Labor Law Research Articles

Work-Related Injury and Healthcare Access Among Day Laborers. Struggling at the Esquina.

California has a significant day laborer population, with about one-third of the total U.S. day laborer population working in the state. Day laborers, characterized by a lack of labor protections, low socioeconomic status, English illiteracy, and irregular immigration status, face numerous challenges regarding work-related injuries and limited access to healthcare. Eighty percent of day laborers are undocumented, and most do not have access to healthcare. Despite recent research growth, little is known about their experiences with work-related injuries and healthcare treatment. Our findings reveal that only 8.4% of day laborers have health insurance, and around 26% have experienced work-related injuries. This paper highlights the challenges faced by this population and emphasizes the importance of understanding their experiences to improve occupational health and safety policy. Additionally, we acknowledge the critical role of worker centers and national efforts in addressing health and safety issues among day laborers.

An Analysis of Ferienjob Practices in Germany: Modus Operandi, Legal Actions, Prevention, and Global Comparisons

The Ferienjob program in Germany which was started as an opportunity for students to find work and earn an income during vacations has of late come under criticism and allegations of being justifications for more nefarious endeavors such as human trafficking and labor slavery. In the light of this background, this article examines the factors that facilitated the exploitation of over 1,000 Indonesian and Uzbek students engaged in the Ferienjob scheme arguing about weaknesses in the host and the students’ home countries’ labor protection systems. Even though there are labor laws in Germany like the Employengesetz which forbids the exploitation of minor employees and the Mindestlohngesetz which ensures at least a guaranteed pay for every employee’s work, exploited labor has not died down and students remain to be in low wage and unsafe working conditions due to the contracts that they deal with. The research includes questions regarding the qualitative methodology that reflects both primary data collected through the interviews and secondary data obtained from government documents and legislations. The key study findings include the use of false claims in this particular case to lure in students, the stealing of the student’s money via placement fees, and the lack of proper legal care for foreign employees. The article further examines the responses issued by Indonesia and Germany in the court trying to show that it is extremely hard to bring the offending parties to book and to coordinate the protection of labor laws. As a final point the study provides the suggestions of how the preventive measures could be improved including enhanced regulations for recruitment firms, an improvement in the control of international agencies, and improvement of university partnerships.

“Do good and talk about it”: informal representation and migrant-led civil society organizations’ mediation between low-wage labor migrants and state institutions in the GCC countries

Low-wage labor migrants experience major human and working rights abuses in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries despite national labor laws and signatures to various human rights conventions. On paper, India has established an institutional framework of transnational social protection for its officially estimated 5.5 million low-wage workers migrating to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, e.g., financial emergency support, repatriation services, and walk-in centers. However, migrants in low-wage employment often cannot access substantive social rights in practice. Indian upper/middle-class migrant civil society groups mediate their access to Indian embassies’ services and the destination countries’ state institutions. The realization of social rights via informal, third-party representation stems from a representational disjuncture between low-wage labor migrants and the Indian state, which is rooted in their historical socioeconomic marginalization, limitations of the formal political system, and the constitutive role of informality in shaping and structuring citizen-state interactions in India. Through the lens of Piper and von Lieres’ (2015) concept of mediated citizenship and based on data from semi-structured interviews and participant observation of migrant support networks in the Gulf countries, this article examines why mediation takes place and how volunteers speak and take action for marginalized migrants in low-wage employment and consequences of mediation. It argues that migrant volunteer organizations and individuals are powerful stakeholders in the migration governance in the GCC region, as they possess leverage over who has (better) access to state institutions and the provision of social and human rights. Their status as intermediaries underlines the disaggregation of Indian citizenship along class and caste lines, which can be (mis)-used by mediators to pursue their interests, resulting in ambiguous effects. The article contributes to perspectives on migration governance in the GCC region, transnational social policies, and migrant volunteering.

