Job Satisfaction and Bad Jobs: Why Are Cleaners So Happy at Work?

an article by Alexandre Léné (Université de Lille, France) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 33 Issue 4 (August 2019)

Abstract

Our analysis is based on the French DARES Working Conditions survey which contains a very large sample of individuals representative of the French working population. We demonstrate that employees working in the cleaning sector report significantly higher levels of satisfaction than the other employees. This statistical result is robust; it persists when we introduce a large number of control variables.

This result is puzzling insofar as it is generally agreed that these workers hold ‘poor quality’ jobs: low pay, an abnormal pattern of work, arduous working conditions.

We suggest that cleaners’ expectations and standards are influenced by an adaptation process. Their job satisfaction needs to be considered in the light of their past experience. Their employment history shapes their wants and needs and thus affects the way they evaluate their work.

---

Identifying Schools With High Usage and High Loss of Newly Qualified Teachers

an article by Sam Sims and Rebecca Allen (UCL Institute of Education, London, UK) published in UCL Institute of Education. Volume 243 Issue 1 (2018)

Abstract

In England, teacher shortages have worsened in recent years and one contributor is the declining rates of retention among newly qualified teachers (NQTs).

We employ a method developed in the health-statistics literature to identify schools that both recruit an unusually high level of NQTs and lose an unusually high level of NQTs from the profession.

We show that this small group of schools, which are likely characterised by poor working conditions, are responsible for a disproportionately large amount of attrition from the teaching profession. This has a material effect on overall teacher shortages and comes at a high cost to taxpayers.

Policy solutions, including improving the flow of information to NQTs to help them avoid such schools, are discussed.

JEL classification: I21, D82, J45, J63

Hazel’s comment
If NQTs avoid these schools will they not fall further behind? Would it not be a more viable option to improve the schools?
Please note that I have only read the abstract to this article, it is possible that school improvement is suggested in the full article.

---

Moving forward on the European Pillar of Social Rights: Commission continues work on fair and predictable employment contracts

a news release from European Commission: Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion

The European Commission has entered into further discussions with trade unions and employers' organisations at EU level on how to modernise the rules on employment contracts, in order to make these contracts fairer and more predictable for all types of workers.

With this initiative, the Commission continues to roll out the European Pillar of Social Rights, aiming to create convergence between Member States towards better working and living conditions.

Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, added: "Workers have the right to be informed in writing at the start of employment about their rights and obligations. But millions of Europeans working in non-standard contracts are uncertain about their rights. I want all workers across the EU to be clearly covered by the basic rules, independent of their employment status, be them IT platform workers or delivery people. Ensuring fairer and more predictable employment contracts is a basis for fair working conditions across the EU. This is what we strive for with the European Pillar of Social Rights, which I hope will be proclaimed at the highest political level during the Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth in Gothenburg on 17 November."

The Commission wants to broaden the scope of the current Directive on employment contracts (the so-called Written Statement Directive), extending it to new forms of employment, such as on-demand workers, voucher-based workers and platform workers, so that no one is left behind. The current rules should also be modernised, taking account of developments on the labour market in the past decades.

Social partners will be able to share their views on the envisaged updates of EU legislation on employment contracts until 3 November 2017. The Commission aims to present a legislative proposal before the end of the year.

Consultation Document: Second phase consultation of Social Partners under Article 154 TFEU on a possible revision of the Written Statement Directive (Directive 91/533/EEC) in the framework of the European Pillar of Social Rights

---

Austerity policies, ‘precarity’ and the nonprofit workforce: A comparative study of UK and Canada

an article by Ian Cunningham (University of Strathclyde, UK) Donna Baines (University of Sydney, Australia), John Shields (Ryerson University, Canada) and Wayne Lewchuk (McMaster University, Canada) published in Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 58 Number 4 (2016)

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative interview data from case studies in Scotland and Canada in the post 2008 era, this article explores the impact of austerity policies on the conditions and experience of employment in two nonprofit social service agencies and their shifting labour process.

