What affects employment by NGOs? Counteraction to precarious employment in the Polish non-profit sector in the perspective of COVID-19 pandemic crises

Research background: The precarious employment in non-governmental organizations has not been the subject of thorough scientific considerations so far. Meanwhile, the dominance of flexible forms of employment in an organization evokes a sense of instability, insecurity and uncertainty among employees. It weakens the relationship between staff and the organization, which, by not providing employees with prospects for permanent employment, creates a threat to its own development. The COVID-19 pandemic is reinforcing these fears as the situation in the labour market continues to deteriorate. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting NGOs employment of contract employees, as a key condition for crowding out precarious employment. Methods: Logistic regression analysis was conducted based on a national representative survey of 1500 Polish NGOs. Findings & value added: Its results indicate that NGOs are increasing the employment of contract staff in order to cope with the excessive bureaucracy of public administration. A stimulating impact on employment is also provided by difficulties in maintaining good staff and volunteers, as well as when there is no sense of security in running an organization. In turn, the lack of people ready to selflessly get involved in an organization's activities, as well as difficulties in accessing premises appropriate to NGOs both reduce the desire among staff to be employed full-time. The monitoring of precarious employment (PE) in NGOs is of key importance in the shaping and effectiveness of national policies aimed at improving the living standards of society as a whole. NGOs are an important element, as they fill the gaps remaining in the implementation of such policies. In the long term, improving the quality of full-time employment in such entities by reducing the barriers to their activity will increase their potential for fulfilling their social mission. To date, such barriers and their relation to employment have not been considered in research literature. However, a considerable proportion of employees in the Polish NGO sector may join the ranks of those excluded from employment and deprived of income due to the crisis on the job market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article contributes to the existing literature and practice by identifying the influence of wide spectrum of barriers of NGOs activity on permanent employment.

Job creation and investment in imperfect financial and labor markets

Purpose This paper aims to weigh the restrictions to job creation imposed by labor market imperfections with respect to financial market imperfections. The authors want to see which restriction is more severe, and thus assess which is more powerful in creating permanent employment if it were removed. Design/methodology/approach A structural estimation is performed. The policy rules of the dynamic programming model are integrated into a simulated maximum likelihood procedure by which the model parameters are recovered. Data come from the CBBE (Balance Sheet data from the Bank of Spain). Identification of key parameters comes mainly from the observation of debt variation and sluggish adjustment to permanent labor. Findings Long-run permanent employment increases up to 69% when financial constraints are removed, whereas permanent employment only increases up to 54% when employment protection or firing costs are eliminated. The main finding of this paper is that the long-run expansion of permanent employment is larger when financial imperfections are removed than when firing costs are removed, even when there are important wage increases that moderate these employment expansions. Social implications The removal of firing costs has been suggested by several economists as a result of the analysis of labor market imperfections. These policies, however, face the strong opposition of labor unions. This paper shows that the goals of permanent job creation can be accomplished without removing employment protection but by means of enhancing financial access to firms. Originality/value The connection between financial constraints and employment has been studied in recent years, motivated by the Great Recession. However, there is no assessment of how financial and labor market imperfections compare with each other to restrict permanent job creation. This comparison is crucial for policy analysis. This study is an attempt to fill out this gap in the economic literature. No previous research has attempted to perform this very important comparison.

Workplace spirituality, well-being at work and employee loyalty in a gig economy: multi-group analysis across temporary vs permanent employment status

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of workplace spirituality on employee loyalty toward the organization, mediated through well-being at work. Furthermore, the study endeavors to test the difference in conceptual model estimates, across two groups of employees: those who work on contract/temporary and permanent basis. The study gains relevance particularly in the context of the emerging sharing economy, where jobs are primarily characterized by short-term contracts and freelancing.Design/methodology/approachThis descriptive study was conducted among a sample of 523 educators working in private educational institutions in India. Self-reporting questionnaires were administered among the respondents, who were selected through the purposive sampling method. Structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis were done to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe analysis revealed that workplace spirituality enriched employee well-being and loyalty toward the organization and evidence were found for indirect effects too. Variances were observed in the relationships, with respect to the different employment statuses of the personnel. Significant differences in the relationships were not found across temporary and permanent employment statuses. Interestingly, temporary employees experienced stronger influences between meaningful work, well-being and word-of-mouth. Results suggest the relevance of understanding employees' differential work experiences and attitudes and thus facilitate human resource strategies accordingly.Originality/valueThis study is pioneering in conceptualizing and testing a theoretical model linking workplace spirituality, well-being at work and employee loyalty, particularly in the context of employees who differ in their employment status, which is a critical aspect of modern-day organizations. Unlike traditional workplaces, in recent times, people come together and work along for shorter terms, as the case of a sharing economy and the thus emergent interpersonal dynamics between each other and with the workplace has significant repercussions on the organization. Theoretical and managerial implications with regard to the experience of workplace spirituality and job outcomes are elaborated, thus striving to fill a gap in the existing literature.

Temporary Contracts, Employment Trajectories and Dualisation: A Comparison of Norway and Sweden

This study compares the labour market trajectories of the temporary employed in Norway with those in Sweden. Sweden’s employment protection legislation gap between the strict protection of permanent employment and the loose regulation of temporary employment has widened in recent decades, while Norway has maintained balanced and strict regulation of both employment types. The study asserts that the two countries differ concerning the distribution of trajectories, leading to permanent employment and trajectories that do not create firmer labour market attachment. Using sequence analysis to analyse two-year panels of the labour force survey for 1997–2011, several different trajectories are discerned in the two countries. The bridge trajectories dominate in Norway, while dead-end trajectories are more common in Sweden. Moreover, the bridge trajectories are selected to stronger categories (mid-aged and higher educated) in Sweden than in Norway. The results are discussed from the perspective of labour market dualisation.

