Employee Options Research Articles

О дополнении физкультурно-спортивной деятельностью триады социально значимых видов деятельности

In the article, the author continues to study the issue of supplementing optional types of behavior of employees and employees of organizations performing publicly significant functions (hereinafter referred to as Employees) with physical education and sports activities. Moreover, the positive attempts to solve the problem under consideration today are characterized by a narrow approach, extending only to athletes from elite sports who are also military personnel and (or) employees of internal affairs bodies and other services with special ranks. The author, with the growing importance of physical culture and sports as an independent industry, based on previously conducted research on the authenticity of the social essence of physical education and sports along with pedagogical (teaching), scientific and other creative activities, proposes to supplement the list of optional behavior options for those serving in physical education and sports activities regardless of the nature of its payment, which does not interfere with the performance of official (official) duties by Employees, starting with deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. In addition, the inclusion of physical education and sports activities in the list of optional behavior options for Employees will not only eliminate the false legal consciousness existing in society about the applied, secondary nature of physical education and sports activities along with other socially significant activities, but will also serve as the basis for improving the all-Russian classifiers of labor, education and types of economic activities by identifying in them an independent section “Physical culture and sports”.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms among Pediatric Healthcare Workers.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms related to work in pediatric departments aremajor public health problems, as they directly affect health organizations, healthcare workers, and, due to the poor quality of care, the patients as well. The post-traumatic symptoms that a healthcare worker may experience are related to intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in cognition and mood, and changes in arousal and reactivity. The aim of the present investigation was to identify risk factors that contribute to the development of PTSD in pediatric healthcare workers, in order to implement necessary workplace measures. A sample of four hundred and forty-five pediatric workers at seven Greek public hospitals consented to participate in the survey. Socio-demographic data and a post-traumatic checklist (5th edition) were used to diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder. According to the results, risk factors for the development of post-traumatic symptoms include medical or nursing errors, threats to a child's life, and incidents of workplace bullying. More specifically, 25.2% of the participants had a provisional PTSD diagnosis, 72.8%of the sample experienced an incident involving a medical or nursing error in their workplace related to the treatment or care of a child, 56% experienced an incident involving a child's death or a threat to a child's life due to a serious illness or injury, and 55.5% experienced an incident of workplace bullying. In addition, it was found that having a university-level education, master's, or PhD, working in a circular shift, being assigned to a department by management rather than the worker, and dissatisfaction with salary were associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. The high rates of PTSD symptoms among participants highlight the need for prevention and management measures to protect and support the mental health of workers in pediatric departments. We propose frequent evaluations of the mental health of employees, more time for rest, incentives for professional development, utilization of their specializations and specialties, support from mental health specialists when symptoms are diagnosed, and the option for employees to change departments if they wish or if they show symptoms of mental trauma.

Cybersecurity when working from home during COVID-19: considering the human factors

Abstract This research examined the lives of Australian employees who moved to work from home during COVID-19. Taking a unique approach to cybersecurity, we sought to gain insights into the intermingling of individuals’ personal lives and technology to inform policies and educational programmes. The study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to understand 27 participants’ lived experiences under lockdown. We found that psychological (e.g. stress, anxiety, confidence, motivation) and sociological (e.g. sharing physical spaces, digital divide) factors impacted employees’ likelihood and ability to engage in effective cybersecurity practices. So did new ways of using technology (e.g. teaching via Zoom), which elucidated unexpected but significant security concerns (e.g. naked children in virtual classrooms). We suggest that cyber educators and policymakers take a Vygotskian approach, which considers that social interaction is central to learning. This assumption means that personal factors must be considered instead of a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’. We argue that organizations should think about approaches that consider the employees’ psychological state before training (and perhaps find ways to reduce anxiety), helping employees redesign their home workspaces to ensure privacy and concentration, and updating employees’ digital devices. Practitioners and scholars can also apply these results post-COVID-19, especially if the ‘new working normal’ provides options for employees to work from home.

