Private and Public Sector Employer Actions for Home Office Workers During the COVID-19 Epidemic

A research was conducted among the employees referred to work in the home office in connection with the announced state of the epidemic in Poland. The research was conducted using a questionnaire method, the study was attended by 199 respondents. The research is burdened with an error in the selection of statistical sample units, which resulted from the respondents’ involvement and their truthfulness. The aim of the article is to assess the activities of employers from the private and state sectors in Poland, related to the delegation of employees to work in the home office, and to analyze the skills and possibilities of self-organization of work by employees. An important result of the survey was to demonstrate the differences in the behavior of public and private sector employers. The study shows that the private sector has adapted better to sudden changes than the state sector.

Veteran Hiring and Retention

This chapter describes the experience and lessons learned regarding the veteran hiring initiative within Military Programs at Walmart. A proponent of veteran hiring for decades, Walmart formally launched the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment in 2013 and is currently the largest private sector employer of veterans and military spouses. While many companies understand the benefits of hiring veterans, a number of companies find that retaining veteran employees can be challenging. Using a four-step model, common-sense tactics utilized by Walmart are provided that can be used to help veterans successfully transition from their military careers to civilian organizations through understanding military and corporate culture and how veterans coming from the military’s culture fit in with an organization’s corporate culture. This chapter also describes how the lessons learned from Walmart’s veteran hiring efforts can be used by smaller companies that may be considering or are actively deploying veteran and military family member hiring initiatives.

Who provides physical activity support in the workplace? Implications for peer led interventions

Objective: Social support is one mechanism through which peer support physical activity (PA) interventions influence behaviour. The aim of this study was to explore the sources and characteristics of social support for PA among office-based work colleagues. Design: A sequential mixed-methods approach was used. First, social network analysis was utilised to map the sources of social support. Then interviews and focus groups were used to explore the characteristics of this support. Setting: One UK public sector employer in the south of England. Method: Using an online survey, 99 employees (40 men; Mage = 40 ± 12 years) reported their PA and named specific colleagues who provided four forms of social support for PA (emotional, informational, companionship, validation). Social network diagrams for each support network were visualised using UCINET and Netdraw. Individuals identified as most frequently providing support for PA participated in one-to-one interviews ( n = 6) to discuss their perspective on social support for PA in the workplace. Three focus groups explored the characteristics of social support for PA among employees identified within the networks as support seekers or disconnected. These qualitative data were analysed thematically. Results: Different patterns of relationships between employees were demonstrated for the four forms of support with informational support provided most frequently and validation least frequently. Qualitative data illustrate how each form of support was provided and received, as well as further perceived characteristics of social support. Conclusion: These findings could help inform the future selection and training of peer PA champions in workplace settings and more widely.

Monitoring employees’ e-mail correspondence and Internet use – A Finnish perspective – PART I

This article examines the prerequisites under which a private sector employer is and should be able to monitor its employees’ use of e-mail and Internet. For purposes of this examination, the article analyses the meaning of the Trade Secrets Directive’s provision requiring the trade secret holder to take reasonable steps to protect its trade secrets, in order to ascertain whether the provision requires the employer to monitor its employees’ e-mail correspondence and Internet use to gain the protection under the Trade Secrets Directive and the relevant Finnish legislation implementing the Trade Secrets Directive. The article also examines the relevant ECtHR case law, and especially the Bărbulescu case, as well as the Article 29 Working Party’s principles applicable to the monitoring of employees’ e-mail correspondence and Internet use. To provide a national context, the article examines the prerequisites under which a Finnish private sector employer may monitor its employees’ use of e-mail and Internet, or more specifically the prerequisites under which the employer may process traffic data, as well as the prerequisites under which an employer may open and retrieve its employees’ e-mails. The Finnish legislation applicable to e-mail and Internet monitoring is particularly interesting as it is significantly more restrictive for employers than the criteria set by the ECtHR and the Article 29 Working Party. Examining Finnish legislation in this context is also interesting, because there has been extensive public debate on whether having legislation in place that enables the employer under certain circumstances to monitor its employees’ e-mail correspondence is at all necessary and justified. Such views have first and foremost been supported by the argument that monitoring employees’ e-mails constitutes an intrusion into the employee’s right to privacy and secrecy of correspondence. Also, Finland is so far the only EU Member State that has enacted a specific act regulating the processing of employee data. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the prerequisites under which monitoring of employees’ e-mail correspondence and Internet use is permitted based on ECtHR case law (as well as the relevant guidelines issued by the Article 29 Working Party) and applicable Finnish legislation, and to reflect on the extent to which an employer should have the right to monitor its employees’ e-mail correspondence and Internet use, to ensure inter alia compliance and adequate protection of trade secrets. The purpose of this article is also to provide understanding on the applicable Finnish legal framework as an example of a European national approach highlighting the divergence between the level of protection afforded in different EU Member States and to reflect on why the subject matter is so sensitive.

