A significant amount of literature discusses the changing nature of the social service sector and social work due to neoliberalism. The literature review discusses these neoliberal changes in connection with precarious employment and its’ impact on social work skills, career satisfaction and resistance. A small qualitative study was done, from a feminist and critical perspective, to understand how precarious employment impacts the particular social work skills of: relationship building, advocacy and reflexivity. Also, this study aimed to learn whether or not social workers engaged in activities and discussions to address precarious employment in their organizations and whether the impact of precarious employment on social work skills affected career satisfaction. This data for this study was collected through 5 semi-structured interviews. Participants held a Bachelors in Social work degree and or a Master’s degree with a minimum of one years work experience. Their length of practice ranged from 1 to 14 years, and came from a variety of service sectors. Through the stories participants shared it became evident that precarious employment had a negative impact on participants’ ability to engage in relationship building, reflexivity and advocacy. Also, precarious employment negatively impacted career satisfaction. It also became evident that resistance to precarious employment became difficult; however, participants still resisted through the use of unions and smaller acts of resistance. Findings highlight the need for the social work profession and social work organizations to challenge the neoliberal norm permanent precarious employment and to advocate for standard employment relationships with social workers. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Employer demands for flexible work practices have seen an increase in the diversity of employment relationships illustrated by a global growth of people working in contingent or precarious positions. Increasing evidence suggests that precarious employment is associated with poorer occupational health and safety (OHS) outcomes in terms of injury rates, disease risk and psychological wellbeing. This study used a cross sectional survey of 255 employees to compare the OHS experiences of temporary (N = 156, 61.2%) and permanent (N = 99, 38.8%) workers employed in three companies involved in the seasonal processing of primary agriculture products (dairy, meat and produce) in two regions of New Zealand. This research identified a clearly definable group of temporary workers (seasonals), who exhibit different characteristics to those commonly associated with precarious employment as they have an expectation of reasonable lengths of fairly secure employment (seasons exceed eight months). Many respondents only undertook one period of employment per year and were re-engaged in subsequent seasons. There are limited opportunities for alternative employment adjacent to these plants. This creates a dependant employment market, potentially putting labour in a weak bargaining position. This is countered by a high overall level of union membership (N = 181, 71%) and the operation of collective employment contracts. This may be atypical in seasonal industries. Injury numbers were similar (permanent N = 49, 49.5%, temporary N = 73, 46.8%) and serious injuries (permanent N = 23, 23.2%, temporary N = 31, 19.9%). Once a factor was introduced to compensate for exposure time, thereby creating a frequency rate, results showed a statistically significant difference with temporary workers suffering injuries and serious injuries with less exposure than their permanent counterparts (t (193.821) = -5.566, p < 0.05 and (t (236.928) = -2.160, p < 0.05 respectively). There was a significant difference in chronic injuries with permanent employees being more likely to have a chronic injury (F91,253) = 20.456, p<0.05). Most importantly, using the General Linear Model (logistic regression), when all other influences were controlled for, this research found employment status remained influential in determining whether a respondent was injured at work or not.

