Cameron Allan

The hidden organisational costs of using non‐standard employment

The growth of non‐standard or atypical forms of employment, such as part‐time, casual work and so on, represents one of the most dramatic changes in the structure of employment in Australia and other countries since the late 1970s. Management employment strategies have been identified as a major causal factor in the expansion of non‐standard employment. Employers are increasingly using these atypical forms of employment as a means of lowering direct labour costs. Argues, however, that there are a number of hidden costs involved in using non‐standard employment that are not commonly taken into consideration. Highlights the negative effects atypical employment can have on work relations, and the motivation of employees, based on a detailed hospital case study and other evidence. Argues that atypical labour may serve to undermine quality standards and the attainment of business strategies.

Non‐standard working‐time arrangements in Australia and New Zealand

In the post‐Second World War period, working and social life has been organised around the concept of a standard day and week with premium payments for work undertaken during unsocial hours. In recent years, this standard model for organising working‐time has been placed under pressure from a range of supply‐ and demand‐side factors. Greater female and student participation in the labour force has led to a fragmentation of working‐time preferences on the supply side. Employers, on the demand side, have also sought to dismember the standard working‐time model to eliminate premium payments for unsocial work and to achieve greater control and flexibility in the allocation of non‐standard working hours. Employer demand for this type of labour flexibility has been one of the central rationales for the decentralisation of industrial relations systems in Australia and New Zealand. This paper seeks to assess whether employers in the more deregulated New Zealand system have instigated a vastly different non‐standard working‐time regime from their Australian counterparts. The article concludes that there are only minor differences in the distribution of non‐standard working hours in Australia and New Zealand. This finding challenges the notion that the arbitration system is a major impediment to the organisation of working‐time. Rather, it appears that production and operational demands are the central imperative in the structuring of working‐time within firms.

Influences on work/ non-work conflict

Work/non-work conflict is important because it tells us about the well-being of individuals and more generally of a particular workplace or organization. Important progress has been made in research literature on the importance of structural policies designed to assist workers to meet competing demands to be at work and at home. More information is needed into organizational influences on the emotional aspects of work/non-work conflict. Based on a survey of over 900 employees, we use factor, correlation and multiple regression analyses to find that exacerbation in work/non-work conflict is a result of high workload pressure, long working hours, unsupportive management and weak employee control, especially control over workload and when employees can take time off.

Accidental, unprepared, and unsupported: clinical nurses becoming managers

To what extent have hospitals developed their skilled clinicians to perform the administrative and human resources (HR) manager role of the ward manager? We consider this research question through an analysis of an acute hospital called ‘The Hospital’ where the executive team is aiming to adopt a form of high-performance work system (HPWS). We focus primarily on explanations in terms of conditions, rather than the personalities of individual managers, which are most powerful in shaping their behaviour. There has long been a failure of hospitals (and other employing organisations) to develop fully the skills required by employees before they become line managers. Line managers are a critical link in the high-performance chain and this study illustrates that, despite their rhetoric, hospitals may still have much potential for implementing schemes to develop nurses further to prepare them for line-manager positions and to support them after they move into such roles. We infer from this study that such hospitals may not yet have completed the journey to having HPWS. Hence, there is still much scope for such hospitals to progress and enjoy the benefits that proponents claim for HPWS.

Stabilising the Non-Standard Workforce: Managing Labour Utilisation in Private Hospitals

Abstract Atkinsons dualist flexible firm model posits that management is increasingly adopting two distinct labour-use strategies. The core workforce strategy is designed to develop enduring employment relations with skilled, full-time workers to ensure quality and reliability. The peripheral labour force strategy aims to expand non-standard employment in non-core jobs and is characterised by a loose attachment between employer and employees. This article develops a conceptual critique of this dualist model in the case of personal service industries. Based on case-study research into private hospitals, the article argues that employers are extending the use of precarious forms of employment into all occupational categories. Simultaneously, employers are also attempting to build long-term relationships with these non-standard workers to maintain quality of service delivery. The relative success of this management strategy to gain core workforce behaviours from the peripheral labour force is strongly influ...