Despite differences in context, the article finds a similarity of experience of austerity-compelled precarity at several levels in the agency. This precarity increased management control and evoked little resistance from employees.

These findings contribute to our understanding of austerity as articulated differently in different contexts, but experienced similarly at the front lines of care work.

Full text (PDF)

---

Austerity policies, ‘precarity’ and the nonprofit workforce: A comparative study of UK and Canada

an article by Ian Cunningham (University of Strathclyde, UK), Donna Baines (University of Sydney, Australia), John Shields (Ryerson University, Canada) and Wayne Lewchuk (McMaster University, Canada) published in JIR The Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 58 Number 4 (September 2016)

Abstract

Drawing on qualitative interview data from case studies in Scotland and Canada in the post 2008 era, this article explores the impact of austerity policies on the conditions and experience of employment in two nonprofit social service agencies and their shifting labour process.

Despite differences in context, the article finds a similarity of experience of austerity-compelled precarity at several levels in the agency. This precarity increased management control and evoked little resistance from employees. These findings contribute to our understanding of austerity as articulated differently in different contexts, but experienced similarly at the front lines of care work.

---

A web survey analysis of subjective well-being

an article by Martin Guzi (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic) and Pablo de Pedraza García (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands AND Universidad de Salamanca, Spain) published in International Journal of Manpower Volume 36 Issue 1 (2015)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of work conditions and job characteristics with respect to three subjective well-being (SWB) indicators: life satisfaction, job satisfaction and satisfaction with work-life balance. From a methodological point of view, the paper shows how social sciences can benefit from the use of voluntary web survey data.

Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of a large sample of individual data obtained from voluntary web surveys collected as part of the WageIndicator project. The sample includes extensive information on the quality of working conditions together with different well-being indicators. The propensity score adjustment weights are used to improve the sample performance.

Findings
The results shed light on the importance of certain job characteristics not only in determining job satisfaction, but also in other SWB domains. The findings support the theory of spillover perspectives, according to which satisfaction in one domain affects other domains.

Research limitations/implications
As a voluntary web-survey, WageIndicator is affected by selection bias. The validity of the sample can be improved by weighting, but this adjustment should be made and tested on a country-by-country basis.

Originality/value
The paper provides analysis of the quality of a web survey not commonly used in happiness research. The subsequent presentation of the effects of working conditions on several satisfaction domains represents a contribution to the literature.

JEL codes: J28, J81

---

Work organisation and innovation

Involving employees at the workplace pays off in higher levels of work performance

Research shows that employee involvement can support employers’ objectives to raise levels of work performance and can also enhance the quality of employees’ lives at work.

However, new data from the fifth European Working Conditions Survey shows only about a quarter of employees in Europe (27%) are working in high involvement organisations, casting doubts over the ambitious Europe 2020 strategy aimed at attaining ‘smart’ growth through the development of higher-quality jobs in higher value-added industries and ‘inclusive’ growth in which all citizens have access to high-quality employment opportunities. In the EU27 overall, most of the workforce is in organisations that provide very limited opportunities for employees to participate in decision-making, either in their immediate job or in relation to wider organisational issues affecting their work.

At present, relatively little is known about the prevalence of employee involvement across the EU and the factors that encourage it. The extent to which employee involvement leads to mutual benefits for the employee and employer is also controversial. The report Work organisation and employee involvement in Europe [PDF 83pp] draws on data from Eurofound’s fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) of 2010 to investigate these issues and to strengthen the evidence available. It finds:

• While 38% of employees were in low involvement organisations in 2010, just 27% were working in high involvement organisations, with 35% in organisations that offer intermediate levels of involvement. The broad pattern was very similar for both men and women.
• The Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) had the highest levels of involvement, while the Southern countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) and the East-South countries (Bulgaria and Romania) had particularly low levels of involvement.
• There was also a strong association between the level of employee involvement and the opportunities for informal and formal learning at work. Nearly 60% of employees in high involvement organisations had received training in the previous 12 months compared to just over 42% of those in low involvement organisations. Greater involvement was associated with stronger employee motivation in terms of commitment to the work task and to the wider organisation.
• More opportunities for involvement in decision-making were associated with higher levels of psychological well-being and fewer physical symptoms of stress.
• Those reporting that the organisation motivated them to give their best performance rose from 47% in low involvement to 76% in high involvement organisations.