Following the Rules to Drive Innovation: A Resource Conservation and Allocation Model of Work Standardization and Innovation

Following the Rules to Drive Innovation: A Resource Conservation and Allocation Model of Work Standardization and Innovation

The Issue of Labour in Germany in the Galicia District Press: Content Analysis

The article presents the content analysis of publications on the labour in Germany that were published on the territory of the Halychyna (Galicia) region during the German occupation of 1941–1944. All the articles, namely 104 of them published in 14 periodicals (Volia Pokuttia, Ukrainske Slovo, Vilne Slovo, Holos Pidkarpattia, Drohobytske Slovo, Zborivski Visti, Zolochivske Slovo, Lvivski Visti, Ridna Zemlia, Sokalske Slovo, Stanislavivske Slovo, Krakivski Visti, Ternopilskyi Holos and Chortkivska Dumka), were divided into several groups: "Type of publication", "Time" and "Placement". Each group underwent the word cloud type of analysis, and it provided an opportunity to thoroughly study peculiarities of the printed materials of the Nazi occupation period. Additionally, the article presents the cross-analysis of these groups in an attempt to trace their possible interconnection. The main objective of this paper is to use the content analysis method to analyse German propaganda policy of the time encouraging Galician workers to work in Germany and the way the policy changed over the time. The application of new research methods, in particular the content analysis method, to the study of the topic of Galician work force relocation to Germany on the materials from the Galician periodicals, contributes to the novelty of the paper. Summing up, one should say that the German authorities’ labour policy aimed at the Galician population was not consistent and constantly changed.

Impact of government support policies on firm performance of Vietnam’s small and medium tourism enterprises: The mediating role of competitive advantage

The government plays a decisive role in the general stability and sustainable development of the business community and tourism enterprises in particular. The recent Covid-19 pandemic has served as clear evidence of the government’s crucial support for tourism businesses. This study was conducted to explore and measure the impact of government support on the firm performance of small and medium tourism enterprises in Vietnam from the perspective of business leaders. Data were collected based on a survey of 798 leaders working in small and medium tourism enterprises. The results showed that government support before, during, and after the Covid-19 pandemic, through tax policies, credit policies, legal procedure support policies, and labor and social welfare policies, positively influenced firm performance through the mediating role of enhancing competitive advantage. However, this study found that digital transformation in small and medium-sized tourism enterprises had an insignificant impact on improving competitive advantage and firm performance. The results contribute to enriching the overall theory and provide policy and managerial implications for stakeholders in the future. AcknowledgmentThis research is funded by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam with code B2023-DHH-02 under decision No. 2036/QD-BGDDT dated July 22, 2022. Furthermore, this study is the result of collaboration between a group of scientists from the Faculty of Law, Hue University, and School of Business and Economics, Duy Tan University. The authors would like to acknowledge the support and facilitation provided by both institutions for the publication of this article.

The Impact of Digitalization on Work Patterns and the Protection of Workers' Rights: a Study of Labor Law in the Banking Sector

Digitalization has revolutionized the banking sector by improving efficiency and productivity through the adoption of information technology. While digitalization offers convenience, it also poses new challenges for workers, especially in relation to the reduction of traditional jobs and the need for higher digital skills. This study aims to analyze the impact of digitalization on work patterns and workers' rights in the banking sector, with a focus on time flexibility, outsourcing, and the reduction of manual labor. In addition, the study will analyze existing labor law policies to assess the extent to which they are able to protect workers' rights in the face of these rapid changes. The approach used is qualitative with a descriptive method. Data is analysed using thematic analysis techniques, as well as using a normative-empirical legal approach to assess the relevance of labour policies in the context of digitalization. Validation is done through source triangulation by comparing the findings of this research with previous studies. The results show that digital transformation in the banking sector is changing work patterns with a hybrid model, decreasing the need for manual labor, and increasing the demand for digital skills. The use of outsourced labor is also increasing, but raises worker protection issues. Existing labor regulations need to be updated to respond to these new challenges and ensure the protection of workers' rights.

O CONTRATO DE TRABALHO INTERMITENTE E SEUS IMPACTOS NA RELAÇÃO DE EMPREGO.

The present study aims to present the creation of the intermittent employment contract in the new labor legislation and its impacts on employment relations and society in general. This informs of how the employee will be treated in this new type of work, as well as the suitability of the employer, to meet the specific legislation of this form of contract. We will study how the legislature sees the intermittent contract, making an analysis of how it is viewed by the labor judiciary. Recognizing a new standardization, which aims to modernize employment relations, although much questioned by part of the union and legal collectivity. It is proposed, through the few sources of research, to bring subsidies regarding this labor legal novel, to point a horizon of hope for both the employee and the employer, in order to comply with our federal constitution. The methodology used for this study was based on bibliographic and exploratory research seeking foundation in the legislation of intermittent work Law No. 13,467 / 2017 and Provisional Measure No. 808/2017.