Employer demands for flexible work practices have seen an increase in the diversity of employment relationships illustrated by a global growth of people working in contingent or precarious positions. Increasing evidence suggests that precarious employment is associated with poorer occupational health and safety (OHS) outcomes in terms of injury rates, disease risk and psychological wellbeing. This study used a cross sectional survey of 255 employees to compare the OHS experiences of temporary (N = 156, 61.2%) and permanent (N = 99, 38.8%) workers employed in three companies involved in the seasonal processing of primary agriculture products (dairy, meat and produce) in two regions of New Zealand. This research identified a clearly definable group of temporary workers (seasonals), who exhibit different characteristics to those commonly associated with precarious employment as they have an expectation of reasonable lengths of fairly secure employment (seasons exceed eight months). Many respondents only undertook one period of employment per year and were re-engaged in subsequent seasons. There are limited opportunities for alternative employment adjacent to these plants. This creates a dependant employment market, potentially putting labour in a weak bargaining position. This is countered by a high overall level of union membership (N = 181, 71%) and the operation of collective employment contracts. This may be atypical in seasonal industries. Injury numbers were similar (permanent N = 49, 49.5%, temporary N = 73, 46.8%) and serious injuries (permanent N = 23, 23.2%, temporary N = 31, 19.9%). Once a factor was introduced to compensate for exposure time, thereby creating a frequency rate, results showed a statistically significant difference with temporary workers suffering injuries and serious injuries with less exposure than their permanent counterparts (t (193.821) = -5.566, p < 0.05 and (t (236.928) = -2.160, p < 0.05 respectively). There was a significant difference in chronic injuries with permanent employees being more likely to have a chronic injury (F91,253) = 20.456, p<0.05). Most importantly, using the General Linear Model (logistic regression), when all other influences were controlled for, this research found employment status remained influential in determining whether a respondent was injured at work or not.

The dissertation is composed of four manuscripts, positioned within the field of economic geography. Manuscript one broadly examined how precarious forms of employment (PFEs) are spatially patterned within multiple scales and across a range of geographies. The results suggested that different PFEs exhibited distinct spatial patterns across space and scale. For example, temporary and involuntary part-time work was more prevalent in Atlantic Canada and became gradually less prevalent moving westward. In contrast, part-time employment and employment in multiple jobs were more common in western Canada than in central and Atlantic Canada. The results also confirmed that all PFEs (except for involuntary-part-time work) were more common in rural and small-town areas, and less common in large urban areas. Second, using logistic regression models, results showed that the prevalence of PFEs was reinforced by factors such as immigration status, gender, age, education, and income. These models further confirmed that spatial patterns of PFEs were robust in finer scales i.e. CMAs (census metropolitan areas) and urban/rural geographies even when controlling for socio-demographic and socio-economic effects. Manuscripts two and three builds on the findings in manuscript one by examining how PFEs are spatially patterned across social locations of gender and immigration status, respectively. Results showed that the east-west and urban-rural patterns observed in manuscript one were partially distorted when the analyses were disaggregated by gender and immigration status. The robustness of these spatial distortions was confirmed using logistic regression models. The fourth manuscript sought to understand the spatial characteristics influencing the spatial variations of temporary employment using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models. Key findings revealed that CMA/CAs (census metropolitan areas/census agglomerations) characterized by large shares of manufacturing, utility, and management occupations were significantly negatively associated with temporary employment. Conversely, CMA/CAs with high shares of sales and service occupations were positively associated with temporary employment. Generally, population characteristics (measured by metropolitan areas characterized by a high share of Asian immigrants, low-income earners, and employment insurance beneficiaries) contributed more to explaining positive temporary employment estimates than industry characteristics. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Precarious employment refers to forms of work characterized by limited job security, few employment benefits, lack of control over the labour process and low-wages. Restaurant work demonstrates a range of precarious forms of employment and reveals the complexity of issues that such jobs raise in the context of the regulation of the local labour market. This thesis analyses the nature of precarious employment in the restaurant industry in Kingston, Ontario. In particular, it seeks to understand how precarious employment is shaped by the structure and dynamics of the local labour market. The research highlights the role played by labour mobility, in shaping workers’ experiences of precarious work. Labour mobility refers to the movement of workers between different jobs and between different worksites within a structured local labour market as they seek to better their economic situation and generate a sustainable income for themselves. Through a discussion of labour mobility, this thesis seeks to contribute to a new lens through which the impacts of a precarious and flexible labour market can be better understood as they shape the lives of workers themselves. The objective of this study is to better understand the factors which shape the lived realities of precarious restaurant workers in one specific local labour market. The empirical analysis draws on data collected by Statistics Canada and interviews conducted with both employers and employees in local restaurants to analyze the structure of the local labour market and the nature of precarious employment. The research demonstrates that the restaurant industry in Kingston is comprised of three distinct submarkets, each of which appears to operate largely independently of one another. Interviews were conducted with employees and employers in the submarket located in downtown Kingston. Within this submarket the combined processes of labour market segmentation and labour mobility has a significant impact on workers experiences of precarious employment. By understanding the complex interaction of these two features within the labour market, we can begin to conceive of ways to address the issues associated with the precariously employed in the low-wage service industry. / Thesis (Master, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-23 11:01:41.562

Orientador: Giovanni Antonio Pinto Alves / Banca: Agnaldo dos Santos / Banca: Ângela Maria Carneiro Araújo / Resumo: A presente pesquisa propôs descrever e analisar as condições de trabalho e de vida do jovem empregado comerciário brasileiro. As questões abordadas dizem respeito à problemática da inserção ocupacional do jovem no Brasil. Geralmente, no caso do ramo comerciário, essa inserção representa a experiência do primeiro emprego e, de maneira geral, é marcada pela precariedade salarial e a alta taxa de rotatividade no trabalho. Para abordar esse universo, este estudo parte das vivências e experiências de trabalho sentidas pelos jovens trabalhadores da C&A, empresa de moda que representa uma das principais cadeias internacionais de loja de varejo. A discussão levantada versa entre o debate com a literatura proposta, a análise de trajetórias de vida e de depoimento dos entrevistados. Com isto, busca-se ao longo desta dissertação, dar ênfase tanto às transformações ocorridas sobre o padrão de inserção do jovem no mercado de trabalho brasileiro, como às formas de gestão e organização do trabalho presentes nas lojas da C&A, e, principalmente, à maneira como estas incidem sobre a vida dos jovens comerciários. Neste sentido, a proposta é explorar analiticamente diversos aspectos da vida desses jovens no que tange suas expectativas de futuro, concepções de mundo, anseios pessoais, as suas relações familiares e de amizade, o valor conferido à educação, bem como os impactos do trabalho no desenvolvimento das relações pessoais e na saúde. A investigação foi conduzida a partir da revisão bibliogr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The present research proposes to describe and analyze the working and living conditions of young Brazilian commerce workers. The questions that guide this research are related to the challenging insertion of young Brazilians in the labor market. Generally, in the case of the commerce sector, this insertion represents the experience of their first job, and, in general, is marked by a precarious wage and high rate of turnover at work. In order to approach this, the study starts from in the experiences at work reported by the youth workers of C&A, which is one of the main international chains of fashion retail. The argument is built with specific literature on that regard, the analysis of young workers details as well as the testimony of those interviewed. Through this dissertation, it is sought to emphasize both transformations that have occurred on the pattern of labor market insertion for young Brazilians, and forms of labor management and organization present at C&A stores, especially how that affects the lives of the young commerce workers. In that sense, the propose to explore analytically