Post-levy apprenticeships in the NHS – early findings

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate apprenticeship developments in two National Health Service (NHS) organisations since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April 2017 and considers potential impact on social mobility. This is a pilot for a broader exploration of implementation of government apprenticeship policy in the NHS. Design/methodology/approach Following ethical approval, semi-structured interviews were conducted with two key informants with responsibility for education and training in their respective organisations. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify major and sub-themes of the interviews. Findings Four major themes were identified – organisational readiness, the apprenticeship offer, opportunities for further development and potential problems with implementation. Both organisations were actively seeking opportunities to spend their levy and had developed local strategies to ensure this. The levy was being used to develop both new and existing staff, with leadership and management being particularly identified as an area of growth. Similarly, both organisations were using levy monies to develop the bands 1–4 roles, including the nursing associate. The affordability and bureaucracy of apprenticeships were seen as potential problems to the wider implementation of apprenticeships in the NHS. Practical implications Although the apprenticeship levy is being spent in the NHS, there are some challenges for employers in their delivery. The levy is offering new and existing staff the opportunity to undertake personal and professional development at a range of educational levels. This has the potential to increase and upskill the NHS workforce, improve social mobility and possibly lead to larger cultural and professional changes. Originality/value This paper offers an early insight into the implementation of apprenticeship policy in a large public sector employer such as the NHS.

“CHANGE” FRAMES AND THE MOBILIZATION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED JOB SEEKERS

When deciding whether to provide job-matching assistance to formerly incarcerated job seekers, which factors do individuals with job information and influence privilege? Drawing from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 126 ethnoracially diverse jobholders at one large, public sector employer, I show that jobholders’ assistance relied on the cultural frames for action they deployed. Two frames dominated discussion—the second chance frame and the signaling change frame. Through the former, jobholders argued that all individuals were capable of change and entitled to more chances to prove themselves. These jobholders were strongly inclined to help. Through the latter, jobholders either referenced the nature of offenses for which job seekers were punished, a proxy for their ability to change, or they referenced evidence that job seekers had changed, a proxy for former prisoners’ commitment to do better. These jobholders tended to be noncommittal. Two frames were mentioned significantly less often—the rigid structures and the opportunities to assist frames. Neither implicated the former prisoners’ essential attributes but instead identified factors outside of job seekers’ control. A significant minority of jobholders also offered some combination of these four frames. Importantly, ethnoracial background, which informed the extent, nature and quality of jobholders’ experiences with the formerly incarcerated, also shaped which frame or set of frames jobholders deployed.

Want, Need, Fit

Drawing from a unique dataset based on 146 in-depth, semistructured interviews with a nonrandom sample of ethnoracially and class diverse workers at one large public sector employer, the authors link job contacts’ patterns of assistance to three distinct cultural logics of job-matching assistance—defensive individualism, particularism, and matchmaking—which differed along three dimensions: (a) the primary criteria upon which help was contingent, (b) the perceived risk faced, and (c) the screening practices contacts used. These findings contribute to a small but growing body of research highlighting the cultural logics that inform where, how much, and to whom job information and influence flows.

Problems With Breastfeeding/Breast Milk Feeding Reported by Women Participating in a Workplace Lactation Program

Purpose: The purpose of this study, which was part of a larger study, was to explore the problems with breastfeeding and/or breast milk expression experienced by women participating in a workplace lactation program at a large public sector employer.Methods: A cross-sectional mailed survey approach was used. The sample (n = 128) consisted of women who had used at least one component of the lactation program in the past 3 years and who were still employed at the same organization.Findings: Women who reported having a problem with breastfeeding during the first 2 weeks of their baby’s life or after they returned to work or if they had problems expressing milk all had a shorter mean duration of any breastfeeding/breast milk feeding. However, in this study, the mean duration of breastfeeding/breast milk feeding for all respondents was 10.4 months, and 57% of respondents were exclusively feeding breast milk for milk feedings at 6 months.Conclusions: It is common for women to experience problems in breastfeeding during the first 2 weeks after their baby’s birth and when they return to work. There is some evidence that participation in a workplace lactation program supported a longer duration of breastfeeding in spite of problems experienced by the women. More research is needed.