Законодавчо-правове регулювання платформної зайнятості у контексті соціальної стійкості держави

The article considers the issue of maintaining the state social resilience through the prism of the development of digital platforms and the emergence of the digital labor market as a new reality for the information-network economy. Attention is focused on the fact that the transformation of traditional models of social and labor relations prompts the search for ways and means of the regulation of non-standard forms of employment, in particular platform employment related to work on digital (online-, Internet-) platforms. The authors carry out an analytical assessment of international approaches to regulating the activities of digital platforms and recommendations for improving working conditions for platform employment. Shown various legal peculiarities and the variety of national practices of labor regulation in the platform economy in different countries. The article presents variants of terminology on the subject, and the most common areas of application of legislation and regulations regarding digital platforms and employees of such platforms in the ILO’s member states. Revealed the directions of domestic legislative and legal regulation of certain forms of non-standard employment, such as remote work, work with the use of flexible working time, labor relations with non-fixed working time. It is noted that a separate case of such forms of non-standard employment can be considered platform employment, the specifics of whose regulation are not taken into account in Ukraine’s legislation. The authors summarize the recommendations on the regulation of platform economy and platform employment based on modern international approaches and practices. The main legally regulated aspects of platform employment are identified, being among the most important of them the issues of concluding labor contracts, extending social protection standards to platform employees, transparency in the use of algorithms, and guaranteeing the right to appeal decisions made by artificial intelligence. It is emphasized that special attention should be paid to the creation of a tripartite committee in Ukraine for the preparation by the parties of national social partnership of consolidated approaches to the regulation of platform employment. Proposed various guidelines for legal regulation of platform employment, which would minimize its precarization potential and contribute to social resilience in post-war Ukraine.

Dampak dari Pelanggaran Etika Bisnis terhadap Hak Pekerja di PT Alpen Food Industry (AICE)

This study aims to analyze the impact of violations of business ethics on workers' rights at PT Alpen Food Industry, known as a leading ice cream producer in Southeast Asia. The company faces a number of violations, including inadequate working conditions, inadequate wage payments, excessive working hours, and discrimination against female workers. The study uses a qualitative method with a literature review approach, where data is obtained from various articles, reports, and relevant documents. The results of the study indicate that violations of workers' rights, such as violations of leave rights, unsafe working conditions, gender discrimination, and non-compliance with labor laws, have a significant impact on workers' welfare, the company's reputation, and its business sustainability. The novelty of this study lies in the in-depth analysis of the implications of violations of business ethics on the sustainability of companies in the food industry sector, with the implication that internal policy reform, strengthening law enforcement, and consistent application of business ethics are needed to create a safe, fair, and conducive work environment.

Cancellation of the ZEDE law in Honduras and international investment law issues

Purpose In 2013, Honduras Congress passed the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE) Organic Law, along with some constitutional changes, to create ZEDEs, which are essentially special economic zones with some unique features. Prospera Honduras Inc., a company with substantial United States investment, invested in Honduras relying on the ZEDE Organic Law and the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States of America (CAFTA-DR). In 2022, Honduras cancelled the ZEDE Organic Law, allegedly harming Prospera Honduras Inc.’s investments. Prospera and some other foreign investors have initiated an investor-state arbitration against Honduras for several alleged breaches of CAFTA-DR provisions. Honduras has remained silent and decided not to participate in the arbitration. This paper aims to examine whether the cancellation of the ZEDE Organic Law gives rise to international investment law obligations under the CAFTA-DR. Design/methodology/approach This is a doctrinal research and contains qualitative analysis. Findings The article concludes that CAFTA-DR preserves some regulatory space for host states; therefore, it would be wrong to assume that the arbitral decision in Prospera Inc. and others v. Honduras will favour only the foreign investors. This article also argues that, drawing insights from this dispute, future International Investment Agreements should better preserve Indigenous people’s rights. Moreover, the host states should reconsider whether they intend International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to apply to special economic zones in future. Originality/value There is no existing scholarly work examining the international investment law issues relating to the cancellation of ZEDEs in Honduras. Therefore, the findings of this article will be novel.

A nationwide cohort study on pneumonia infections among agriculture and healthcare workers in Taiwan.

