This book offers a comparative exploration of the various disadvantages experienced by a category of atypical workers compared to standard employees, in the UK and Italy, and considers whether and how the differences can be attributed to contrasting institutional settings and political economies. Bertolini explores the lived experience of these workers, and demonstrates how institutional variables interact in complex ways with individual socio-demographic characteristics as well as the broader socio-economic context to shape individual disadvantages and engender different experiences of precariousness. Temporary Agency Workers in Italy and the UK will be of interest to students and scholars of political economy, sociology of work, welfare studies, labour market policy, and industrial relations.

The number of workers employed on a temporary basis has grown hugely over the past few decades. This new book provides the first serious analysis of temporary work and its effect on the economy as well as its ramifications for workers. Both editors from University of Newcastle, NSW.

The book analyzes the rise and evolution of the Temporary Work Agencies' (TWAs) field in Italy. Using an in-depth longitudinal analysis from 1986 to 2015, the authors study the evolution of the Italian labor market, analyzing the interaction between players in the TWA sector and the influence of the regulatory framework on the actors' behavior. In addition the work delivers a precise description of the strategies and structures in Italian TWAs and contributes to increasing the understanding of the use of contingent work in this sector. The book provides a unique description of the Italian TWA sector giving not only the complete history from the early beginning to nowadays, but also key performance and structural data.

This ebook examines a range of issue, challenges and responses relating to temporary workers and human resource management. Although the issues and challenges are significant - including regulatory compliance and safety management - there is a shortage of literature examining temporary work and HRM. Although an OECD (2002) report suggested that there was a growing share of temporary employment in many countries worldwide this special issues drew research mainly from the UK and Australia. The Guest Editor suggest that therefore considerable gaps exist in the international arena.

Postwar employment standards are being undermined and 'non-standard' employment is becoming more common. While scholars have pointed to negative consequences of this development, this volume also discusses the evidence for a new and socially inclusive European employment standard.

Challenges Facing the Employment Relationship in Future Organizations addresses the issues of change within employee relationships resulting from the impact of factors such as: * international competitive pressures * technological change * changing individual expectations and behaviours The new employment contract is analysed from inside and outside organizations and the issues are addressed from both a human resource management and work psychology perspective. This book: * Reviews the phenomenon of globalization, outlining the current impacts on the employment relationship and summarizing the assumed impacts on future work * Looks at the employment relationship from a labour market perspective and reviews the evidence on an increasing individualization of the employment relationship * Reviews work by psychologists on the changing psychological contract * Provides an overview of new forms of work organization, drawing attention to research on virtual organization and implications of e-enablement * Outlines the challenges to the employment relation on a global scale

Production networks in many sectors have become increasingly fragmented. Cutting labour costs by lowering pay, increasing work intensity and/or shifting flexibility costs to workers are just some of the motivations for outsourcing. But it can also be used to circumvent employee representation and collective bargaining systems within companies, and labour market regulations in general. Though such intentions may not drive the bulk of outsourcing decisions, any change in company boundaries is likely to impact employment, working conditions and industrial relations in the value chain. This book focuses on the dynamics of outsourcing in Europe from the perspective of employees. In particular, it considers one insufficiently studied aspect: the impact of outsourcing on working conditions and employment relations in companies. The book also collects lessons learned from the efforts of employees and trade unions to shape outsourcing decisions, processes and their impact on employment and working conditions.