Could the 4‐day week work? A scoping review

The 4‐day work week (4DWW) was popularised in the 1970s, but has recently gained significant global attention again, with a growing number of organisations experimenting with the 4DWW in response to increasing demand for more flexible work arrangements (FWA) in the aftermath of the COVID‐19 pandemic. The emergence of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, with their potential to support worktime reduction strategies, are also refuelling interest in a shorter working week. This renewed interest motivated this scoping review of 1769 4DWW records from the past 52 years and enabled the authors to identify five major themes: employee acceptance, allocation of time, leisure, gender and career advancement, and productivity. These themes are used to consider specific forms of 4DWW in terms of whether days of work are fixed or flexible, whether the 4DWW is an employee option, and whether total weekly hours worked or pay are reduced. Conservation of resources theory is used as a lens for interpreting the themes. The authors believe these themes and lessons have significant implications for a growing number of scholars and practitioners, who are investigating, trialling, and implementing 4DWW arrangements, in response to growing demand for more FWA options from employees across all sectors.

Do outside options drive wage inequalities in retained jobs? Evidence from a natural experiment

AbstractWe provide evidence that suggests that a reduction in outside wage options reduces wage increases in retained jobs. We use the natural experiment of a reform that reduced outside wage options for employees in deregulated crafts occupations in comparison to employees in not reformed crafts occupations. To avoid estimation biases from general reform effects on wages, we concentrate on employees active in crafts occupations who worked for employers in the industry and commerce sectors and exclude employees in the crafts sector. Four years after the reform, the wages of treated employees in deregulated crafts were 5 per cent lower than wages of employees in not reformed occupations (control group). The reform, therefore, led to wage differentiation between comparable employees. The wage effects are concentrated in employers with high general wage increases after the reform and they can be found even at individual employers.

Ethnic Soups from Rupea Area (Romania) as Resources for Sustainable Local Development

In Rupea area, in central Romania, Romanians, Saxons, Magyars and Roma people live. Their traditional ethnic cuisines represent intangible cultural heritage resources. In a qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with respondents from all four ethnicities, we identified the dishes, spices and tastes considered representative by them through thematic analysis. We compared ethnic gastronomic characteristics using doublets of gustemes, based on Claude Lévi-Strauss’ model, and highlighted the touristic potential of serving the soups of all ethnic groups as a common touristic package. The comparison highlighted similarities due to the dependence of all locals on indigenous food resources, but also differences due to the different propensity to capitalize on spontaneous flora or to adopt Austro-Hungarian influences. The soups, with their similarities and differences, are gastronomic reflections of the historical status and the long coexistence of the ethnic groups in Transylvania. The touristic capitalization of soups as an intangible cultural heritage resource can become a source of income for local people, contributing to the strengthening of local identity and the sustainable development of the area. It is supported by social entrepreneurship tourism and the consolidation of local networks of producers. In addition, ethnic soups can also be used as a quick and effective lunch option for assisted elderly people, students or busy employees.

Principles of developing a web application for monitoring employee skills

Summarizing the definition of the concept of "skills" from the reviewed literary sources, we determine that: skills are a combination of knowledge and skills that a person has acquired during his life. To improve skills, you need to choose certain tools (trainings, seminars, webinars, online courses, refresher courses, reading special literature, etc.). Personal qualities and attitudes of young people are important in choosing tools and achieving results. As part of this study, the principles of building a web application for monitoring the skills of employees were designed and developed. The web resource has a convenient user interface, the ability to view an employee’s skill map, leave comments on a specific employee skill, allows users to create and sign up for existing training courses, generate certificates confirming mastery of a skill, and view statistics. Unlike other analogs of programs for monitoring skills, this system provides for the interaction of three types of users: manager, mentor, and employee. The manager’s options include: creating a technology ownership template, personnel management, skills management, certificate management, notification management; Mentor options include: skill management, training management, notification management; Employee options include the following: skill management, training management, notification management, certificate management, view statistics, view recommendations.

The causal effect of option ownership on employee performance: Empirical evidence from personnel data

We use personnel data from a Chinese firm to explore the incentive effect of employee options on performance. To obtain the causal effect, the difference-in-differences method is used based upon a data set of employees nominated for option ownership. Comparing employees who were granted options with those who had only been nominated, we find that the impact of option ownership on employees’ performance is insignificant and results are robust across the board. Moreover, a heterogeneity analysis indicates that the incentive effect exists for employees at high job levels but remains insignificant for workers at low job levels; there is no difference in effect across genders or between high and low education; in addition, whether employees had plans to exercise their options has no impact on the incentive effect.