Given the importance of a highly skilled workforce for economic growth, the need to develop systems of work organisation to foster employee motivation and well-being is likely to become increasingly important to the policy agenda. It has been argued that organisations with high levels of employee involvement will be particularly successful in this respect. Eurofound’s previous work on work organisation and innovation drew on empirical evidence from case studies in 13 Member States of the European Union to highlight the positive outcomes that can be achieved through innovations in work organisation.

The report Work organisation and innovation [PDF 86pp] makes the following recommendations:

• Continue to increase understanding of the nature and impact of HPWPs among policymakers at national and European levels
• Raise awareness of the role and potential of workplace innovation via EU-level, cross-sectoral and sectoral social dialogue committees, as well as business associations
• Incorporate measures and benchmarks for the diffusion of HPWPs through the European Employment Strategy to monitor progress on the adoption of practices across EU Member States
• Enhance support for innovations through building funding eligibility into existing policy programmes and funding aimed at SMEs
• Take action to support and promote a network of organisations to exchange good practice and undertake cross-country research in the EU
• Improve consistency of measures designed to enhance working conditions and labour standards across sectors
• Develop synergies between European policies on working conditions and public health policies on individual wellbeing outside the workplace
• Incorporate knowledge of innovative HR practices in qualifications which have pan-European accreditation, e.g. undergraduate management degrees and MBAs.

---

Free provision of services and cross-border labour recruitment

an article by Jan Cremers (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) published in Policy Studies Volume 34 Issue 2 (March 2013)

Abstract

This article identifies how the use of the European Union (EU) mobility rules, as formulated by the EU’s Posting Directive, has been linked to the temporary provision of services in practice.

It demonstrates how this linkage, legitimised by European Court rulings, undermines the Directive’s original intent to provide rights-based regulation of labour mobility in the Union. In the assessment of posting practices, striking findings of two studies co-conducted by the author in 2003 and 2010 are discussed.

In the first section, the origins of the Directive are described, followed by sections that contextualise the posting rules in the framework of the fundamental economic freedoms of EU Treaties, and discuss the problems related to implementation and enforcement.

Based on the Directive’s definition of posting, three issues of governance and practice are raised:

1. regulation of the employment relationship,
2. application of labour conditions and
3. respect for collective agreements.

A final section offers policy recommendations in order to deal with the ways in which posting governance and practices currently impede any vision of rights-based mobility in the EU. It is argued that current minimalist interpretation of the posting rules can neither guarantee equal treatment nor protect the rights of temporary migrant workers.

---

Is Britain such a bad place to work? The level and dispersion of job quality in comparative European perspective

LLAKES Research Paper 40 by Francis Green (Institute of Education, University of London and Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES))

Abstract

This paper questions the view that jobs in Britain are on average of low quality relative to those in comparator nations in Europe. Using the European Labour Force Survey and a new comparative survey by the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions, I investigate four core dimensions of job quality: monthly earnings, the prospects of a job (security and promotion prospects), intrinsic job quality (skills, social relationships, environmental factors, work intensity) and working time quality. I find that:

• On the down side, British workplaces are exceptional in that monthly earnings are much more unequal than elsewhere in Europe.
• Yet, in terms of the three other core dimensions of job quality Britain’s jobs are not unduly unequal, unless one chooses to compare with a Nordic country.
• Moreover, on average Britain has quite high job quality in all four dimensions, consistent with, though not necessarily caused by, its comparative affluence.
• The much cited proposition that “Britons work the longest hours in Europe” is a myth. When all workers are properly included, Britain’s average work week in 2011 ranked 23rd out of 27 EU countries. The kernel of truth behind the proposition is that male full-time employees worked the longest hours. Even so, a relatively high proportion of jobs in Britain offer employees flexibility in their work hours.

