Flexible Forms Of Employment Research Articles

Structural analysis of unemployment in the Russian Federation

Research aim. The article analyzes the state of unemployment in theRussian Federation. Modern macroeconomic conditions and the state of the labor market necessitate identifying population groups, constituting unemployment risks. Both representatives of different schools of economic thought and modern Russian scholars devoted their work to studying unemployment problems and the need for government regulation of employment and unemployment. However, a more accurate characteristic of the level and state of unemployment requires a more thorough analysis. Materials and methods . In order to present the general picture of unemployment in theRussian Federation, structural analysis of the phenomenon is used with the help of corresponding indexes, which, in our opinion, make it possible to evaluate the level and state of unemployment in detail. Indexes of absolute structure changes, degree of absolute shift intensity were used for analysis, the level of concentration was determined etc. Results . The calculations revealed the most vulnerable groups in the structure of the unemployed, showing the necessity of searching for and applying new forms and tools of government policy for reducing the level of unemployment. According to the official statistics, the level of unemployment inRussia was 5.6 % in 2015. The labor market in theRussian Federation is characterized by a gender gap – unemployed men outnumber unemployed women by 7.8%. Besides, there is a consistent trend of increase in the number of university-educated unemployed people. According to the calculations, the percentage of women with higher and secondary education is higher than the share of men. The difference in the structure of the unemployed among women and men in regards to education is in average about 14% of the maximum possible. Quite a high level of youth unemployment (approximately 25%) describes the unstable position of the given group in the labor market. Calculations of Grofman, Kazinets and Ryabtsev indexes confirm it. Nevertheless, the level of concentration in distribution of unemployment among youth tends to decrease in recent years. Besides, there is a higher level of unemployment in the country as compared to the city. Unemployment in Russian regions is characterized by considerable irregularity, too. The level of unemployment amounts to 6–8% in the major territory of the country. The situation is worst in the Karachay-Cherkess andChechenRepublics, as well as in Ingushetia and Tyva. Conclusion. The analysis of unemployment revealed differences in the structure of the unemployed of different population groups. It suggests the reasonability of using new modern tools of government policy for solving unemployment problems. The most effective measures are the following: application of social partnership mechanism, stimulation of self-employment, small business support, personnel development, organization of public works, setting job quotas, economic support of employers, use of flexible employment forms of the population, information support of labor market, support of non-state services in the sphere of population employment.

Workforce segmentation in Germany: from the founding era to the present time

Despite a more recent debate about ever deeper segmentation, the authors argue that since industrialization, Germany has continually experienced a dual labor market. One segment contains the primary segment of better paid and more attractive jobs, while the secondary segment encompasses rather low paid, less stable and less attractive jobs. Dualization is the result of firms which are likely to hire full-time and long-term workforce for its core activities while relying on more flexible forms of employment for other activities. Based on an in-depth examination of the structure of the workforce since 1871, the article investigates the factors which account for the origin, evolution and the peculiarities of the country’s core workforce. The authors show that a non-negligible part of the working population has always been subjected to marginalization, but that the dividing line between the two segments has changed over time as has the character of the respective groups.

Do flexicurity policies protect workers from the adverse health consequences of temporary employment? A cross-national comparative analysis

Flexicurity policies comprise a relatively novel approach to the regulation of work and welfare that aims to combine labour market flexibility with social security. Advocates of this approach argue that, by striking the right balance between flexibility and security, flexicurity policies allow firms to take advantage of loose contractual arrangements in an increasingly competitive economic environment while simultaneously protecting workers from the adverse health and social consequences of flexible forms of employment. In this study, we use multilevel Poisson regression models to test the theoretical claim of the flexicurity approach using data for 23 countries across three waves of the European Social Survey. We construct an institutional typology of labour market regulation and social security to evaluate whether inequalities in self-reported health and limiting longstanding illness between temporary workers and their permanent counterparts are smaller in countries that most closely approximate the ideal type described by advocates of the flexicurity approach. Our results indicate that, while the association between temporary employment and health varies across countries, institutional configurations of labour market regulation and social security do not provide a meaningful explanation for this cross-national variation. Contrary to the expectations of the flexicurity hypothesis, our data do not indicate that employment-related inequalities are smaller in countries that approximate the flexicurity approach. We discuss potential explanations for these findings and conclude that there remains a relative lack of evidence in support of the theoretical claims of the flexicurity approach.

