Labor Law Research Articles

The impact of pensions on the income gap among the elderly: the case of Taiwan’s National Pension

ABSTRACT In most countries, first-pillar public pension systems provide comprehensive coverage for all citizens. By contrast, Taiwan’s unique National Pension (NP) is a compulsory, defined-benefit pension insurance that covers citizens excluded from occupation-based social insurance. As such, the NP inevitably includes disadvantaged citizens in its coverage. Using NP administrative data to link labour insurance, social welfare allowance, and income tax, we find that the NP narrows the pension benefit gap between the disadvantaged and the non-disadvantaged. The narrowing effect is stronger for the younger than for the older generation. Furthermore, the NP enhances pension benefits for women more than for men, thereby narrowing the difference in pension benefits between the sexes. As expected, the NP is more important for low-income citizens than for their wealthy counterparts.

A Critical Review of India's 2022-23 Social Security Initiatives: Labour Ministry Efforts for Decent Work, Quality of Life, and Simplified Labour Laws

A Critical Review of India's 2022-23 Social Security Initiatives: Labour Ministry Efforts for Decent Work, Quality of Life, and Simplified Labour Laws

Criminal Liability for Worker's Assault on the Employer by Beating or Humiliation According to the Jordanian Law

This study dealt with the worker's assault on the employer by beating or humiliation according to the Jordanian Law. The study of the worker’s assault on the employer by beating or humiliation is a very accurate and difficult matter, as determining the form of assault by the worker controls many important legal influences. When is the act of beating or humiliation achieved that allows the employer to legitimately dismiss the worker? Does the employer own if he committed the act of beating and humiliation without investigation. This study dealt with the most prominent cases in which the worker assaulted by beating or humiliating the employer or any other person during work, leading to the worker's legitimate dismissal. Ultimately, this study found that defamation and slander must be added to the Jordanian Labor Law in order to make changes. To the pertinent article's text. In order to ensure the worker's safety, we hope that the Jordanian lawmaker makes it clear that the worker cannot be fired in the event of an assault until he has undergone an investigation by an unbiased committee.

Impact of state-level labour law reforms in India: an empirical analysis

The impact of Indian state labour law reforms on employment, output, new industrial units, investment and size of industrial units is examined from 2000–01 to 2017–18. States with inflexible labour laws had lower growth of large industrial units and regular employment. Contract worker hiring spiked in firms with 301–500 workers in both flexible and inflexible states. Capital growth was higher than growth of workers in all state categories. Rajasthan, the first state to carry out additional reforms in 2014, had good performance. Regressions carried out to control for factors that impact employment other than labour laws indicate that: (i) reforms had a positive impact on employment; (ii) good infrastructure, reduction in industrial disputes, low crime and better education resulted in significant employment generation. Difference-in-differences estimates show that post-reform, employment, fixed capital, and output were higher for flexible labour law states, when compared to inflexible labour law states.

Impact of Regulatory Reforms on Business Transformation: A Study of Indian Industries

This study explores the intricate interplay between regulatory reforms and business transformation in the context of Indian industries. Specifically, the research delves into recent changes in taxation, labor laws, and corporate governance, aiming to discern their impact on organizational strategies, structures, and operations. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, which involves qualitative analyses of regulatory shifts and quantitative assessments of business performance metrics, the study seeks to provide holistic insights. By examining sectoral variations and conducting in-depth interviews and case studies, this research contributes original knowledge to academic scholarship and imparts practical implications for businesses navigating dynamic regulatory landscapes. The anticipated findings aim to illuminate the adaptability and resilience of Indian industries, thereby advancing our understanding of the complex relationship between regulatory reforms and business transformation in this distinctive context.

The Impact of Social Responsibility on the Performance of European Listed Companies

This research aims to analyze the impact of social responsibility (SR) on the performance of 216 European companies from 2017 to 2021. The objective of this research is to determine how the operational, financial, and market performance of companies is influenced by social responsibility practices. The methodology adopted is quantitative in nature, using the estimation of models for panel data. To quantify corporate performance, this study uses the return on assets (ROA), the return on equity (ROE), and finally Tobin’s Q ratio. Additionally, environment, social, and governance (ESG) and United Nations Global Compact (GC) scores are used to quantify SR. Our findings indicate a complex relationship between SR and corporate performance. While SR positively impacts market performance, it negatively affects operational and financial performance. This disparity becomes more pronounced when comparing companies with the highest and lowest SR scores. Further analysis reveals that the environment, social, and governance dimensions of ESG negatively correlate with ROA and ROE, but positively correlate with Tobin’s Q. The GC’s anti-corruption and environment scores exhibit a negative relationship with Tobin’s Q, the human rights dimension negatively correlates with ROE and ROA, and the labor law dimension positively influences ROE. Notably, firm size amplifies these relationships, whereas firm age has a dampening effect. This research offers significant contributions to the literature by providing a comprehensive analysis of the impact of social responsibility on corporate performance based on ESG and GC scores.

