young adulthood, including 'scarring' in the form of weaker long-term employment prospects, lower life earnings and reduced well-being. Incorporating high-level academic research with policy recommendations, this insightful book is essential reading for advanced public policy and European studies scholars, as well as policymakers at national and European levels. Contributors include: D.S. Abebe, S. Ayllon, K.K. Bohler, M. Bussi, D. Buttler, L.A. Helbling, B. Hvinden, C. Hyggen, C. Imdorf, V. Krasteva, C. Lewis, A. McDonnell, J. O'Reilly, D. Parsanoglou, S. Sacchi, M.A. Schoyen, L.P. Shi, R. Stoilova, I. Tolgensbakk, J.S. Vedeler, A. Yfanti

Preventing Unemployment in Europe is an interdisciplinary volume offering an effective and authoritative contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the utility of preventive labour market policies. Positive labour market performance is discussed from a European perspective and analysed against the background of transferability in an era of increasing globalisation of markets. Concentrating particularly on the role of corporatist and market processes, the book focuses on the effects of preventive unemployment through the comparison of innovative and flexible policy solutions. Some of the fundamental issues the book tackles include the extent to which the conditional framework for preventive labour market policy is undergoing change, the response mechanisms to these changes which characterise national strategies and the learning processes which can be triggered through the exchange of national experiences within the EU. The discussions within the book benefit from both an economic analysis of the subject matter complemented by a broader social science approach. The editors, themselves distinguished scholars in this field, have produced a comprehensive resource which should prove invaluable reading for both policymakers and academics in the fields of labour market theory and policy.

The impact of technical change on employment is investigated in this important new book which offers a critical appraisal of how far current economic analysis and theory can deal with this key policy issue.The Economics of Technology and Employment addresses the impact of technical change on employment from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. After an analytical discussion of theoretical propositions and models put forward by classical and contemporary economists, Dr Vivarelli develops a model to examine the extent to which worker displacement due to technical progress can be offset by compensatory market forces. This model is tested using Italian and US aggregate time-series data. The theoretical discussion and empirical results are combined to demonstrate that the employment impact of labour saving technologies can only be partially counter-balanced by market forces and so economic policy measures could be necessary. This important and innovative volume will be welcomed by economists and policymakers as a major contribution to our theoretical understanding of employment, industrial innovation and technical change.

This project offers a comprehensive look at aging policies across East Asia, where a demographic dividend fuelled rapid growth and is now aging into a lower-speed economy. With a comprehensive look at numerous East Asian societies, including China, Japan, Korea, and other regions, the book is rich in comparative insights and strategies into what is effective for policymakers and employers. As the Asian century begins, this book will be an invaluable resource for economists, policymakers and demographers.

A new set of major changes is reshaping the economy and creating challenges that are testing the mettle and talents of organizations and their employees. Unless organizations and their employees develop the requisite skills they need to cope with these challenges, many will become casualties of their own deficiencies. "Keys to Employee Success in Coming Decades" seeks to prepare employees for future success in an increasingly demanding and competitive global environment. Sims, Veres, and their contributors are careful to focus on what employees at different levels in the organization will need to do to be successful in the twenty-first century.

Mastery of the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors discussed by the contributors in this book will lead to enhanced employee performance as the new decade approaches. The requirements for new employees or the redesigned employees is quickly changing. The organizations of tomorrow will expect employees who understand the importance of success; who welcome change and accept it, master it, and deliberately cause it. They are also employees who are proactive innovators, who confront constraints and the limitations on actions that they impose, who take risks and who continue to develop themselves professionally, technically, and personally. Written clearly, concisely, and with a minimum of academic jargon, the book will be important reading for specialists in human resource management, training and development, and others with critical responsibilities throughout the organization.

This is a wide-ranging sourcebook filling a gap in the literature about employment policies and programs for older persons. The contributors represent the perspectives of the individual, the employer, and society-at-large. Their essays consider labor force characteristics; historical trends; key features of social security, pensions, and other retirement matters; age discrimination; economic, social, and political aspects related to employment and the elderly. A lengthy bibliography enhances the use of this major new reference tool for students, scholars, and practitioners in gerontology, social work, and business.

Mass Unemployment and the State shows that domestic political arrangements - the character of party competition, the relationship between interest organizations and the state, and underlying assumptions about the purpose of political authority - have mattered greatly to the economic and labor market policies that European governments pursued in response to the problem of unemployment from the early 1970s to the 2000s. The book concentrates on four European countries: Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden. All these countries have been celebrated as employment "miracles," but for different reasons, and at different points in time. Low unemployment was the linchpin of political arrangements in West European states in the first decades after the Second World War. When mass unemployment became a threat once more in the 1970s, Austria and Sweden - where post-war political arrangements remained intact - responded more forcefully than Denmark and the Netherlands, where political arrangements were already changing. This set these four countries on different paths, with enduring (and sometimes unexpected) political, economic, and social consequences. Political arrangements mattered to economic policies in the 1970s and 1980s, and to labor market policies in the 1990s and 2000s.