Subjective Predictors of Safe and Risky Behaviours. Presentation of Selected Results of the Studies Among Workers in Non-Traditional Forms of Employment

The paper presents selected results of the studies carried out among Polish workers in non-traditional forms of employment, using the Occupational Safety Culture Scale (Milczarek, 2000) consisting of 6 sub-scales: management commitment and participation; OSH training and analysis of accidents; values; relations between employees and affiliation to the company; responsibility and awareness; safe behaviours. All groups of the nine examined forms of flexible employment have declared the evaluation of occupational safety culture at the average level of 5-6 Sten, which shapes its following features. The paper presents selected results of the Author’s own broader research project on a sample of workers in non-traditional forms of employment

Importance of Flexibility of Employment in a Professional Education of Persons Endangered by a Social Exclusion

The paper includes description of selected results of the Author's research carried out in the last 10 years (2005 - 2015) focused on flexibility of employment. The most important notions related to flexible forms of employment have been indicated. At the end of the paper the author presents results of the research on a group of n = 489 persons endangered by a social exclusion, professional career of which were monitored after conclusion of programmes co-financed by the resources of the European Social Fund. Education of persons from groups endangered by a social exclusion is decisive for effective social-and-professional functioning, adequately to changing labour market and changes in economics.

The Phenomenon of Underemployment in Poland

The labour market is usually associated with phenomena such as unemployment, employment and professional activity/inactivity. The ways in which these categories are shaped depend on various factors of an economic, social and technological nature. It is impossible to disagree with the statement that the contemporary labour market – local, national, and global – is undergoing dynamic changes. In the public debate, the themes of flexicurity, flexible forms of employment, reconciling professional work with private life, and lifelong learning appear more frequently. They cause heated discussions and often also controversies, since their impact on the situation of workers and employers in the labour market is increasing. Observing the trends in the world economy and the global labour market, it can be argued that employment becomes a privilege.Due to the reasons mentioned above, in the paper, issues which relate to ‘incomplete’ employment are discussed. Theoretical considerations are focused on the terminological and methodological problems related to the interpretation of the concept of underemployment both in the Polish and foreign literature. Furthermore, the relationships between the phenomenon of underemployment and the concept of employment flexibility and security are presented, since they are extremely important from the perspective of the contemporary labour market. The theoretical analysis is complemented by a statistical analysis of empirical data that illustrates the current scale of the phenomenon of underemployment in the labour market in Poland compared to other European Union member states (EU-28). The article adopts the research thesis that in Poland there is a problem of ‘incomplete’ employment. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to attempt to identify the scale of this phenomenon on the Polish labour market. Implementation of this objective will be possible thanks to the study of national and foreign literature and a conducted statistical analysis of selected indicators of the labour market in the context of this phenomenon, obtained from the database of the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).

(Gender Discrimination in Connection with Flexible Forms of Employment)

Bulgarian Abstract: Проблемите, свързани с постигане на по-голяма гъвкавост на пазара на труда, придобиват особена актуалност в съвременните условия на развитие на държавите - членки на ЕС. Разглеждането им в контекста на възможните прояви на дискриминация по полов признак е във връзка с поставените приоритети на европейско ниво и разработването на съответната нормативна уредба и стратегии на национално ниво. Анализът на характерните особености и проследяването на опита в европейските държави, направени в настоящото изследване, разкриват общи проблеми и тенденции и дават възможности за извеждане на препоръки във връзка с прилагането на гъвкавите форми на заетост и преодоляването на дискриминацията по полов признак. English Abstract: Problems associated with achieving greater flexibility on the labor market acquire special significance in contemporary conditions of development of EU Member States. Their consideration in the context of possible manifestations of gender discrimination is in connection with the priorities set on European level and the development of relevant legislation and strategies on national level. The analyses of the characteristics and the experience in European countries made in this study reveal common problems and trends and provide opportunities to conclude on recommendations concerning the implementation of flexible forms of employment and avoidance of discrimination based on gender.