The New Public Management and Workplace Change

A burgeoning literature has emerged over the last decade examining the growth of the New Public Management model in the public sector. The literature, however, tends to overlook the implications of these reforms for employment relations in the public sector. This paper presents evidence from two major surveys from the mid-1990s that compare the impact of workplace change on Australian public and private sector workers. Public sector workers reported they were working more intensively, under greater stress and with less job security than private sector workers. They also reported that their satisfaction with their job, with management and with their work/family balance had declined to a greater extent than their private sector counterparts. These employee responses suggest, despite the assertions of public sector management reports to the contrary, that the NPM reforms in the Australian public sector have resulted in more intensive workloads, increased job-related stress and reduced job security for many Australian public sector employees in the 1990s.

The effect of time of day on injury patterns amongst adolescents in Australia

Labour force participation of adolescents in Australia is growing at an unprecedented rate. This increased participation is coupled with a growing realisation of the vulnerability of adolescents in the labour market in terms of occupational injury. Despite recent evidence that time of day may be an important determinant of adolescent injuries, the impact of non-standard and night work on adolescent injury rates has received scant attention to date. The current study addresses this shortcoming by examining injury patterns of 3201 working adolescents in Queensland. Results revealed that female adolescents are 2.5 times more likely to sustain an injury on day shift and 4.71 times more likely to sustain an injury on night shift than their adult counterparts when total work hours are taken into consideration. Similar results were found for male adolescents with an injury to work hours ratio of 2.19 on day shift and 3.05 on night shift. These findings point to the value of considering the temporal pattern of adolescent work in future research aimed at minimising injuries at work and improving the work experience of tomorrows workforce.

‘Anomalies’, Damned ‘Anomalies’ and Statistics: Construction Industry Productivity in Australia

The exercise by an Australian state agency of coercive powers against construction industry workers has been justified by reference to claimed gains in productivity and hence national welfare. Yet the literature suggests that a more cooperative approach to union—management relations would offer better opportunities for productivity improvement. This article examines the data behind the productivity claims and finds that they were erroneous, probably due to incorrect transcription, and that the source data indicated no relative productivity gains against the identified benchmark. Despite being made aware of this, the state agency and its consultant maintained the original claims about the size of productivity and welfare gains from the use of coercive powers. Official cross-industry and time series data also showed no productivity gains arising from the use of coercive powers. However, there is some evidence that there has been a shift of income shares in the industry from labour to capital. The findings have implications for understanding the role of commissioned studies in public debate, and for regulation of the construction industry.

Flexibility at a Cost: Responding to a Skilled Labour Shortage

There is currently a major shortage of working nurses in Australia. It is expected that this shortage will worsen in the immediate future (AIHW, 2003; Buchanan and Considine, 2002; DEST, 2002). A recent government report indicates a shortfall of 31,000 nurses by 2006 (DEST, 2002). This skilled labour shortage is not confined to Australia and is an international problem (Loquist, 2002). Countries such as the UK and the USA have experienced long-term problems in nursing labour supply and have relied extensively on immigration to supplement local labour shortages (Davis and Nichols, 2002).

The Effects of High Performance Work Systems on Employees in Aged Care

Abstract There has been a great deal of interest in recent years about High Performance Work Systems (HPWS). It is argued that HPWS, which comprise advanced employment relations policies and practices coupled with quality management systems, can improve organisational performance in terms of financial success, productivity and lower employee turnover. A central feature of these work systems is the high degree of employee involvement or commitment through quality circles, autonomous work groups and enhanced training and development. Critics of this literature, however, contend that the improved performance may be due to heightened stress and work intensification rather than greater employee involvement and commitment. In this article, we attempt to assess the efficacy of a high performance system in an aged care establishment. Based on observations, interviews and a survey, we report on the effects of a HPWS on employees. We find that workers generally perceive that heightened involvement leads to work intensification. However some workers welcome a more active engagement in workplace issues, despite the extra work.