On Humanizing Work in the Digital Age

The chapter addresses the problem of humanization of labour in the digital age. With technological advancement worldwide, notwithstanding economic and political differences among individual states, digitalisation has invariably put its mark on human relationships. And it is about to transform both individual and social relations also in the labour law. Тhe purpose of the present study is to examine the acts and documents at European level and offer an up-to-date analysis on applicable aspects of introducing AI in the labour process, its role in facilitating employees work alongside potential threats and negatives. Based on said analysis, the authors offer their views on the challenges to be faced and outline ongoing trends in the doctrine, the European community and legislation, to put in place a regulatory framework towards humanization of work in the digital age.

Working in the reality of the fourth industrial. New challenges for humanization

The aim of the article is to identify challenges facing the humanization of work that result from current conditions, which in turn are a consequence of the fourth industrial revolution. As potential dehumanization factors, they should be included in the personnel policy of the organization. From the organizational perspective—i.e. from the employers’ point of view—the indicated megatrends, threats, and human–centered principles may prove to be useful in practice. The reflections as presented fall within the category of modern work humanization and human resource management.

ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH AS A CHALLENGE OF CONTEMPORARY HUMANIZATION OF WORK

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the fact that a so-called healthy organization should only be considered so if the humanization of work within the company is also in a healthy state. We begin with presenting the concept of humanization of work and its genesis. Then, as revealed by a literature review, it is emphasized that the external manifestations of a healthy organization may simultaneously hide diseases internally. We then look at the various approaches used to diagnose the health of an organization and then associate symptoms of different diseases within an organizational system. The heuristic approach to diagnosing diseases of the organization’s system allowed us to present some examples of pathogenic outbreaks. At the end of the study, it was emphasized that the remedy for the aforementioned problems is still in the hands of work humanizers, whose interventions serve to minimize the negative effects of these diseases.

The effect of stress on the hematological indicators of rats Rattus Norvegicus F. Domesticus in the conditions of the biological experiment

The purpose of the work was the need to study the change in weight and hematological indicators of the rats as a reaction-response to being in difficult and unfavorable experimental conditions. The biological experiment was conducted in compliance with the normative conditions of keeping the rats, in accordance with ethical standards and recommendations for humanization of work with laboratory animals. In order to accomplish these tasks, rats were divided into two groups: control rats were housed in a spacious cage with comfortable living conditions and experimental animals were housed in a small cage with limited ability to move freely. For the purity of the experiment, the feed ration of animals of two groups was the same. Weight and hematological indicators were determined by conventional methods in physiology. It has been found that improper housing conditions, causing a stressful situation adversely affect the eating activity of the test animals, which explains the weak correlation of the dynamics of the weight of the animals in the control and experimental groups. The analysis of the absolute mass of the internal organs of rats showed their direct dependence on body weight and the correlation of these parameters between animals of both groups. The study found that the quantitative ratios of the main hematological parameters of each of the rodents are strictly different. The tendency to increase of the investigated parameters in the experimental group in comparison with the control one is symptomatic and can be explained by sympathetic-vegetative influences. The amount of hemoglobin is directly correlated with the number of red blood cells. Comparison of the content of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, leukocytes with body weight showed inversely proportional relationship between them. The persistent predominance of leukocytes in the blood of rats in both groups is likely to genetically determined.

Von der „Humanisierung des Arbeitslebens“ zur „Guten Erwerbsbiografie“ – und darüber hinaus? Konturen einer Integrierten Sozialen Lebenslaufpolitik

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag arbeitet eine konzeptionelle und politisch-normative Entwicklungslinie im deutschen Arbeitsmarktdiskurs heraus, die sich von den Humanisierungsprogrammen der 1970er Jahre bis hin zu aktuellen Diskursen um die Zukunft der Erwerbsarbeit zieht und in dessen Verlauf sich schrittweise das Programm einer integrierten sozialen Lebenslaufpolitik entfaltet. Diese Entwicklung wird anhand von insgesamt vier idealtypischen konzeptionellen Entwicklungsstufen rekonstruiert: „Humanisierung der Arbeit“, „Gute Arbeit“, „Gute Erwerbsbiografie“ und „Integrierte Soziale Lebenslaufpolitik“. Das Recht auf „biografische Selbstbestimmung“ und die Ermöglichung von Lebenszeitsouveränität, so die These, bilden den normativen Bezugspunkt einer zeitgemäßen Humanisierungspolitik, die der zunehmenden Pluralität der Lebensstile und Lebensentwürfe und den gestiegenen Selbstbestimmungsansprüchen der Beschäftigten gerecht wird. Abstract: From the “Humanization of Work” towards “Good Employment Biographies” – and beyond? Outlines of an Integrated Life Course Policy The article elaborates a conceptual and political-normative line of development in the German labor market discourse, which ranges from the humanization programs of the 1970s to current discourses about the future of paid work and in the course of which the program of an integrated social life course policy gradually unfolds. This development is reconstructed on the basis of four ideal-typical conceptual stages of development: “Humanization of Work”, “Good Work”, “Good Occupational Biography” and “Integrated Social Life Course Policy”. According to the thesis, the right to “biographical self-determination” and the possibility of life-time sovereignty form the normative point of reference for a modern humanization policy, which does justice to the increasing plurality of lifestyles and life plans as well as to the increased self-determination claims of the employees.

Ergonomic issues: safety, economization and humanization of work

The term “ergonomics” means practical learning which determines the conditions for the optimal adjustment of tools, equipment, technology and organizational structures to meet the needs of employees. In an age of scientific-technological progress systematic research on human work supported by technology is indispensable. Technical civilization is not the “non-humanistic” world. Its creators enter into ethical relationships with recipients. The process of work humanization must be considered on three cognitive levels: theoretical, axiological and practical. This approach is neither contradictory nor competitive to the traditional understanding of ergonomic tasks, but is complementary to it. It is significant as it teaches how to use the achievements of knowledge wisely to facilitate and take human life to a higher level, also in moral terms.