Labour, the Environment and International and European Law: One journey or worlds apart?

The transition to an environmentally sustainable economy raises Herculean challenges for labour law. From a labour law perspective, perhaps the biggest question is the extent to which the environment is an interest that is and should be recognised and protected by labour law. Although the answer to this question is different for each national legal system, the influence of international and European law cannot be ignored. Starting from this assumption, the author analyses to what extent international and European law may influence the recognition of the environment as an interest of national labour law. To this end, the author analyses the overarching principles that characterise the interrelation between labour and the environment in the hard and soft law of the UN, ILO and EU. Subsequently, three areas of national labour law which may be influenced by the supranational framework are identified and discussed: job transition, work-related mobility of employees and remuneration. The author finds that the supranational framework provides arguments to assert that the environment has a place in labour law and is a legitimate interest in the balancing exercise between employer and employee. Nevertheless, a substantive place for labour law in the supranational framework seems lacking. The supranational framework is primarily concerned with compensating employees for the negative effects of the green transition and offers limited support for a broader integration of the environment into the employment relationship. Consequently, it makes few connections with labour law and contains few (hard or soft) obligations for both employers and employees. In the view of the author, this is a missed opportunity.

Labor protection and corporate labor investment efficiency - Evidence based on the implementation of the "Labor Contract Law"

This research examines non-financial companies listed in China's capital market, using the “Labor Contract Law” as a natural experiment to explore how labor protection influences investment efficiency. The study provides insights into how such policies shape corporate investment behavior. Findings indicate that stronger labor protection significantly improves labor investment efficiency and the allocation of labor resources within companies. Furthermore, the positive impact on investment efficiency is more pronounced in smaller firms and non-state-owned enterprises.

Women and medicinal plants: a systematic review in the field of ethnobotany

This study delves into the intricate relationship between women and medicinal plants, underscoring their historical and cultural roles mainly in 11 different countries. By specifically examining the impact of social impositions on gender in healthcare and the use of medicinal plants, the research critiques the perspectives that have marginalized both women and nature. To address these issues, ethnobotanical studies should promote research that encompasses the gender. Conducting a systematic review on Women and Medicinal Plants, the research explores key aspects in ethnobotanical studies: botanical knowledge, transmission of knowledge, medicinal plants used in women’s reproductive health, access to healthcare, and the primary knowledge holders. The bibliographic survey, utilizing the Capes database, reveals 205 plant species with 32 medicinal uses for women's health. Rute chalepensis L. (rue) was mentioned four times for abortion, labor contraction, facilitating childbirth, and placental expulsion. In relation to women’s reproductive health, different plants have been used by women and traditional practitioners worldwide. The use of medicinal plants can be associated with social vulnerability in marginalized communities by society which do not have easy access to public health, so they rely on alternative methods such as homemade remedies. Although knowledge about medicinal plants is an intellectual task developed by women, in some societies, such as capitalist societies, gender roles will evolve into specific knowledge, such as the task of family health care. The triple workload is not beneficial to women. Traditional knowledge, when allied with sustainability, can promote gender equality by transmitting intergenerational botanical knowledge without gender distinction and by reclaiming cultivation practices beneficial to the environment, biodiversity, and human health. The study invites ethnobotanical researchers to investigate gender dynamics within their studies. The results of this work can contribute to future research on women and medicinal plants.

Simplification analysis of labour policy and regulation as an effort to increase micro and small enterprises’ growth in Indonesia

This research aims to examine in more depth the changes resulting from the Job Creation Law, which impact the level of business friendliness in Indonesia, and how to analyze these changes to improve the business environment to be more conducive to carrying out business activities. This research uses normative legal research methods and is analytical descriptive research. There have been several changes since the emergence of the Job Creation Law, such as the establishment of a limited liability company. Changes to the Job Creation Law could improve the Indonesian economy. However, juridically, this regulation gives authority to the central government to manage micro and small businesses, contrary to the principle of decentralization, which prioritizes the provision of resources to local governments.

The Future of Work – Artificial Intelligence and Labour Law

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally shaping everyday life – the world of work is no exception. While the application of AI in the workplace does have many possibilities, it challenges employees’ (fundamental) rights. The article's objective is to provide a “glimpse” into the (possible future) use of AI in employment and to overview and identify possible legal challenges and solutions. The research is conducted using a desk-based legal analysis of relevant literature and legal documents. It focuses on the EU legal order and mentions several examples from Hungary. As a result, the paper highlights possible solutions to the challenges, especially new legal initiatives, as well as outlines the main potential guidelines for amending existing regulations. To conclude, in order to harness AI's potential, a solid legal framework is necessary, as AI raises old questions with new intensity.