Association between early working life patterns, in publicly and privately owned companies, and the course of future sickness absence due to mental disorders: a cohort study in Catalonia (Spain)

ObjectivesTo assess the relationship between early working life patterns, at privately and publicly held companies, and the course of sickness absence (SA) due to mental disorders.MethodsCohort study of workers aged 18–28 years, affiliated with the Spanish social security system, living in Catalonia, who had at least one episode of SA due to mental disorders between 2012 and 2014. Individual prior working life trajectories were reconstructed through sequence analysis. Optimal matching analysis was performed to identify early working life patterns by clustering similar individual trajectories. SA trajectories were identified using latent class growth modelling analysis. Finally, the relationship between early working life patterns and subsequent SA trajectories was assessed via multinomial logistic regression models.ResultsAmong both men and women, four labour market participation (LMP) patterns were identified: stable permanent employment (reference group), increasing permanent employment, fluctuating employment and delayed employment. Among women, an increasing permanent employment pattern in early working life was related to a decrease of accumulated SA days over time (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.08; 95% CI 1.18 to 3.66). In men, we observed a trend towards a middle stable accumulation of SA days in those with fluctuating employment (aOR 1.25, 95% CI 0.57 to 2.74) or delayed employment (aOR 1.79; 95% CI 0.59 to 5.41). In both men and women, an early working life in big companies was related to a more favourable SA trajectory.ConclusionsEarly LMP patterns characterised by an increasing stability—decreased number of transitions between temporary contracts and lack of social security coverage towards permanent contracts—were related to a better future SA course due to mental diagnosis.

Features of labour relations in institutional theatres in Serbia

The main goal of the paper is to investigate the forms of labor relations in institutional, subsidized theatres in Serbia. Given the social and economic crises, and today significant changes in the lifestyles of citizens of the world caused by the Corona virus pandemic, theatre institutions had to adapt to new market demands. Reduced production, inability to play large ensemble performances, problems in paying copyright contracts are some of the features of the work of theatre organizations. Having these turbulent circumstances, the subject of the paper should determine the influence of social circumstances on the formation of working relations in institutional theatres in Serbia. The paper will look at labor relations in the context of transitional cultural policy and the impact of the environment on defining the most optimal form of employment that should meet the needs of the state, city, municipality, as founders and financiers of the theatre organization, the needs of artists who strive for permanent employment that will provide them with existential security while providing them with an opportunity for artistic growth. By re-examining and analyzing the existing models of labor relations, the basic hypothesis we want to prove in the paper is that permanent employment and achieving permanent employment is the best solution for hiring artists in institutional theatre. In order to fulfill the set goals and prove the hypothesis, the paper will use theoretical research in the field of human resources management (Rahimic, Torrington, Hall, Taylor), labor law, cultural policy (Djukic), cultural studies (Klajic, Ristic, Djordjevic) as well as the case studies of form of employment in national theatres in the region. The paper also presents an empirical research that dealt with the impact the different forms of employment have on artists. The research shows that the establishment of a permanent employment relationship is of greater benefit to artist.

Careers at Sea: Exploring Seafarer Motivations and Aspirations

Nowadays, in the era of flexible and precarious employment, the concept of a ‘career for life’ in one organisation appears to be redundant, as most employees in the global labour market do not have permanent employment (ILO, World employment and social outlook: the changing nature of jobs. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2015). This chapter focuses on the shipping industry as an example of a global industry that employs over a million seafarers (BIMCO, Manpower 2005 update: the worldwide demand for and supply of seafarers. Warwick: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, 2015) as their main labour force in what could termed flexible employment. The chapter explores the idea of having a ‘career’ within the precarious shipping industry by focusing on the reasons for joining, staying, and leaving a seafaring occupation. The chapter is based on existing literature, and on recent data that was collected as part of a study on seafarers’ career development.

Non-Permanent Employment and Employees’ Health in the Context of Sustainable HRM with a Focus on Poland

This study is focused on the assumption that the analyses focused on sustainable human resource management (HRM) should include the problem of unstable forms of employment. Reference was also made to Poland, the country where the share of unstable forms of employment is the highest in the European Union. The authors based their findings on the literature and the data published, i.e., by Eurostat, OECD and Statistics Poland, accompanied by CSR reports. Insecure forms of employment have negative impact on employees’ health, primarily regarding their mental health. Statistically significant correlations were found between the expectation rate of possible job loss and non-standard employment variables, and the rate of reporting exposure to risk factors that affect mental wellbeing and precarious employment rates. However, conducting statistical analyses at the macro level is associated with limitations resulting from leaving out many important factors characteristic of the given countries and affecting the presented data. Current guidelines, relevant to reporting the use of non-standard forms of employment by enterprises, are inconsistent. Companies voluntarily demonstrate the scope of using non-permanent forms of employment and not referring to the issue of employees’ choice of a given type of employment and employees’ health. Future research projects should be focused on developing a comprehensive, coherent and universal tool allowing for an assessment of the implementation level of sustainable HRM ideas in an organization, including standardized reporting of non-permanent employment and employees’ health, and making comparisons not only between organizations, but also between countries.