Concepts Used in Statistical Business Registers in View of Globalisation and the Information Society

The globalisation of markets and the development of the information society are two factors increasingly affecting statistical business registers. The article describes a number of problems caused by the globalisation process and the information society as which kind of business units should be recorded-enterprises or enterprise groups, how cross-border ownership, control and cooperation could be identified in the administrative registers, classification of activity in connection with foreign subsidiaries, recording of date of commencement of foreign subsidiaries in a national economy, recording of places of work in the case of teleworking, problems in connection with the recording of individuals involved in teleworking as self-employed persons and the emergence of virtual enterprises. The article also raises the question of whether there is a need for an international satellite register for (transnational) concerns. Both globalisation and the growing information society therefore place new demands on statistical business registers, and these demands might necessitate mobilisation of additional resources for maintaining and developing the registers.     

Teleworking: Frameworks for Organizational Research

Teleworking is a work practice that entails remote working for at least some of the time. Common arrangements include work done at home or in the field, by teleworkers in a range of occupations. As such, telework is one of the most radical departures from standard working conditions in the suite of flexible work practices now gaining widespread acceptance. In this paper, we develop an explanatory model of organizational adoption of teleworking. We do this as a means of integrating the current literature on the incidence of teleworking and to provide a theoretical grounding and framework for understanding differentials in the growth of teleworking in different organizations, industries and countries. We begin by developing an appropriate framework for conceptualizing teleworking. We propose a multivariate approach that is able to differentiate the various forms of teleworking. We then use this framework to develop a model and a series of propositions concerning the adoption of different forms of teleworking. Neo-institutional theory, as well as recent empirical evidence on teleworking informs this model.     

When trade unions turn to litigation: ‘getting all the ducks in a row’

Driven by their members' demands and the need to adopt more combative legal strategies in order to oppose the deterioration of working and employment conditions, British trade unions have developed in‐house legal expertise and supported many individual and multiple claims. This article investigates the variation in unions' legal practices and examines their organisational responses to law and the role of compliance professionals in the regulation of employment litigation. It provides a nuanced account of the influence of legal rationality on the framing of union strategies and shows that, under certain conditions, trade unions are able to build multi‐pronged tactics by using litigation as a complement to other forms of action.     

The differences of firm resources and the adoption of teleworking

This paper studies the differences of firm resources between teleworking firms and non-teleworking firms. The results indicate that teleworking firms use more information and communication technologies, invest more resources in R&D, have a larger percentage of knowledge workers and salespeople in the workforce, and have a larger geographical market. The employees have greater access to the Internet and electronic communication, are more trained in the use of information and communication technologies, and are more involved in their job design and planning. Regarding the business organisation, teleworking firms use more human resource flexible practices and variable compensation, outsource more activities, and manage employees by objectives.     

Overestimating Oneself and Overlooking the Law: Psychological Supports for Employment at Will

This article studies the hypotheses that people tend to underrate other people's work motivation and skills relative to their own, and further tend to be unaware of the legal status of employment at will in contemporary U.S. law. The theoretical part of the article describes psychological bases for the hypothesized tendencies and explains how they can be expected to foster acquiescence to employment at will and high employment insecurity. The empirical portion of the article describes and discusses a survey of M.B.A. students that probed their knowledge of and attitudes toward U.S. employment law, along with their attitudes toward employment insecurity and work motivation. Consistent with the hypotheses, the study found widespread lack of knowledge about the legal status of employment at will, as well as a tendency toward overrating one's own work motivation relative to others and a tendency toward taking higher risks of termination when they were presented as controllable on an individual, though not a group, basis.     

The experience of teleworking: an annotated review

The paper reviews the contemporary literature on the experience of teleworking. Particular attention is paid to the socializing aspects of work and its comparative absence when working from home; economic considerations, both for homeworkers and for the firms; work satisfaction and motivation; supervision; roles and gender issues in homeworking; the organization of time and space; and, lastly, questions of self-discipline. The evidence reviewed is based on various teleworking trials conducted mainly during the 1980s; this information is supplemented by original research conducted by the authors which investigated the pros and cons raised by British Telecom operators who were due to take part in a teleworking trial. These operators anticipated many of the issues faced by those who actually had teleworking experience.     