This comparative picture supports a policy priority focussed on actions to reduce wage inequality. Nevertheless the findings need not encourage complacency from policy developers in respect of other aspects of job quality, which may be under threat in an era of economic stagnation.

Full text (PDF 26pp)

---

Working conditions in the retail sector under scrutiny

This report from the European Working Conditions Observatory (Eurofound) examines trends in working conditions and employment status in the retail sector in the EU27 countries and Norway between 2001 and 2010.

The considerable expansion of the sector over the past 20 years or so is associated with a transformation in its competitive structure, greater use of technology and changes in the regulatory framework.

Large companies now dominate at the expense of the numerous small and micro businesses that once characterised the sector in most countries. One result is a significant decline in the number of self-employed workers and a substantial increase in the number of part-time jobs (many held by women) and non-permanent contracts.

These changes have affected career patterns and introduced new risks to employees’ health, especially psychosocial ones. Recent initiatives by the social partners have aimed above all to regulate flexibility and working time arrangements, promote training, reduce the risk of robbery and enhance employee well-being.

The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EWCO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The national reports were drawn up in response to a questionnaire (Word document) and should be read in conjunction with it.
Country reports at bottom of web page

Comparative study (PDF 112pp)
Executive summary (PDF 2pp)

---

Wages and working conditions in the crisis

via Eurofound 23 July

a comparitive study by Sem Vandekerckhove, Jan Van Peteghem and Guy Van Gyes, HIVA-KU LEUVEN (© European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions)

The economic and financial crisis of 2008–2010 has impacted on pay in most EU Member States leading to wage deceleration, pay freezes and sometimes pay cuts. The crisis hit vulnerable groups (low-skilled, young, migrants) particularly hard. Data from five key sectors (manufacturing, construction, accommodation and food services, financial services, public administration) reveal more crisis effects on employment than on wages. Cuts in low-paid and temporary jobs, or reductions in their hours, tended to be the first measure adopted while the ‘wage cushion’ often seen in higher-ranking jobs allowed cost savings through cuts in bonuses and other rewards. Cutting wages is also seen as detrimental to worker motivation and retention. Most responses taken were temporary with few trade-offs at company level between wages and other elements of the employment relationship.

The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EWCO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The national reports were drawn up in response to a questionnaire and should be read in conjunction with it.

Full text (PDF 48pp)

---

Is your job bad for your health? Explaining differences in health at work across gender

an article by Elena Cottini (Istituto di Economia dell’Impresa e del Lavoro, Università Cattolica, Milan, Italy) published in International Journal of Manpower Volume 33 Issue 3 (2012)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different measures of working conditions affect the health at work of female and male workers of 15 European countries. Particular attention is paid to the gender dimension of this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the European Working Conditions Survey from 2005 the author describes differences in health at work by gender accounting for both psychosocial and physical hazards at work. A Probit OLS estimator is used to obtain the relevant estimates and endogeneity problems have been properly addressed.
Findings
Results show that controlling for a broad selection of personal and work attributes, working conditions are associated with more work related health problems – both physical and mental. Importantly, some evidence is found in support of a different pattern by gender. With respect to mental health at work, males suffer more from high work demands/low job autonomy compared to females. Task segregation may play a role in explaining these differences. A less clear pattern across gender is found with respect to physical health problems at work. When the endogeneity of working conditions is taken into account, results are confirmed and show that the effect of working conditions on health at work is under-estimated when endogeneity is not accounted for.
Originality/value
The paper’s findings contribute to shed more light on the controversial analysis between working conditions and health according to gender.

---