(Some Questions of Religion and Belief in the Context of the Issue of Protection Against Discrimination)

Bulgarian Abstract: Проблемите, свързани с постигане на по-голяма гъвкавост на пазара на труда, придобиват особена актуалност в съвременните условия на развитие на държавите - членки на ЕС. Разглеждането им в контекста на възможните прояви на дискриминация по полов признак е във връзка с поставените приоритети на европейско ниво и разработването на съответната нормативна уредба и стратегии на национално ниво. Анализът на характерните особености и проследяването на опита в европейските държави, направени в настоящото изследване, разкриват общи проблеми и тенденции и дават възможности за извеждане на препоръки във връзка с прилагането на гъвкавите форми на заетост и преодоляването на дискриминацията по полов признак. English Abstract: Problems associated with achieving greater flexibility on the labor market acquire special significance in contemporary conditions of development of EU Member States. Their consideration in the context of possible manifestations of gender discrimination is in connection with the priorities set on European level and the development of relevant legislation and strategies on national level. The analyses of the characteristics and the experience in European countries made in this study reveal common problems and trends and provide opportunities to conclude on recommendations concerning the implementation of flexible forms of employment and avoidance of discrimination based on gender.

Precarization of labor relations: problems and prospects of institutionalization

The article analyzes the changes in the system of labor relations under the influence of the spread of atypical, flexible forms of employment. The reasons for the institutionalization of precarization considered the spread of liberal ideas about the need to increase labor market flexibility and labor relations, as well as scaling up of various atypical forms of employment. The article analyzes the background of institutionalizing precarization: the formation in atypical forms of employment needs, organizational structure, precarization as a new for of workers rules. Precarization is demonstrated to be a new social stratum in our present society, which is composed by staff who do have not had permanent employment and social guarantees for a long time. Precarization is characterized as capital attack on workers’ rights. The prospects of institutionalizing precarization are also considered. Refs 34.

ОСНОВНЫЕ ТЕНДЕНЦИИ И ФАКТОРЫ, ВЛИЯЮЩИЕ НА БЕЗРАБОТИЦУ НА РЫНКЕ ТРУДА В РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

The work analyzes social nature of unemployment of the population as the most important characteristics of the labour market, researches the trends of unemployment growth, changes in its structure and constitution, its social consequences. The author reveals peculiarities of unemployment in terms of overall social processes taking place in the Russian society and examines the main trends in government policy of the population employment and its implementation in the Russian Federation, as well as practical measures aimed to reduce unemployment in the Russian Federation. Unemployment leads to underutilization of such an important resource as human capital, intensification of social differentiation, significant reduction of domestic product potential and national income. Analysis of the state of unemployment in Russia in 2005–2013 showed a steady trend towards its reduction. The author assumes that a negative tendency in the labour market implies reduction of proportion of the unemployed registered in public employment bureaus. This fact can be explained by the citizens’ cynicism about registration with a labor registry office, distrust in ability of the public employment service to find them a job. Analysis of the dynamics in the level of youth unemployment for the period from 2005 to 2013 leads to the conclusion that the unemployment rate has increased in the social group of young people under 29 years old. Then, as a positive trend, the author points out reduction in the average duration of unemployment period among young people aged 15 to 29 years old compared with older age groups. According to the strategic guidelines of the Conception of social and economic development of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to provide more opportunities for employment of the young people, use flexible forms of employment, as well as create favorable conditions for entrepreneurial initiative of the unemployed.

Interim management – nowy trend w zatrudnianiu menedżerów w przedsiębiorstwach

The concept of interim management (IM) is still relatively little known in Poland. However, it can become widespread and highly regarded solution in the Polish enterprises as a result of striving to increase labour mobility and flexibility of employment forms in the European Union. The aim of the paper is the analysis of the possibilities of implementing the concept of interim management as a flexible form of employment in the modern enterprise. At the outset, the essence and genesis of the concept of interim management has been presented. In the following part, the labour market for interim managers in Europe and Poland has been characterized. The comparison of this form of flexible employment and other forms used in Polish companies has been conducted. In the final part of the article, the key benefits and risks of implementation the concept of IM for the company as well as for interim managers have been identified.

Działania deregulujące rynek pracy w Polsce na tle innych krajów Unii Europejskiej - stosowanie wybranych elastycznych form zatrudnienia

The labour market is undergoing changes in structural transformations in the world economy, globalisation and technical progress and the development of computer techniques. The process of deregulation is inextricably linked with economic transformations in the world and is a response to the faster pace of these transformations. Those changes provide an additional competitive edge to business and national economies, but also create problems with the social security of persons employed on flexible terms. The labour market must be deregulated so that market participants can adapt to the changes resulting from new needs and economic threats. Flexible solutions, and in particular diverse forms of employment contracts, allow employers to react more quickly to changes in the business cycle and structural changes in market demand. While many firms have a flexible work policy, they continue to reward face time and full-time work. On the one hand, new flexible forms of employment may bring about a chance to enter the labour market. However, there can be no doubt that these new jobs are precarious and contain new risks, implying as they do low wages and a low level of social protection or indeed no protection at all. Labour market deregulation is therefore a necessity which the modern economy must contend with ‒ because without a flexible attitude, no market is able to rise to the challenges of its time.