远程办公组织的运营成本分析

本文主要分析了远程办公组织的运营成本结构模型,论述了成本组成结构及其变化。在此基础上,给出支持公司组织办公模式选择决策的数学模型。     

试论大学生就业指导课中法律教育课程的改革

大学生就业指导课设立的目的是使大学生在毕业前掌握求职的技能,制订长远的职业规划,从而在毕业后能更好地融入社会。面对大学生在就业过程中普遍存在的欠缺法律意识和法律知识的现状,各大高校在就业指导课程中加入了法律教育课程。但是,由于主客观原因的限制,高校现阶段的就业指导课中的法律教育课程远远满足不了大学生的需要。文章认为,要培养大学生的法律意识和运用法律的能力,就必须认识到就业指导课中法律教育课程的重要性,通过围绕课程性质,制订科学计划,改进教学手段和教学方法等对该课程进行改革和完善。     

Telework: a challenge to knowledge transfer in organizations

Over the last decade, teleworking has gained momentum. While it has been portrayed as both employer- and employee-friendly, we question the positive normativity associated with teleworking by showing how it may endanger an organization's knowledge base and competitive advantage by threatening knowledge transfer between teleworkers and non-teleworkers. Drawing on the literature on knowledge we present the cognitive and relational components of organizational socialization as key facilitators of knowledge transfer and we demonstrate that teleworking may negatively affect these cognitive (shared mental schemes, language and narratives, and identification with goals and values) and relational (quality of relationships) components, depending on its frequency, location(s), and perception. Finally, we suggest some managerial avenues for addressing these potential negative side effects of teleworking.     

试论企业劳务派遣用工法律风险防范

劳务派遣用工是市场经济条件下产生并发展起来的新型用工形式,与传统用工模式在结构上有很大不同,具有用人与管理相分离的特征。文章试从劳务派遣用工模式的发展及当前存在的突出问题出发,深入剖析劳务派遣用工企业面临的法律风险,并提出应采取的有效防范措施,以应对当前的立法变革。     

Law of dismissal and employment practices in Japan

In this article the author discusses the extent of Japanese legal protection against dismissal available to employees covered by the lifetime employment policies of the large corporations…He argues that the policies do not offer a total guarantee and they are in any case in long-term decline-a development with important implications for the role of the law.     

Fairness – up to a point. Assessing the impact of New Labour's employment legislation

Since 1997 there has been a significant extension in the legal regulation of the employment relationship reflecting social and economic policy objectives. This article summarises key findings from research into the impact of this legislation and identifies factors affecting legislative impact and employer compliance. Tensions and priorities in the pursuit of the twin policy objectives are discussed.     

The implementation of equality legislation: the case of disabled graduates and reasonable adjustments

This article explores how reasonable adjustments, part of UK equality legislation, are secured in the workplace, and argues that an implementation gap exists where the impact of the law is weak, despite legal mandates to aid disabled people in employment. The research points to the importance of employers' knowledge of the effects disability as a key determinant of securing workplace adjustments.     

Legal and Procedural Strategies for Employees Utilizing Arbitration for Statutory Disputes

This article § reviews the current United States law regarding arbitration of statutory disputes in the nonunion employment setting. The article is a literature review and offers no new research findings but rather focuses on the important legal and procedural strategies employees may use throughout the arbitration process. The article specifically advises the reader on selection of an attorney, selection of an arbitrator, selection of a third party administrator, the discovery process, and the requisite hearing procedure. Possible challenges to the arbitration process are also discussed. In addition, the article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration from an employee's point of view.     