various aspects of the lives of these young people in terms of their future expectations, world views, personal yearnings, family relationships and friendships, the value given to education, as well as the impacts of labor in the development of personal relationships and in health. The research was conducted from bibliographic review, consultation and analysis of secondary sources, data ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Submitted by Erika Demachki (erikademachki@gmail.com) on 2016-03-03T21:26:05Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação- Deanne Teles Cardoso - 2015.pdf: 1168917 bytes, checksum: 68655858296ccadd20c31d02379fc77f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Erika Demachki (erikademachki@gmail.com) on 2016-03-03T21:27:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação- Deanne Teles Cardoso - 2015.pdf: 1168917 bytes, checksum: 68655858296ccadd20c31d02379fc77f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-03T21:27:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação- Deanne Teles Cardoso - 2015.pdf: 1168917 bytes, checksum: 68655858296ccadd20c31d02379fc77f (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The service sector has grown considerably in recent decades, driven by consumption that is the driving fashion reproduction of capital. The consumption appears as a strategy used by capital to reproduce itself through the expansion of the retail trade. The shops have undergone changes over the years in order to attract customers, facilitate and encourage the rise of consumerism. Using mainly from the labor that is available in the labor market, such as the female labor that search in participating, the opportunity for change of their social status as reproductive, caretaker of the house, husband, daughters and sons. The woman is employed in certain jobs for working women with low social prestige and the minimum rate of pay which in some cases can even be less than the man who performs the same function of women. The capital and reproduction strategy creates female labor strongholds as concerned the performance of functions in supermarkets and accentuates the sexual division of labor when taking as an example, the cashier function that is performed virtually by women. In addition to domestic work that still imposes itself as essentially feminine task and gives the woman the need for a double and/or triple workday. Resulting from a historical and social construction, gender issues express power relations, particularly with regard to the division between women and men when the biological differences are taken into account serving criteria to decrease the value of work performed by women and favoring the man for this exercise prestigious professions and reach leadership positions. The research aims to investigate the woman's process of integration in the labor market, being employed in supermarkets living the precarious working conditions in both the production space as reproductive. / O setor de serviços apresenta um considerável crescimento nas últimas décadas, impulsionado pelo consumo que é a mola propulsora da reprodução de capital. O consumo aparece como estratégia utilizada pelo capital a fim de reproduzir-se, por meio da expansão do comércio varejista. As lojas passaram por mudanças ao longo dos anos, a fim de atrair clientes, facilitar e incentivar a elevação do consumismo, utilizando-se principalmente da exploração da mão de obra que se encontra disponível no mercado de trabalho, como é o caso da mão de obra feminina, que busca na sua inserção a oportunidade de mudança da condição social das mulheres, como reprodutoras e cuidadoras da casa, do marido e de filhas e filhos. A mulher emprega-se em trabalhos determinados para as trabalhadoras do sexo feminino, com baixo prestígio social e a mínima remuneração salarial, que em alguns casos pode até ser inferior a do homem que desempenha a mesma função. O capital como estratégia de reprodução cria redutos de trabalho feminino, como o desempenho de funções nos supermercados, e acentua a divisão sexual do trabalho quando, por exemplo, a função de operadora de caixa é realizada quase exclusivamente por mulheres. Além do trabalho doméstico, que ainda se impõe como tarefa essencialmente feminina e proporciona à mulher a necessidade de realizar uma dupla ou tripla jornada diária. Resultante de uma construção histórica e social, as questões de gênero expressam as relações de poder, principalmente no que se refere à divisão entre mulher e homem, quando as diferenças biológicas são levadas em consideração, servindo de critérios para diminuir o valor do trabalho realizado pela mulher e favorecendo o homem, para que ele exerça profissões de prestígio e alcance cargos de chefia. A pesquisa tem como objetivo investigar o processo de inserção das mulheres no mercado de trabalho, estando empregadas nos supermercados, vivenciando a precarização das condições de trabalho tanto no espaço produtivo como no reprodutivo.