Against the backdrop of a robust economy, hundreds of thousands of people in this country remain out of work for long periods of time, causing economic and psychological hardships for entire families. "Hardest TimeS" examines in depth what happens to men, and to their families, when they remain out of work for longer than six months, a period the government designates as long term unemployment. Cottle examines long term unemployment as a traumatic event, which creates in those who experience it conditions resembling symptoms of loss and post-trauma. Through the words of men who have experienced long term unemployment, he demonstrates that work is crucial to the formation of a man's identity, and that without work, many men often find no purpose for living. The in-depth studies that Cottle undertook reveal here why some men abandon their families or, in some instances, are driven to commit murder or suicide in the face of lingering unemployment. These often heart wrenching stories encourage readers to consider the implications of long term unemployment for the men who experience it, the families who endure it, and the society that tolerates it.

Cottle's approach demonstrates that unemployment cannot be examined strictly in statistical terms, but that ultimately it must be explored in human terms, for it affects both the unemployed worker and his family. Instead of treating long term unemployment as simply another social problem, Cottle argues that it must be treated as a serious, often life-threatening, disorder, whose cure is clearly discernible. By reading the words of these men, the reader will understand how, even in this time of shifting gender roles, men in large measure still define themselves by the work they do, rather than the relationships that they cultivate. This unique approach to the problem of long term unemployment gives a human face to the problem and encourages readers to rethink the nature of working and not working and its special importance to men.

This book discusses youth unemployment in post-revolutionary Tunisia, paying particular attention to the so-called skill mismatch. Youth unemployment was one of the major factors triggering the Tunisian revolution, and continues to be a central socio-economic challenge. The Tunisian labour market is marked by a strong increase of higher education graduates while the economic system is dominated by sectors mainly employing a less qualified labour force. This study investigates current labour market trends, and provides insights into the underlying causes of persisting high youth unemployment. The author argues that economic crisis, difficult political conditions since 2011, and inefficient labour market policies did not foster sufficient job creation, and that special attention needs to be paid to the educational causes of the skill mismatch in youth employment in future sustainable development models.

The two historical debates studied here are concerned with the impact of technological change on unemployment and on the economy generally. The topic is of enduring interest among both economists and the public at large. The history of these 20th century debates has not previously been studied in detail, and the book provides valuable insight into the evolution of the understanding of a fundamental issue in the economy. By providing insight into idea evolution and economic methodology, the book is a valuable description of the ways in which economists work and react to each other.

Despite the general decline of trade unions throughout the Western world, unions in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have prospered. Why? Galenson cites their ability to organize white collar workers, the special attention they give to recruitment of women, and their ability to undergo structural change under employer pressure. He analyzes these factors in the belief that if unions in other parts of the world understand why and how unionism is succeeding in Scandinavia, its deterioration may be slowed and even reversed. In doing so, Galenson offers specific advice on how industrial relations professionals should manage to avoid breakdown of existing systems elsewhere. Labor unions, officials, and organization executives, as well as executives throughout the public sectors, will find Galenson's views informative and enlightening.

Although there has been a good deal written about the Scandinavian labor movements in Dano-Norwegian and Swedish, there has been nothing comprehensive in English that deals with the labor movements in the three countries. Nor has there been a systematic analysis of their policies and practices. Galenson provides readers, now, with an account of how unions in the Scandinavian countries have managed to secure the world's highest rates of organization: up to 90% of all who are employed in Sweden, and somewhat less in Denmark and Norway, are trade union members, compared with 15% in the United States. The countries in which they operate are welfare states and are among the wealthiest countries in the world, yet remarkably little is known about the systems of industrial relations that have contributed to these results. Galenson's book will fill that gap and in doing so, make a unique contribution to the determination of policy in other countries.

This book investigates the potential of the Spanish Sociedades Laborales (SLs) as an instrument of active labour market policy for re-turning the unemployed to the labour market and also the transferability of the scheme to other EU Member States. Spanish Sociedades Laborales (SLs) - mostly small and micro enterprises - are a qualified form of conventional corporation, majority-owned by their permanent employees. Unemployed persons can capitalise their unemployment benefits as a lump sum to start a new SL or to recapitalise an existing SL by joining it. This makes SLs similar to start-up subsidies for the unemployed, an established instrument of active labour market policy across the EU. The new 2015 Law on Worker-Owned and Participatory Companies substantially modernised the concept of SLs 30 years after its inception. The book tackles two currently widely discussed policy issues at both the EU level as well as the national level, i.e., reactivating unemployed in the context of ALMP and encouraging employee co-ownership in the context of the economic reform agenda in particular with regard to corporate governance, regional economic stimuli and distributive justice.

COVID-19 is the biggest public health and economic disaster of our time. It has posed the same threat across the globe, yet countries have responded very differently and some have clearly fared much better than others. Peter Baldwin uncovers the reasons why in this definitive account of the global politics of pandemic. He shows that how nations responded depended above all on the political tools available - how firmly could the authorities order citizens' lives and how willingly would they be obeyed? In Asia, nations quarantined the infected and their contacts. In the Americas and Europe they shut down their economies, hoping to squelch the virus's spread. Others, above all Sweden, responded with a light touch, putting their faith in social consensus over coercion. Whether citizens would follow their leaders' requests and how soon they would tire of their demands were crucial to hopes of taming the pandemic.