Bacterial infection risk in work environments has been extensively reported for healthcare workers, while this risk is rarely researched in other occupations. This study aimed to identify occupational environments in Taiwan's agricultural and healthcare industries with elevated bacterial infection risks by comparing risks for general bacterial infections and pneumonia. Using labour and health insurance claim data from 3.3 million workers (January 2004-December 2020), a retrospective cohort was constructed to estimate occupational infection risks with Cox regression and the Anderson-Gill extension. Significantly elevated hazard ratios were found for workers in vegetable growing, crop cultivation service, mushroom growing, flower growing, and fruit growing, ranging from 1.13 to 1.39 for general bacterial infections and 1.68 to 3.06 for pneumonia infections. In afforestation and the inland fishing industry, pneumonia risk was significantly elevated with, respectively, 1.87 and 1.21. In the healthcare section, especially workers in residential care services and residential care services for elderly stand out regarding their pneumonia risk, with significant hazard ratios of 3.49 and 1.75. The methods used in this study were proven to be effective in identification of occupation environments at risk and can be used in other settings. These findings call for prioritization of bacterial infection prevention by occupation.

Original Dualisms Labor Law and Casual Work in Portugal and Romania (1920s–1960s)

ABSTRACTThis article argues that any historical explanation of the emergence of dualism in the labor market should take labor law seriously for two intertwined reasons: first, because before there could be a dualism of insiders and outsiders in the market, there was an original dualism inscribed in statutory legislation covering employment contracts; and second because before there could be a neat distinction between a primary and a secondary sector, there was a prevailing legal hierarchy that rewarded the stability of the most stable employees while concomitantly rescinding protection from casual workers. The article asks how these original dualisms were overcome during the better half of the twentieth century, and what mechanisms might explain the eventual collapse of the legal distinctions between various types of employees and the differential distribution of rights that came with it. Empirically, the article draws comparatively on the social and legal history of Portugal and Romania from the 1920s to the 1960s to propose a historically rich and conceptually fresh interpretation of the emergence of “standard employment” on the two peripheries of Europe.

Transformative Constitutionalism and Labour Rights in Latin America´s 4.0 Revolution

This article explores how Transformative Constitutionalism influences the protection of labour rights amidst the challenges of the 4.0 Revolution in Latin America. Through a qualitative analysis of literature, legislation, and jurisprudence, the study evaluates the evolution of labour law in the face of digitalization and automation. Thematic analysis reveals significant developments in adapting labour rights to emerging situations such as teleworking and digital platforms. A jurisprudential analysis of nine landmark cases from Latin American courts highlights how the judiciary, guided by Transformative Constitutionalism, interprets and applies labour law to affirm basic rights in non-traditional work contexts. In cases involving digital platforms in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, the courts have recognized employment relationships and granted labour protections to workers initially classified as independent contractors. The courts in Colombia and Chile have also expanded labour rights to include reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities through telework, while recognizing the right to digital disconnection as a fundamental right. However, challenges persist in effectively safeguarding workers in the digital economy, as the courts may face constraints in responding to the full scope of changes in the world of work. The article emphasizes the judiciary’s crucial role in recalibrating legal frameworks to ensure social and labour justice in an increasingly technological environment. The continued evolution of national jurisprudence and legislation, informed by Transformative Constitutionalism, is vital to keep labour rights at the centre of development.

Enhancing legal research through knowledge-infused information retrieval for Vietnamese labor law

<p>The role of intelligent information retrieval systems in legal research optimization has become increasingly recognized. There are many methods for exhibiting advance mentsin the proficient retrieval of legal documents. However, those methods fail to tackle the specific challenges encountered in real-world labor law searches. This research breaks new ground in Vietnamese labor law retrieval by leveraging a comprehensive dataset of 300,000 documents a cross diverse cat egories (20 document types and 27 legal fields) to train and evaluate retrieval models specifically designed for Vietnamese labor law. Unlike previous approaches, this work goes beyond simple information retrieval. It also constructs question & answer (Q&A) dataset specifically tailored to this legal domain. Be sides, this study introduces a novel approach of in corporating a legal ontology built from the data set itself. This knowledge in fusion significantly improves retrieval performance across legal search tasks, as demon strated through rigorous experimentation. These advancements empower intelligent systems to grasp the intricate semantic nuances of Vietnamese labor law.</p>

CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS IN LABOUR LAW FROM THE PERSPECTIVES OF INDONESIA AND MALAYSIA

This study provides a critical comparative study of the labour laws of Indonesia and Malaysia, two of the most prosperous economies in Southeast Asia, but with different legal systems due to their respective political, socio-economic and colonial legacies. A wide range of topics were discussed, covering almost all major issues related to the laws affecting practise, namely historical development and legal reforms, current challenges related to wage inequality, migrant workers and enforcement of labour protection. A qualitative comparative analysis was conducted based on primary legal documents, including the Indonesian Omnibus Law on Job Creation and the Malaysian Employment Act 1955 as amended, supplemented by secondary sources such as policy papers and academic articles. The findings suggest that decentralisation in Indonesia leads to uneven enforcement across regions, while Malaysia's centralised administration falls short in protecting migrant workers. In both countries, economic growth clashes with labour rights, with Indonesia struggling with a largely informal sector and Malaysia with a very high dependence on migrant workers. The discussion emphasises the fact that while recent legislative reforms have taken place, weak enforcement and problematic dispute resolution reflect the persistent problems. The study concludes by outlining policy implications that support strengthening enforcement mechanisms, formalising the informal sector and adhering to international labour standards to promote good employment practises. The results obtained with such a methodology contribute to the discourse on labour law and provide insights for policy makers, academics and other stakeholders concerned with the dynamics of the labour market in Southeast Asia.

Labor Litigation and Corporate Cash Holdings: Insights from the Textual Analysis of Judicial Documents

Labor litigation involves disputes between a firm and its employees over the latter’s rights and obligations, and it may increase the uncertainty of firms’ business operations and thus affect their financial decisions. Using textual analysis of judicial documents on labor and personnel disputes obtained from a specialized dataset, we find that labor litigation prompts firms to increase their cash holdings. Further analysis indicates that this effect mainly occurs in firms with higher labor adjustment costs, in regions where labor regulations and labor protection are strongly enforced, and in firms with high corporate social responsibility and high financial constraints. Finally, we find that increasing corporate cash holdings after labor litigation improves both firm performance and the market value of cash.

Decent Work, Meaningful Education or Potential Exploitation? The Role of Universities in Ensuring the Quality of Academic Internships in Australia, Finland and France

Academic internships have become a well-entrenched feature of the tertiary education landscape and are perceived to facilitate the transition into graduate employment. However, such experiences straddle the worlds of work and education, which begs the questions: should they be regulated as work, or learning, or through specific regulation and what role should universities have? This paper examines the educational and labour regulation applicable to academic internships in Australia, Finland and France and presents qualitative empirical insights examining how university staff in each jurisdiction manage academic internships in the context of local labour laws and educational regulations. It is concluded that national regulations in France regulate academic internships so as to achieve ‘meaningful education’ for participants, while in Finland the regulatory approach appears to be tailored to ensuring academic interns are engaged in ‘decent work’. In contrast, Australia’s current regulatory context appears inadequate to consistently ensure either of these outcomes, leaving academic interns at increased risk of having neither a meaningful educational experience, nor decent work, and being exploited. Universities in Australia and Finland have an increased role in guaranteeing quality internships. However, the preliminary empirical data suggests that this role may not be consistently fulfilled.

Luci e ombre nella riforma del lavoro sportivo

The Legislative Decree No. 36/2021 has had a significant impact on the regulation of labour relations in the sport sector, overcoming, among other things, the traditional legislative disregard for amateur work. The reform increases labour protections for individuals who professionally engage in sports activities, but at the same time aims to respect the specific nature of sports as an autonomous order, especially when it comes to the economic burden of sports organizations. The article starts by analysing the new concept of worker in the sector, which spans both professional and amateur sports. Then, the article proceeds by addressing the issue of classification between subordination and self-employment. The reform confirms the traditional dichotomy between professionals, which are subject to a stringent presumption of subordinate work, and amateurs, which in most cases are self-employed under article 409, No. 3 of the Italian Civil Procedure Code, with limited employment protections. In the final section the article briefly addresses the issue of voluntary work in the sport sector.

Organization capital, dividends and firm value: International evidence

This study investigates the relationship between organization capital, dividends, and firm value across 61 countries. We find that firms with higher organization capital distribute more dividends. By exploiting changes in the stringency of national labor regulations, we demonstrate that this effect strengthens when labor markets become more flexible. Additionally, we document that the market places a premium on dividend payouts from firms with higher organization capital. Further analysis reveals that this premium differential and the positive organization capital-dividend payouts relationship, are more pronounced in firms and countries marked by substantial agency issues. The robustness of our evidence is affirmed through several endogeneity tests, supporting the agency view of organization capital.