Outside Options Drive Wage Inequalities in Continuing Jobs: Evidence From a Natural Experiment

The literature on wage bargaining so far mainly argues that unemployment benefits are relevant outside options for employees. This paper demonstrates that also a change in outside wage options drives wages in continuing jobs. We use the natural experiment of a crafts reform that reduces outside wage options for a clearly defined treatment group of employees in deregulated crafts occupations in comparison to employees in crafts occupations that have not been reformed. Five years after the reform,the wages of employees in deregulated crafts increased by five percent less than wages of employees in the other group. Reform effects are concentrated in employers with high increases in their median wage level after the reform. Wage differences therefore seem to be the result of wage renegotiations initiated by employees,rather than renegotiations initiated by employers.Works councils or collective bargaining, firm size, firm profits or regional unemployment have no impact on wage differentiation after taking wage increases into account. We show for the first time that changes in outside options induce wage differentiation at the employer level even in the tightly regulated German labour market. We use entropy matching on the basis of a large representative administrative linked employer-employee panel data set to guarantee homogeneous treatment and control groups before the reform.We isolate the outside wage option effect from other wage determinants by restricting our sample to employers not affected by the crafts reform.

Work related ICT use and work intensity: The role of mobile devices

In this paper, we examine whether ICT use at work is related to different facets of work intensity, including time pressure, multitasking, and interruptions, as well as the number of hours worked overtime as an indicator of work extension. For ICT use, we distinguish different devices by their associated flexibility options for employees considering using a desktop PC, a laptop, and a smartphone/tablet. Moreover, we explore whether further technology-related variables at the intersection of technology, the organization, and the individual are related to work intensity or might even partly explain why ICT use is related to work intensity. The analyses are based on the 2019 survey “Digitization and Change in Employment (DiWaBe).” OLS results indicate that the work-related use of a smartphone or tablet is related to significantly higher levels of work intensity and work extension, regardless of the indicator considered. In contrast, we find no evidence that working with a laptop is associated with increased work intensity. This suggests that the flexibility options associated with a given mobile device are crucial. Further analyses reveal that technology-induced interruptions and information overload in particular are strongly related to work intensity.

Cascading Effects of COVID-19 on Women in Cardiology.

Cascading Effects of COVID-19 on Women in Cardiology.

Exit only: harms from silencing employee voice

The nationwide shortage of PPE for health care workers has been well documented. Reporting on this issue has been complicated by hospitals' imposition of gag orders on physicians and health care workers. There are harms that result from imposing these gag orders that go beyond the obvious harms to public and employee health and safety. Using Hirschman's ‘Exit, Voice, and Loyalty’ (1970) as a framework demonstrates that these orders represent a dangerous concentration of power in employer hands — health care workers are reduced to functionaries. Hirschman's argument, in part, is that organisations should seek to balance the availability of exit, voice, and loyalty for employees. Restricting employee options in morally untenable situations to exit only leads to direct and indirect harms. These gag orders are a pernicious practice, and bring with them long-term negative implications for employee morale, employee effectiveness, and public service.

Prevalence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Outcomes Among Symptomatic Healthcare Workers in Seattle, Washington.

BackgroundHealthcare workers (HCWs) who serve on the front lines of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been at increased risk for infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in some settings. Healthcare-acquired infection has been reported in similar epidemics, but there are limited data on the prevalence of COVID-19 among HCWs and their associated clinical outcomes in the United States.MethodsWe established 2 high-throughput employee testing centers in Seattle, Washington, with drive-through and walk-through options for symptomatic employees in the University of Washington Medicine system and its affiliated organizations. Using data from these testing centers, we report the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among symptomatic employees and describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes among employees with COVID-19.ResultsBetween 12 March 2020 and 23 April 2020, 3477 symptomatic employees were tested for COVID-19 at 2 employee testing centers; 185 (5.3%) employees tested positive for COVID-19. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was similar when comparing frontline HCWs (5.2%) with nonfrontline staff (5.5%). Among 174 positive employees reached for follow-up at least 14 days after diagnosis, 6 reported COVID-related hospitalization; all recovered.ConclusionsDuring the study period, we observed that the prevalence of positive SARS-CoV-2 tests among symptomatic HCWs was comparable to that of symptomatic nonfrontline staff. Reliable and rapid access to testing for employees is essential to preserve the health, safety, and availability of the healthcare workforce during this pandemic and to facilitate the rapid return of SARS-CoV-2–negative employees to work.