Over the last several decades, economic globalization has presented many `advanced' economies with a dilemma between facilitating the flow of goods while simultaneously regulating the flow of labor. This contradiction has manifested itself in the immigration policies of Canada and the U.S., which have each pursued distinct strategies for importing foreign workers to maintain global economic competition. Such workers, whether legal `guest workers' or `illegal' immigrants, reside within the boundaries of the state, yet remain permanent aliens. This dissertation explores how guest worker policy specifically and immigration policy more broadly have been constructed and debated in national political discourse from 1990 to 2010. In addition, research in two rural case study communities reveals how labor markets and social geographies are re-shaped by the interaction between workers of varying legal and `illegal' statuses. This multi-scaled and comparative analysis of the understudied issue of guest worker programs reveals how different forms of exclusion, constructed at national and local scales, become deeply interwoven together to produce new labor market realities and reinforce national identities predicated on protecting the composition of the nation while actively promoting global economic competition.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A presente dissertaÃÃo à fruto de uma investigaÃÃo com foco na compreensÃo e anÃlise da atividade empreendedora de trabalhadores de pequeno porte envolvidos no segmento de alimentaÃÃo na rua, e a discussÃo da vulnerabilidade caracterÃstica de seu espaÃo laboral que acaba os aproximando de um trabalho caracteristicamente precÃrio. A perspectiva empreendedora tem se difundido no Brasil nas Ãltimas dÃcadas como o caminho para quem busca desenvolvimento e sucesso profissional. Assim, boa parcela dos brasileiros tem se deslocado para trabalhos por conta prÃpria, normalmente mais volÃteis e imprevisÃveis. Questiona-se aqui de que maneira a realidade laboral do pequeno empreendedor se situa na mesma perspectiva de trabalho precÃrio, sem direitos e garantias, pautado numa lÃgica da flexibilizaÃÃo, intensificaÃÃo e exploraÃÃo do trabalho e do trabalhador. A pesquisa realizada à de natureza qualitativa, de modo que foi possÃvel compreender de forma mais ampla a experiÃncia laboral de cada sujeito e, de modo mais pontual, sua experiÃncia na atividade que desempenha. Buscou-se selecionar um instrumental adequado para a natureza do estudo, sendo realizado o seguinte percurso metodolÃgico: realizaÃÃo de entrevistas semi-estruturadas e AnÃlise de ConteÃdo como recurso de tratamento dos dados construÃdos nessas entrevistas. Buscou-se, desse modo, uma aproximaÃÃo da realidade do pequeno empreendedor, sob a perspectiva de seu prÃprio discurso, e a compreensÃo das peculiaridades de sua atividade e dos impactos psicossociais advindos de processos de trabalho tipicamente precÃrios.

This is a study into the impact of precarious work, defined as low-skill and low-pay jobs, on workers in the South West of Britain. In it, I investigate the experiences of three broad groups of precarious workers: migrants, care assistants (adult and nursery) and employees working for ‘Cleanwell’, an international provider of cleaning and catering services. My approach identifies and occupies the central ground between two opposing perspectives. Along with Guy Standing (2014; 2011), I acknowledge the existence of employment structures which can be objectively described as lacking the security of meaningful pay, tenure, access to training and progression. However, I reject the reductive structural determinism, from structures of work towards working experiences, which he implies. With Kevin Doogan (2015; 2013), I recognise the opposing, ‘rising security’ argument which cautions against homogenous classifications of precarious workers. Nevertheless, I view it as incomplete, challenging only the extent of precarity conditions but not the inherently negative experiences associated with them. In my investigation, I distinguish between ‘precarity’, as the terms and conditions of low-pay and low-skill work and ‘precariousness’, conceptualised as the corresponding worker experiences. Grounding my study in a phenomenological paradigm of enquiry and adopting a ‘meaning condensation’ method of analysis (Kvale, 1996), I seek to understand whether workers can re-construct the negative impact of precarious contexts. As a result, I present precariousness as essentially relational and not absolute. Furthermore, the re-construction of the precarious experience draws on the support of social groups and can lead to fulfilling professional identities. Lastly, precariousness can be a pedagogic experience, both positive and developmental, through which workers can follow the example set by parents and grandparents, as well as serving as role-models themselves. In the study, I challenge assumptions that precarious work has a predominantly negative impact on workers, yet caution against arguments for worker collectivisation and resistance. I argue that precariousness is a phenomenon neither fully determined by low-skill, low-pay contexts, nor simply a psychological state manifested in isolation from precarious work. Rather, it is the phenomenological ‘intending’ (Sokolowski, 2000) of precarious structures, that is, the conscious engagement of precarious workers with low-pay and low-skill work through a range of attitudes, beliefs, views and opinions. Defining it in such a way is a departure from conventional approaches and through it, I show that precariousness offers a wider range of, both positive and negative experiences. It is a means through which even the employment context of precarious work can be re-constructed by individual workers who do not have allegiance to a precariat class, whether actual, or ‘in-the-making’ (Standing, 2011).