Umowa o pracę na czas określony oraz problem przyczynowości jej wypowiedzenia – stan obecny oraz tendencje zmian

An employment contract for a fixed term is now treated by the labour market as a flexible form of employment, which is a substitute for a contract of indefinite duration. In this context, there is a problem of the widespread usage of determinants as a basis for employment, employer and the employee’s position in regard to determining the type of employment contract. The article discusses the impact of determinants on the shape of the fix term contracts content, especially the admissibility of the notice before the date on which was concluded. Employees’ week negotiating position causes that employers often impose on them fixed term contracts. In consequence, contracts are concluded for a long period of time and include clauses allowing employer the causeless notice before the exact date of the end of the contact. As far as the job security is concerned, a fixed term contract is comparable to an employment contract for a probationary period. For example in both cases the employer doesn’t have to consult an employee’s notice with trade unions. What may arouse controversy is the negative position of that Constitutional Tribunal. The Tribunal confirms the compliance of the Constitution with the Polish Labour Law in the range of the principle of causeless termination of employment for a specified period.

Polityka państwa wobec upowszechnienia elastycznych form zatrudnienia w Polsce

W czerwcu 2015r. Sejm przyjął nowelizację Kodeksu pracy, zgodnie z którą wprowadzone zostaje ograniczenie łącznego czasu trwania umów o pracę na czas określony zawieranych z jednym pracodawcą do 33 miesięcy, o ile nie istnieją obiektywne powody, aby tego typu kontrakt został zawarty na dłuższy okres. Zmiany, które wejdą w życie 22 lutego 2016 r., obejmują również m.in. zrównanie czasu trwania okresów wypowiedzeniamiędzy umowami terminowymi i na czas nieoznaczony – dotychczas w umowie o pracę na czas określony zawieranej na sześć miesięcy lub dłużej można było zawrzeć klauzulę o możliwości jej rozwiązania z dwutygodniowym wypowiedzeniem. Zmiana przepisów jest reakcją na rozpowszechnienie w Polsce praktyki zatrudniania na podstawie umów terminowych. Osiągnęło to skalę niespotykaną w innych krajach Unii Europejskiej. Nowe regulacje mogą spowodować, że po raz pierwszy od kilku lat udział zatrudnionych na czas określony wśród pracowników najemnych może ulec zmniejszeniu.Problem nadmiernego udziału elastycznych form zatrudnienia doczekał się w ostatnich latach w Polsce bogatej literatury. Stał się przedmiotem badań ekonomistów i socjologów oraz dyskusji specjalistów prawa pracy. Popularność elastycznych form zatrudnienia spotkała się również z aktywną krytyką ze strony związków zawodowych, co znalazło odbicie w mediach – dość wspomnieć o karierze terminu „umowy śmieciowe” począwszy od 2012r.Autor podejmuje próbę syntetycznego omówienia problemu elastycznych form zatrudnienia, obejmującego kwestie: przyczyn ich popularności wśród pracodawców, intensywności stosowania różnych form zatrudnienia na podstawie dostępnych danych, kształtu przepisów ochronnych krajowego prawa pracy i praw pokrewnych regulujących zawieranie różnego rodzaju umów na rynku pracy w świetle wymogów stawianych przez Unię Europejską i Międzynarodową Organizację Pracy, a także społecznych i ekonomicznych konsekwencji stosowania elastycznych form zatrudnienia.

External Finance, Leverage and Human Capital Asset Liquidation. Evidence from Eastern and Central European Firms.

A number of empirical studies have identified channels through which banking and financial crises transmit to the real economy. In particular, the financial accelerator model requires firms' financial condition to impact labour. This paper contributes to investigating this link by focusing on a set of countries that underwent dramatic changes in the few decades prior to the Global Financial Crisis, namely Central and Eastern European countries. The deregulation of labour markets that accompanied the transition of former socialist economies has meant the rapid spread of flexible forms of employment (particularly temporary employment), where forms of employment protection are sizably reduced. This paper investigates the response of different forms of employment to firms' debt during the years preceding and following the onset of the GFC. Unlike other studies that have investigated the impact of firms' financial constraints and leverage on employment, this study finds that the transmission to the labour markets originated from previous investments in fixed assets that were only partially covered by internal finances. Firms' debt impacted more on the permanent workforce than on the temporary one, a result that questions the generality of the empirical evidence previously reported on this issue. Finally, firms experiencing sharp changes in their ability to meet fixed assets investments with their internal funds laid off high human capital employees more than unskilled segments of their workforce. This result confirms the one that Milanez (2012) recently found in a sample of Californian firms during the GFC. Both these studies, although different in the way they measure workers' skill, contradict theoretical labor economics predictions that firms lay off workers in inverse order of the degree of human capital.