The Reasons, Conditions, And Process of Stock Options for Employees

Hisse senedi opsiyon planı; gelecekteki bir tarihe kadar çalışanlara belli bir fiyattan ve miktardan hisse senedi alma imkanının (opsiyonunun) tanınmasıdır. Hisse opsiyonu finansal olarak kayıp riskini sınırlarken, çalışanlara yönelik uygulama da prim tarzında çalışmaktadır. Çalışanlara yönelik hisse opsiyonuyla kar paylaşımı arasındaki fark mülkiyet faktörü girdiğinde çalışanın şirketle olan bağı kuvvetlenmesi ve uzun dönemli düşünmeye yönelmesidir. Primin, hisse opsiyonu şeklinde olması sebebiyle, çalışanın tercih hakkı bulunmaktadır. Bu tercih kullanılırken yatırımcının göz önünde bulundurulması gereken en önemli kriter, şirketin potansiyel olarak büyük başarı elde etmesi, halka arz olması veya başka bir şirkete satılabilme olasılığını sezebilmesidir. Hakkın kullanılması yönüyle tercih yapacak bir çalışanın cevap araması gereken sorular: Şirket halka arza ne kadar yakın? Potansiyel değeri ne kadar yüksek? Geçmiş dönemde performans kriterlerinin ne kadarını gerçekleştirebildi? Opsiyon şartları zorlayıcı mı? Nakit paraya ihtiyacım var mı? Vergisel avantajları nelerdir?

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Is the Personal Grievance Process Adequate?

Sexual harassment infiltrates many workplaces across New Zealand. In recent years, the issue has received growing media coverage and public discussion. Due to the destructive nature of sexual harassment, the New Zealand legal system needs to have strong protections in place for victims. The personal grievance process offers one avenue for an employee to seek recourse against their employer for sexual harassment they suffered during employment. This essay examines whether the current personal grievance process under the Employment Relations Act is fit for dealing with instances of sexual harassment that occur in the workplace. Significant flaws in the process are identified and reform is proposed. The current dispute resolution options available to victims of workplace sexual harassment are also problematic. Mediation may be inappropriate for resolving many cases of sexual harassment in the workplace. The investigative role of the Employment Relations Authority has the potential to provide a better dispute resolution option for employees who suffer sexual harassment. In sum, the current personal grievance process, including dispute resolution options, are inadequate for dealing with cases of workplace sexual harassment in New Zealand and reform is needed.

Opções de ações e disclosure: o nível de divulgação das instituições financeiras

As opções de ações a funcionários que têm como vantagem a possibilidade do colaborador participar na valorização futura da empresa estão no cerne de crises financeiras e escândalos corporativos relacionados, principalmente, à manipulação de demonstrações contábeis. Diante dos novos dispositivos como os da Lei Sarbanes-Oxley (2002) e de Basiléia III (2010) emergem entre outros objetivos garantir maior transparência na gestão de empresas. Nesse sentido, o presente estudo buscou avaliar o nível de disclosure das instituições financeiras pós-crise financeira de 2008 dos programas de pagamento a funcionários. A amostra foi composta pelos principais bancos de 33 países, os denominados “grandes de demais para quebrar” que são mais propensos a absorver recursos públicos como forma de evitar sua falência, totalizando uma amostra total de 172 instituições. A qualidade das informações foi medida pela soma unitária de itens presentes ou não nas demonstrações financeiras, buscou-se estabelecer uma classificação para se pontuar países e instituições individualmente quanto às práticas de divulgação por meio de um conjunto de informações qualitativas e quantitativas que estavam nas notas explicativas. Os resultados indicam que o nível disclosure é influenciado pelo grupo cultural abordado conforme de modelo de Gray (1988), com o destaque do grupo cultural anglo-saxônico pela qualidade das informações e a uniformidade dos resultados. Observou-se que a aderência a esses programas de remuneração é influenciada pelo tamanho da economia dos países, com exceção de países como Alemanha, México e a Índia.