Work like any other but like no other: Labour rights for working prisoners in Sweden

In Sweden there is no minimum wage legislation. Wages for 88% of workers are governed by collective agreement, and for the remainder, they are set by individual employment contracts. The lowest wage levels in collective agreements for adults were about SEK 19,000 in 2022, and the median wage was about SEK 34,200, which corresponds to SEK 119 and SEK 214 per hour, respectively. Wages not set by collective agreement or employment contract are supposed to be ‘reasonable’. A reasonable wage is a wage in line with the level laid down in the sectoral collective agreement. Incarcerated workers earn SEK 13 an hour in Sweden. They are not categorised as workers, however, and therefore are not covered by labour law or collective agreements. But the products of their work – goods and services – are either sold on the open market or used for the benefit of the Swedish Agency for Prisons and the Probation Service, as the services or goods do not have to be bought on the open market. Such low pay would be considered unreasonable for any other work. However, work has been a central aspect of serving time in Swedish prisons for a very long time. Over time, such work has been motivated and governed by different principles and aims, such as the work-first principle, meaning, i.e., that work is both a societal duty and a right, and the aim of disciplining the incarcerated workers for internal and external purposes (resocialisation). The rehabilitative aspect of work has been emphasised. Proposals to raise the pay level have been rejected as being too expensive and counteracting the rehabilitative function of serving time in prison. This article seeks to explain the perceived rationale behind this state of affairs and to bring a human rights perspective into the picture and reflect on its implications.

Labour as a component of carceral circuitry: The case of asylum seekers

Building upon insights from carceral geography, this article conceptualises the ‘carceral’ as permeating beyond the prison walls to other areas of life through law and policymaking that confines and incarcerates without necessarily ‘imprisoning’. 1 Utilising the case study of asylum applicants in the UK, this article traces the role of ‘work’ as a component of carceral circuitry which enmeshes asylum seekers’ lives. Outside of immigration detention, this includes work exclusions which hinder mobility, life choices and economic independence, as well as fuelling engagement in both ‘voluntary’ unpaid work arrangements, and/or unregulated ‘criminal’ labour practices which arise as a result of exclusionary laws intent on creating a hostile environment. Inside of immigration detention analysis extends to the practice of ‘paid activities’ in which immigration detainees undertake millions of hours of work at a rate of £1.00 per hour, ostensibly ‘for their own benefit’. Labour law and its explicit exclusions, as well as the social welfare framework, thereby intersect with immigration control and the criminal law to construct, shape and reproduce this carceral sphere which seeks to control and govern asylum seekers’ lives as well as entrenching their vulnerability as an easily exploitable workforce from which value can be extracted.

The formation of the tourism labour market in Spain, 1955–1973

AbstractThis paper studies the process of labour market formation in the tourism industry in Spain. Results show that tourism regions diverged in their capacity to attract local labour, a factor that led to different compositions of the workforce. In the most dynamic regions, circular migration became a key factor as a result of housing shortages, seasonality and labour policy. Tourism agents promoted these flows by different mechanisms such as recruitment at origin and temporary accommodation. Migration benefited growth of firms, natives' upward mobility and migrants' accumulation of capital. However, inequality in the regional labour market and host society increased.

Introduction: The formalization of paid domestic work – Current trajectories and challenges ahead

Since the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), formalization has become the focus of public policies. However, progress in formalizing domestic work remains slow. Even when legal coverage is increased under new labour and social security laws, enforcement is often inadequate, rendering the coverage ineffective. Our introduction to this Special Issue explores the dynamics and causal factors that shape effective formalization, as well as the intermediate arrangements that exist between informal and formal work, highlighting the agency of different actors (States, intermediaries, collective actors, employers and workers) at the macro, meso and micro levels.

Technological progress and economic dynamics: Unveiling the long memory of total factor productivity

This study aims to explore the dynamics of total factor productivity (TFP) in 40 advanced economies and its implications for economic stability, growth patterns, and technological integration. Understanding the concept of long memory in TFP is crucial in comprehending the diverse paths of economic development and technological advancement in different nations. The study endeavors to clarify the concept of long memory in TFP and analyze its impact on economic stability, growth patterns, and technological integration on a global scale. The research employs a sophisticated methodological framework that integrates a combination of unit root tests, non-parametric methods, fractional integration techniques, and ARFIMA models. This multifaceted approach provides a nuanced understanding of the persistence in TFP series and helps distinguish between stable and mean-reverting TFP dynamics across different nations. The analysis highlights the varying trajectories of TFP across these economies, which sheds light on the diverse paths of economic development and technological advancement. The findings of this research are pivotal in comprehending the role of TFP in shaping growth convergence, influencing business cycle fluctuations, and technological progress. The study contributes to policy discourse by proposing strategic policy measures that harness the long-term trends of TFP. These recommendations encompass key areas such as labor, capital, institutional frameworks, and innovation policies. Countries can optimize sustainable economic development and foster effective technological integration in an increasingly interconnected global economy by implementing these measures.