Chance to Experience Non-Traditional Work Involvement

When it comes to performance of duties, professional activity in flexible forms of employment, regardless of attachment to an organisation, perceived welfare of an employee, job satisfaction and efficiency of one's own professional activities work engagement plays a vital role. This means that regardless the organization, variability in employment, jobs and posts, an individual employed in flexible forms of employment may experience, precisely as permanent staff and employees employed in traditional forms of employments, all the components of job involvement such as vigour, absorption and dedication. To test this hypothesis the author carried out a survey on a group employees employed in nine flexible forms of employment. This paper presents the most important conclusions of the survey and a theoretical review of the analysed variable. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n1s2p101

Choice of Employment as a Category Differentiating Peripheral Employees

Some people deliberately choose alternative employment due to its flexibility, freedom and variety of tasks offered. Individuals preferring this type of employment mainly due to the said characteristics are referred to as voluntary employees. A coercive flexible employee is someone who perceives his/her employment as unattractive and undesirable, and it is only inability and lack of chances to find a or a different type of employment that makes them choose this type of employment for a specified period of time or on short-term basis. Given the choice between a flexible form of employment and permanent job, assuming that conditions offered are acceptable, they do not hesitate to choose the latter. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s2p127

Remote Employment as a Form of Labor Mobility of Today’s Youth

The article analyzes the current state of the labour market and describes new flexible forms of employment. Also the paper deals with the changes in the nature and content of the labour, which are connected with the transition to a post-industrial society. The article reveals the problems of accounting and evaluation of remote employment and analyzes the positive and negative socio-economic effects of different forms of flexible employment. Particular attention is paid to the study of the remote employment effect on the youth labour mobility. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s3p227

TRANSFORMATION OF INSTITUTION OF EMPLOYMENT AS AN ADAPTATION OF THE LABOR MARKET

This paper deals with the development of the labor market under the economic uncertainty. Analysis of the formation of flexible forms of employment in the country revealed that on their basis the adaptation strategies of labor market transition are formed. Proved, that the growth of employment in Ukraine is largely due to deformalization of employment. This makes it possible to reduce the likelihood of unemployment and maintain qualification skills of employees, but the state budget would receives less tax revenues, which increases the risk of budget deficits. It is determined, that the distribution of new schemes using temporary involved (borrowing) work normally carried out within the framework of outsourcing, outstaffing and staff leasing under the terms of a civil labor contract. Labor legislation of Ukraine does not regulate legal relations connected with dealerships in hiring personnel through a civil contract and this eliminates employee rights, guarantees and compensations stipulated by labor legislation. It is proved that there is an urgent need for legislative regulation of the use of flexible forms of employment. It is proved that the development of modern information and communication technologies and increased demand for new services specific to the information economy, leads to a new direction of development of remote employment - freelance. This paper investigates the dynamics of changes in the occupational structure of freelancers in Ukraine, which allowed us to identify major trends and key labor market trends in the field of remote employment. We also identified the benefits of non-standard flexible forms of employment and the problems they generate in the field of labor relations.

Self‐Employment Amongst Migrant Groups in England and Wales: New Evidence from Census Microdata

Self‐employment constitutes a vital part of the economy since entrepreneurs can provide not only employment for themselves but also for others. The link between self‐employment and immigration is, however, complex since self‐employment can be viewed as both a haven from the paid labour market or as a source of economic growth. Moreover, the nature of self-employment has changed considerably in recent decades, especially with regards to providing a flexible form of employment for many demographic groups. We investigate the evolving relationship between self‐employment and immigration in the UK using recently released microdata from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. Our findings indicate large variations, with high self‐employment rates observed for some groups with a long established history of migration to the UK (especially men born in Pakistan) and also for some groups who have arrived more recently (such as from the EU's new member states). We further explore the differences, analyse variations by gender and identify key determining factors. In addition to certain socio‐economic characteristics, it is found that migration‐related influences, such as English language proficiency and period of arrival in the UK, play an important role for some groups.