Presentation Slides for 'Limited Attention, Information Disclosure, and Financial Reporting'

This paper models firms' choices between alternative means of presenting information, and the effects of different presentations on market prices when investors have limited attention and processing power. In a market equilibrium with partially attentive investors, we examine the effects of alternative: levels of discretion in pro forma earnings disclosure, methods of accounting for employee option compensation, and degrees of aggregation in reporting. We derive empirical implications relating pro forma adjustments, option compensation, the growth, persistence, and informativeness of earnings, short-run managerial incentives, and other firm characteristics to stock price reactions, misvaluation, long-run abnormal returns, and corporate decisions. The paper is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=334940.

Between Flexibility and Precarity

The recent economic crisis has increased the demand for atypical, flexible work patterns. Czech lawmakers have thus been under a continuous pressure by employers to adopt more liberal labour laws. Any increase of flexibility in labour relations, however, increases the risk of worsening the conditions of employees and deepening of precarity in labour relations. The article focuses on the current legal regulation of flexible forms of work under Czech law, and attempts to evaluate to which extent these patterns represent a welcomed option for both employers and employees, and to which extent they trigger the risk of precarious work. The author describes legal instruments such as agreements on performance of work outside employment relationship, fixed-term employment, part-time employment, employment through temporary work agency and remote working. Particular attention is paid to illegal work issues and related proceedings against employers. In summary, the author concludes that the increase of flexibility in labour relations has had positive consequences in many aspects, but also debates potential issues and challenges arising of the legal regulation for workers.

Valuation of an early exercise defined benefit underpin hybrid pension

In this paper, we consider three types of embedded options in pension benefit design. The first is the Florida second election (FSE) option, which has been offered to public employees in the state of Florida since 2002. The state runs both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Employees who initially join the DC plan have the option to convert to the (DB) plan at a time of their choosing. The cost of the switch is assessed in terms of the ABO (Accrued Benefit Obligation), which is the expected present value of the accrued DB pension at the time of the switch. If the ABO is greater than the DC account, the employee is required to fund the difference. The second is the DB Underpin option, also known as a ‘floor offset’ or a ‘Greater-of-benefit’ plan, under which the employee participates in a DC plan, but with a guaranteed minimum benefit based on a traditional DB formula. The third option can be considered a variation on each of the first two. We remove the requirement from the FSE option for employees to fund any shortfall at the switching date. The resulting plan is similar to the DB underpin, but with the possibility of early exercise. We adopt an arbitrage-free pricing methodology to value each option. We analyse and value the optimal switching strategy for the employee by constructing an exercise frontier, and we illustrate numerically the difference between the FSE, DB Underpin and Early Exercise DB Underpin options.

Valuation of a Early Exercise Defined Benefit (DB) Underpin Hybrid Pension Benefit

In this paper we consider three types of embedded options in pension benefit design. The first is the Florida second election (FSE) option, which has been offered to public employees in the state of Florida since 2002. The state runs both defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Employees who initially join the DC plan have the option to convert to the (DB) plan at a time of their choosing. The cost of the switch is assessed in terms of the ABO (Accrued Benefit Obligation), which is the expected present value of the accrued DB pension at the time of the switch. If the ABO is greater than the DC account, the employee is required to fund the difference. The second is the DB Underpin option, also known as a floor offset plan, under which the employee participates in a DC plan, but with a guaranteed minimum benefit based on a traditional DB formula. The third option can be considered a variation on each of the first two. We remove the requirement from the FSE option for employees to fund any shortfall at the switching date. The resulting plan is similar to the DB underpin, but with the possibility of early exercise. We adopt an arbitrage-free pricing methodology to value each option. We analyse and value the optimal switching strategy for the employee by constructing an exercise frontier, and we illustrate numerically the difference between the FSE, DB Underpin and Early Exercise DB Underpin options.