Documents Kalev, Alexandra 2 results

"Scholars of the American workplace agree that the employment relationship has changed in significant ways but disagree about whether workplaces are now best characterized as ‘legalized' or ‘restructured', a designation that implies a market orientation in the treatment of workers. We investigate whether a new set of employment practices, namely flexible work arrangements (FWA) such as flextime, compressed work weeks, telecommuting and reduced-hours schedules, are administered using the principles and practices associated with either or both management regimes. Our analyses of in-depth interviews with human resources managers from 41 diverse organizations show that most organizations have formalized FWA with written policies, but these policies institutionalize managerial discretion rather than creating outright rights for employees. Even when organizations write a formal written policy, FWA are managed as negotiated perks available to valued workers if and when managers choose to allow them, as suggested by the restructured workplace regime. We argue that this ‘formalized discretion' explains the low utilization and unequal access to FWA found in previous studies. These findings suggest the need to reconsider the theoretical link between formalization and employees' rights in the workplace. "

"Using a unique sample of 5,022 workers in 94 large German workplaces, the authors explore whether and how women's access to higher level positions, firms' human resources practices, and workers' qualification levels are associated with gender differences in earnings. First, they find that having more women in management reduces the gender earnings gap for jobs with low qualifications, but not those with high qualifications. Second, they find that while men's compensation is positively affected by having a male supervisor, women with a female supervisor do not receive such an advantage. Finally, they find that human resources practices and job-level qualifications moderate the association between gendered power and gender earnings inequalities. Integrating women into managerial and supervisory roles does not automatically reduce gender inequalities; its impacts are contingent on organizational context."