Fixed-term Employment Contracts Research Articles

Financing Constraints and Fixed-Term Employment Contracts

This paper studies the interactions between financing constraints and the employment decisions of firms when both fixed-term and permanent employment contracts are available. We first develop a dynamic model that shows the effects of financing constraints and firing costs on employment decisions. Once calibrated, the model shows that financially constrained firms tend to use more intensely fixed term workers, and to make them absorb a larger fraction of the total employment volatility than financially unconstrained firms do. We test and confirm the predictions of the model on a unique panel data of Italian manufacturing firms with detailed information about the type of workers employed by the firms and about firm financing constraints.

The New Labor Code and Labor Unions in Russia

In the new labor code of Russia, restriction on dismissal was eased and the types of jobs in which fixed-term employment contracts were possible were increased. But until now, neither dismissal nor unemployment is increasing. However, when the economy goes into a recession, unemployment of the excess work force in the old state-owned firms and the workers with non-regular employment status may increase. Although the labor unions are opposed to unjust application of the new labor code and the policy to promote employee's mobilization, the organization of workers with unstable employment status to the labor unions is insufficient.

Casenote: The Bustani Case Before the ILOAT

AbstractOn one reading the decision of the International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT) on the complaint of Jose Bustani against Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) appears to take the law of international organisations in new directions in relation to the vexed question of judicial review of the acts of the political organs of international organisations. The judgment purports to set aside a decision of the plenary organ of the OPCW to remove its Director-General before the expiry of his fixed-term employment contract. However, the position of the chief administrative officer of an international organisation has a dual aspect, in that as well as being an employee of the organisation he or she also plays a significant "constitutional" role as part of the structure of the organisation, with significant responsibilities contributing to the fulfilment of its functions. The judgment of the ILOAT seeks as far as possible to treat the Director-General as simply an employee of the organisation and only occasionally focuses on his broader role within the organisation.

How temporary is temporary employment in Spain?

I use a multinomial logit model and the Spanish Active Population Survey (EPA) for the period 1987–1996 to study labor force transitions of temporary workers. These workers hold fixed-term employment contracts, which Spanish labor law distinguishes from indefinite contracts. Since the EPA questionnaire allows the identification of workers with either type of contract, I use matched EPA files to analyze transitions from temporary to permanent employment and explore the extent to which workers holding fixed-term employment contracts tend to be trapped in temporary employment relationships.

Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Tertiary Education in New Zealand

Fixed-Term Employment Contracts in Tertiary Education in New Zealand

Fixed-term contracts in EC countries

Since the beginning of the 1980s, an increase in the number of fixed-term employment contracts has been apparent in a number of free-market-oriented economies. This has been accompanied by amendments to the pertinent legislation. From the early to mid-1980s, a number of EC countries initiated legislation with the object of facilitating the conclusion of fixed-term contracts. How is this development to be assessed from an economic point of view?

New Forms of Work Organisation

Structural and industrial changes in EC countries have forced the development of some atypical employments and work schedules. Work has lost its original meaning of full-time and on-site employment for an indefinite time. For some employees work now implies a sense of perceived occupational uncertainty. Fixed-term employment, part-time work, temporary employment, apprenticeship or training contracts, home-based work, telework, self-employment, flexible schedules, shortened working weeks, shiftwork, year-based work timetables and sabbaticals have been the focus of concern and attention for a number of work and organisation psychologists in Spain. The present situation is described and the psychological actions which have been undertaken to provide a minimum degree of assistance to employees working in flexible positions are discussed.