Christina Cregan

The effect of multiple roles on caregiver stress outcomes

Some caregivers focus exclusively on the caregiving role; others try to balance caregiving responsibilities with a simultaneous work role outside the home. This study examined competing hypotheses about the impact that greater immersion in a work role would have on the stress outcomes of individuals who provide care for a person with a disability. The authors used national survey data to examine whether hours of work were associated with caregiver stress outcomes. The authors also investigated whether type of disability moderated the relationship between hours worked and stress outcomes. Results suggest that spending more time in a work role generally has no effect on caregiver stress outcomes. However, caregivers who were caring for a person with a mental disability experienced significantly fewer stress outcomes as they spent more hours engaged in outside work.

Irreconcilable differences? Strategic human resource management and employee well-being

The transition from ‘personnel’ to ‘human resource management’ took place in Australia in the latter part of the twentieth century. The change in nomenclature reflects a change in the nature of the work: from an employee-centred role to a management-centred role. In this paper we examine the relationship between these two roles, with a particular emphasis on their compatibility. Using interview data we find that HR managers devote considerable time to employee-centred activities. HR managers philosophically reconcile these activities with their responsibilities as a strategic partner by identifying the benefits of their employee-centred efforts for management. HR managers do, however, experience some operational challenges when they attempt to be a strategic partner and simultaneously promote employee well-being.

The influence of union membership status on workers’ willingness to participate in joint consultation

This study investigates the willingness of workers in a unionized environment to participate in a joint consultation committee (JCC). It focuses on the differences between union members and non-members. We derived hypotheses from a consumer services theoretical approach to participation in collective activities. Using hierarchical regression, we analysed the survey responses of 1456 employees in a large Australian public sector organization. Members were more willing to participate in the JCC the more they expected instrumental outcomes and the more they valued discussion of issues that lay outside collective bargaining. They were less willing to participate the more they valued discussions about issues normally dealt with in union-based negotiations. Non-members were more willing to participate, the more they expected the JCC to result in democratic representation.

The Electronic Water Cooler: Insiders and Outsiders Talk About Organizational Justice on the Internet

The boundary between organizational insiders (e.g., employees) and outsiders (e.g., customers) has become increasingly permeable due to Internet discussion boards that enable members of both groups to share experiences of organizational fairness and unfairness. We studied discussion board threads on Vault.com, focusing on threads initiated by postings containing organizational justice content and authored by an organizational insider or outsider. Consistent with predictions of the social identity model of deindividuation effects, organizational insiders capitalized on anonymity to post messages that were significantly more negative in both cognitive content (describing organizations as less fair) and emotional tone (using more negative emotional language) than messages posted by organizational outsiders. As predicted by contagion theory, cognitive content influenced the emotional tone of reply messages, especially when initial postings were from organizational outsiders.

Job quality and flexible practices: An investigation of employee perceptions

Job quality debates in Australia are dominated by two major concerns: the skill level of employees and the growing incidence of contingent employment. The Hackman and Oldham (1980) job quality model provides the theoretical basis for an investigation of a major aspect of job quality (‘skill variety’) among both casual and permanent employees. This article reports the findings of three investigations using data from 3,097 employees collected from a longitudinal study in Australia. The first investigation compared the job quality perceptions of permanent and casual employees; the second examined the perceptions of full-time casual employees and part-time casual employees relative to permanent employees; and the third examined the impact of ongoing casual employment on the perceived level of job quality. The findings demonstrate that employees in casual jobs – especially those in part-time casual jobs – perceived that they had lower job quality than employees in permanent work. Employees who were engaged in casual employment in both 2001 and 2002 were more likely to report low job quality in 2002.

Changes in psychological contracts during the global financial crisis: the manager's perspective

The employee–organisation relationship is dynamic and arguably affected by contextual factors, such as a change in the economic environment. This study uses data collected from managers in Australia before and after the beginning of the global financial crisis (GFC) to examine the changes in psychological contract (PC) terms from the managers perspective. In particular, as industries can be affected differently by economic crisis and gender discrimination can increase in tough economic conditions, we examined if any changes in PC terms were contingent on industry and employee gender. The studys results show that the terms of the employment relationship deteriorated in Australia only for employees working in industries affected by the GFC. Further, we found that some gender differences in the terms of the PC exist independent of the state of the economy. In addition, a three-way interaction indicates that managers working in industries not affected by the GFC are allocating a greater proportion of their resources to their female employees than to their male employees. Ongoing labour shortages and gender inequities in Australia might have prompted managers in non-affected industries to use their relative ‘resource-rich’ advantage to positively influence the employee–organisation relationship for female employees, a traditionally disadvantaged group.

Consultative Employment Relations in Human Resource Management Environments with a Union Presence

This paper investigates consultative management-union relations in organisations that are characterised by human resource management practices. It presents the findings of a preliminary analysis of the data. Two large organisations are examined, one the subsidiary of a multinational, and the other a public hospital. The findings demonstrate that there are two criteria for the possibility of mutual gain. These consist of, first, an appreciation by management of the collective loyalties of workers and, second, the achievement of real gains for employees arising from their constraint in the use of collectively bargained procedures and industrial action.

Young workers and quit behaviour

A model is set up to explain the quit behaviour of new entrants to the labour market. It uses an incentive-opportunity approach to integrate existing relevant arguments from search and information theory and human capital analysis. It also provides for impetuous quits. The model is tested by an examination of a disaggregated data set concerning a single cohort of 16-year-old school-leavers in the first year after gaining full-time work. The theory received strong support. For example, in the main model, seven out of the ten coefficients were highly significant. Interestingly, even in a time of deepening recession, the existence of the job-shopper seemed to be apparent.

What's happened to the labour market for early school‐leavers in Britain?

This article analyses recent empirical data to explain why the youth labour market has disappeared over the last 20 years. The findings demonstrate that some young people stayed in education to acquire credentials, while others did so merely as a substitute for unemployment. Government policy is discussed in the light of these findings.

Young people and trade union membership: a longitudinal analysis

This paper suggests that major explanations of union membership have been flawed by the free rider paradox. It outlines a recent British theory which claims to overcome this dilemma and draws from the model hypotheses which are tested by an analysis of a longitudinal survey of London school-leavers. The findings seem to offer support for the model in its categorization of core and remainder members, and further investigation is encouraged.