Documents workplace 233 results

"Participation is a social process, which is basically part of an exchange relationship. Thus, it is principally pluralist and ambiguous in its meaning. As a consequence, the reconciliation of voices needs innovative approaches to support balanced participation experiences. The ambivalent character of participation intends to provide a look at new initiatives in the various fields of workplace participation. Leading international scholars examine the role of institutional contexts for participation, the development of new forms of interest organisation as well as the relationship between organisational performance, participation practices and quality of working life. The contributions are not limited to taking stock of new experiences in the field of workplace participation, but also contribute to designing a new research agenda. "

"Concerns associated with globalisation of markets, exacerbated by the 'credit crunch', have placed pressure on many nation states to make their labour markets more 'flexible'. In so doing, many states have sought to reduce labour standards and to diminish the influence of trade unions as the advocates of such standards. One response to this development, both nationally and internationally, has been to emphasise that workers' rights are fundamental human rights. This collection of essays examines whether this is an appropriate or effective strategy. The book begins by considering the translation of human rights discourse into labour standards, namely how theory might be put into practice. The remainder of the book tests hypotheses posited in the first chapter and is divided into three parts. The first part investigates, through a number of national case studies, how, in practice, workers' rights are treated as human rights in the domestic legal context. These ten chapters cover African, American, Asian, European, and Pacific countries. The second part consists of essays which analyse the operation of regional or international systems for human rights promotion, and their particular relevance to the treatment of workers' rights as human rights. The final part consists of chapters which explore regulatory alternatives to the traditional use of human rights law. The book concludes by considering the merits of various regulatory approaches."

"In an attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, several countries have implemented various social restrictions, such as closing schools and asking people to work from home. Nevertheless, after months of strict quarantine, a reopening of society is required. Many countries are planning exit strategies to progressively lift the lockdown without leading to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. Identifying exit strategies for a safe reopening of schools and places of work is critical in informing decision-makers on the management of the COVID-19 health crisis. This scoping review describes multiple population-wide strategies, including social distancing, testing, and contact tracing. It highlights how each strategy needs to be based on both the epidemiological situation and contextualize at local circumstances to anticipate the possibility of COVID-19 resurgence. However, the retrieved evidence lacks operational solutions and are mainly based on mathematical models and derived from grey literature. There is a need to report the impact of the implementation of country-tailored strategies and assess their effectiveness through high-quality experimental studies."

"This book offers the first comparative study of far-right messaging and organizing efforts at the workplace level as well as responses by established trade unions, encompassing six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with workers and trade union actors with a focus on the automobile industry, the volume develops a classification of far-right strategies and trade union counter-strategies in comparative perspective. Based on a research project in cooperation with trade unions, the book is situated at the interface of comparative politics, industrial sociology, political economy, and political sociology."

"The right to privacy is a fundamental right. Along with the related right to personal data protection, it has come to take a central place in contemporary employment relations and shows significant relevance for the future of work. This thoroughly researched volume, which offers insightful essays by leading European academics and policymakers in labour and employment law, is the first to present a thoroughly up-to-date Europe-wide survey and analysis of the intensive and growing interaction of workplace relations systems with developments in privacy law.

With abundant reference to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, and the work of the International Labour Organisation, the book proceeds as a series of country chapters, each by a recognised expert in a specific jurisdiction. Legal comparison is based on a questionnaire circulated to the contributors in advance. Each country chapter addresses the national legal weight of such issues and topics as the following:
- interaction of privacy and data protection law;
- legitimacy, purpose limitation, and data minimisation;
- transparency;
- role of consent;
- artificial intelligence and automated decision-making;
- health-related data, including biometrics and psychological testing;
- monitoring and surveillance; and
- use of social media."

"LaborIA, un laboratoire de recherche-action français dédié à évaluer l'impact de l'intelligence artificielle sur les milieux de travail, a mené une enquête visant à mieux comprendre les mécanismes d'appropriation et d'usage des systèmes d'intelligence artificielle (SIA) sur les lieux de travail. Les données ont été collectées auprès des décideurs, concepteurs, ingénieurs et employés d'entreprises privées, administrations et établissements publics. Trois constats ressortent de l'étude. Premièrement, le déploiement des SIA est le début d'un nouveau projet plutôt que l'aboutissement d'un projet d'innovation. Deuxièmement, il existe un écart entre l'optique des gestionnaires (l'amélioration de processus et la productivité) et l'optique du personnel (réflexion sur les changements dans leurs tâches et conditions de travail). Troisièmement, on observe les effets inattendus de nouveaux modes d'organisation du travail sur l'appropriation d'un SIA. Le rapport formule des recommandations pour une intégration harmonieuse de telles technologies."

"Algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way people live and work.Depending on how AI technologies are used and what purpose they serve, they can drive progress and benefit the whole of society, but they also raise ethical concerns and may cause harm. When introduced to the world of work, their transformative potential runs into complex national and EU rules. Existing labour laws, put in place before AI systems came on the scene, do not appear fit to provide meaningful guiderails. As with any new technologies, tensions arise between two opposing regulatory approaches: strict regulation to safeguard society from potential hazards and minimum regulation to promote the technology's deployment and innovation. For employers who invest in AI systems, the main motivation is better workplace organisation, increased productivity,and competitiveness. Workers, on the other hand, may fear losing their jobs, and also want to have a say in how AI and algorithms are to become part of their daily lives. Focusing on workplace deployment of AI, this briefing looks at the state of play of algorithmic management in the workplace and some issues relating to the data that algorithms use and generate. It offers an overview of the current top-down EU legislative approach, ofinsights brought by the European Parliament, and of advances in collective bargaining, demonstrating the potential of a bottom-up approach to complement AI deployment. The briefing looks at the potential use ofsleeping clausesin the existing EU legal framework and – taking note of the views of both employers and trade unions– highlights themany open questions that remain."

"Initiatives that promote mental well-being are formally recommended for all British workers, with many practices targeting change in individual workers' resources. While the existing evidence is generally positive about these interventions, disagreement is increasing because of concerns that individual-level interventions do not engage with working conditions. Contributing to the debate, this article uses survey data (N = 46,336 workers in 233 organisations) to compare participants and nonparticipants in a range of common individual-level well-being interventions, including resilience training, mindfulness and well-being apps. Across multiple subjective well-being indicators, participants appear no better off. Results are interpreted through the job demands–resources theory and selection bias in cross-sectional results is interrogated. Overall, results suggest interventions are not providing additional or appropriate resources in response to job demands."