The impact of minimum wages on wages,work and poverty in Nicaragua

In this paper we use an individual- and household-level panel data set to study the impact of changes in legal minimum wages on a host of labor market outcomes including: a) wages and employment, b) transitions of workers across jobs (in the covered and uncovered sectors) and employment status (unemployment and out of the labor force), and c) transitions into and out of poverty. We find that changes in the legal minimum wage affect only those workers whose initial wage (before the change in minimum wages) is close to the minimum. For example, increases in the legal minimum wage lead to significant increases in the wages and decreases in employment of private covered sector workers who have wages within 20% of the minimum wage before the change, but have no significant impact on wages in other parts of the distribution. The estimates from the employment transition equations suggest that the decrease in covered private sector employment is due to a combination of layoffs and reductions in hiring. Most workers who lose their jobs in the covered private sector as a result of higher legal minimum wages leave the labor force or go into unpaid family work; a smaller proportion find work in the public sector. We find no evidence that these workers become unemployed.Our analysis of the relationship between the minimum wage and household income finds: a) increases in legal minimum wages increase the probability that a poor worker's family will move out of poverty, and b) increases in legal minimum wages are more likely to reduce the incidence of poverty and improve the transition from poor to non-poor if they impact the head of the household rather than the non-head; this is because the head of the household is less likely than a non-head to lose his/her covered sector employment due to a minimum wage increase and because those heads that do lose covered sector employment are more likely to go to another paying job than are non-heads (who are more likely to go into unpaid family work or leave the labor force).     

The Vampire in the Next Cubicle: The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Undead

Vampires are increasingly participating, and being visible, in American society. Their emergence from the shadows and entrance into mainstream activities, such as employment, brings new challenges for organizations and individuals. This article is intended to serve as a guide to human resource and general managers of the impact of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) on the employment of individuals who are vampires or, believe themselves to be vampires. It demonstrates that organizations which discriminate against vampires based solely upon myths, stereotypes and prejudices may face legal consequences. The analysis of the specific subject of vampirism is also intended to provide an overview of the issues related to the application of the ADA in general.     

False self‐employment: the case of Ukrainian migrants in London's construction sector

This article, presenting qualitative accounts of Ukrainian business owners, highlights how migrants engage in false self‐employment in the UK. Their experiences problematise notions of legality and binary depictions of migrant workers as ‘victims or villains’, demonstrating that migrants see their illegal status as a transient stage before gaining legal status.     

Organizationally Sensible vs. Legal-Centric Responses to the Eroding Employment At-Will Doctrine

Most private sector American employers have responded to the uncertainty created by the erosion of the employment at-will doctrine by adopting tactics aimed at avoiding the perceived costs associated with salient legal concerns (e.g., requiring written agreements to preserve the at-will relationship and defeat implied-contract claims). This article discusses the limitations of such a highly legal-centric approach, and provides an alternative decision framework that will promote more strategic, or organizationally sensible, employer responses. In addition to providing specific guidance for employers facing the employment at-will issue, the article's analysis and discussion illustrates a general approach that has relevance wherever organizational decision makers address employment decisions with potential legal implications.     

Believing in employment discrimination: The case of Forrest Mims,Scientific American,and title VII protection

This article reviews the law regarding Title VII employment discrimination protection from religious discrimination. The issues surrounding the principal legal protection in this regard are explored in the context of a recent controversial case in which an author, Forrest Mims, was not hired as a regular contributor forScientific American magazine, ostensibly because of his belief in the theory of creation over the theory of evolution. The definition of what constitutes a protected religious belief or practice is seen to have expanded over time. However, a belief in creationism is not necessarily seen as being tantamount to a religious belief under present legal interpretation of Title VII. The implications of this finding for future needed Title VII revision are discussed.     

Liability Exposure Trends in Recruitment: An Assessment and Analysis of Retail Employment Applications

For many years interviews and written applications required the job applicant to provide answers to a wide range of questions. Initially the employer could and did ask questions on any subject in which he/she had an interest, including those of a personal nature. If the prospective employee refused to provide the information, the application was simply discarded without regard for any issues arising, involving discriminatory/disparate treatment or disparate impact on the job applicant. This article examines national and regional retail outlet employment applications. Our examination of these employment applications considers the information each application solicits, whether those questions seek information that would likely reveal an applicant's membership in a protected class, and thus to what degree retail employment applications create a discriminatory legal liability for the employer.