The Role of Trade Unions in Representing Workers on Digital Labor Platforms

This research examines the specific challenges faced by digital platform workers. Currently, the legal status of these workers remains ambiguous, and the regulatory frameworks, unprepared for these developments in the transformation of the labour market, significantly hinder collective bargaining efforts. The paper argues that labour law reforms are essential to explicitly recognize and regulate platform work, granting independent workers in this sector the right to form and join unions. Such reforms would empower platform workers to advocate for their rights, ensuring they are not left behind in the ever-evolving digital economy. Ultimately, the active participation of adaptive and revitalized unions will be crucial in securing fair and just treatment for digital platform workers on a global scale.

The Regulation of Remote Work. Seeking Balance Through the Articulation of Labour Law Sources: A Comparative Appraisal

The Covid-19 pandemic contributed to an unprecedented expansion of remote work across European countries, transforming what was once a marginal form of work into a new ‘normal’, particularly in its hybrid form. While bringing advantages for both employers and workers, remote work is also associated with some negative impacts on workers’ rights and well-being, including isolation, overtime, stress and difficulties to socialize and organize collectively.This paper explores post-pandemic changes in the regulation of telework in selected European Union (EU) Member States, in an attempt to identify common trends and obstacles in coping with the challenges outlined above. The analysis, attentive to the articulation of different legal sources and regulatory levels, focuses on four areas that are particularly relevant for the regulation of working from home: health and safety; working time; the right to disconnect; and privacy. The five jurisdictions examined – Italy, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Sweden – are representative of different models in the regulation of remote work within the EU.The paper argues that the current regulation of remote work arising from different legal sources and regulatory levels, while offering flexibility to adapt to its specificities, falls short of ensuring a coherent and comprehensive legal framework. This leaves unaddressed some of the challenges raised by the extensive recourse to remote work, giving rise to the need for a more targeted and holistic approach in regulation at different levels.

Conceptualizing Worker-to-Worker Relations: A Comparative Perspective

Contemporary labour law scholarship places the relationship between employers and employees at the heart of its analysis, mostly disregarding relations between workers, especially if they belong to different organizations. This article argues that such an approach is one-dimensional and misses a central aspect of the experience of being a worker. It argues that the increasing complexity of the modern workplace requires a coherent scholarly account of this additional dimension of workplace dynamics.Attempting to address this blind spot, the article suggests conceptualizing worker-to-worker relations as a type of community: the ‘Worker-Community’. This new paradigm advances our understanding of the special characteristics, including duties and obligations, of relations between workers. The article further examines the range of potential legal implications of this model, from bullying and sexual harassment to the unregulated practice of underbidding in the gig or platform economy.

Minding the gap? Blind spots in the ILO's and the EU's perspective on anti-forced labour policy

This article critically examines the EU's recent proposal to ban products made with forced labour from its market, which adopts the ILO's definition of ‘forced labour’ as outlined in the Forced Labour Convention of 1930 (No. 29). The authors argue that the EU's endorsement of the ILO's approach is problematic due to two flawed assumptions: (1) the definition of ‘forced labour’ is universally accepted across the EU, and (2) it is well-suited to combat forced labour in contemporary supply chains. Through an analysis of ongoing debates between the ILO and its Member States, the article demonstrates a lack of consensus regarding the interpretation of the Convention, particularly in the context of hybrid public-private prison labour arrangements. Furthermore, introducing a new Hybrid Multi-Dimensional (HMD) model for analysing contemporary prison labour practices, the article reveals blind spots in the ILO's approach that may inadvertently allow the incorporation of prison labour into supply chains, contrary to the EU's objectives. The article argues that the EU's unequivocal endorsement of the ILO's definition disregards these fundamental issues and may hinder the effective implementation of its proposed ban. The authors suggest that the HMD model offers a more comprehensive framework for analysing the complex realities of modern prison labour and could provide a roadmap for resolving the ILO-States debate. The article concludes that the EU should reconsider its wholesale adoption of the ILO's approach in light of the HMD model's insights in order to fulfil the objectives of its proposed forced labour product ban.