Types of employment

Full -time and part-time employees Casual employeesFixed term and contract Apprentices and trainees

Commission and piece rate employeesThere are a number of ways you can employ staff and it’s important that you understand the correct wage and leave entitlements for each arrangement. Check your obligations by contacting Wageline or the Fair Work Ombudsman.Full-time and part-time employeesFull-time employees work on a regular basis for an average of 38 hours per week. An employee’s actual hours of work are agreed between the employer and the employee, and/ or are set by an award or registered agreement.Full-time employees are entitled to the following leave:

annual, personal, sick, and carer’s; bereavement or compassionate; parental; and long service

They are also entitled to public holiday pay if the holiday falls on a day they would usually work.Part-time employees usually work less than 38 hours per week and generally have regular hours. They receive the same wages and conditions as full-time employees on a proportionate or pro-rata basis, according to the hours they work. Casual employeesCasual employees are engaged on an irregular basis according to business demands and have:

no expectation of ongoing work; no obligation to accept offers of work; a loading paid on top of their hourly rate of pay; no sick or annual leave pay; and no obligation to provide notice of ending their employment, unless this is a requirement of an

award, employment contract or registered agreement.In some circumstances, casual employees may be eligible for long service leave and parental leave after being employed for 12 months Fixed term and contract employeesYou can employ someone on a fixed term or contract basis for an agreed length of time or to perform a specific task; to work on a particular project or to replace an employee on leave, for example.Fixed term employees can work full or part-time and are entitled to the same leave entitlements as permanent staff but on a pro-rata basis, depending on the length of employmentTIP: Negotiate the length of employment before the employee starts working and include this in a written agreement.

 Apprentices and trainees

Apprentices and trainees may be suitable for your business. They are working towards a nationally recognised qualification and must be formally registered, usually through a contract between a registered training provider, the employee and you.You must pay apprentices and trainees according to their award or registered agreement.For more information contact your local Apprenticeship Network provider TIP: You are not required to pay payroll tax on the wages of registered apprentices and trainees during their training contract.

 

Information

Who is an employee?

While in most cases it will be perfectly clear who is an employee, sometimes it is not quite so clear. For example, a business anxious to avoid employment legislation, tax and social insurance may insist that all people working for the firm are self-employed rather than employees. In other words, the person you are doing work for insists that you are not his/her employee but instead you are a self-employed person asked to do a particular piece of work. You however, consider yourself to be an employee. In this case - who is right?

Employed or self-employed?

Deciding whether you are employed or self-employed has a number of implications for you. The majority of employment protection legislation applies to employees only and the tax and social insurance system will treat you very differently depending on whether you are employed or self-employed.

There is no definition of ‘employed’ or ‘self-employed’ in employment law. The decision on your employment status is reached by looking at what you do, how you do it and the terms and conditions under you were engaged. The important point is that you (or the person you do work for) don't make the final decision. Instead, the Revenue Commissioners or the Department of Social Protection or perhaps a court or tribunal will make that decision applying standard tests and based on the real nature of your working relationship. Examples of such tests are: whether you control the work, who supplies the materials and whether you get holiday pay.

So it could be that in law you are considered an employee, even though you have agreed with another person that you will work for him or her as a self-employed person. The Code of Practice for Determining Employment or Self-employment Status of Individuals (pdf) contains criteria which can be used to clarify whether a person is employed or self-employed.

Part-time employees

Part-time employees are in a similar position to full-time employees when it comes to employment protection legislation, although in some instances a part-time employee will need to work a set minimum number of hours for a set period of time before acquiring rights. You can read more about the protection of part-time employees in this explanatory booklet (pdf) from Workplace Relations Customer Services

Fixed-term employees

Many more people are now employed on a fixed-term basis (or on specific purpose contracts). Employees working on repeated fixed-term contracts are covered under the Unfair Dismisals legislation, through they need to have at least one year's continuous service before they can bring a claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act. Under the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act 2003, employers cannot continually renew fixed term contracts. Employees can only work on one or more fixed term contracts for a continuous period of four years. After this the employee is considered to have a contract of indefinite duration (e.g. a permanent contract). Under the Act fixed-term workers cannot be treated less favourably than comparable permanent workers. You can read more about the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) 2003 Act in this explanatory booklet (pdf) from Workplace Relations Customer Services.

Casual employees

There is no definition of 'casual employees' in employment law. In reality, casual workers are on standby to do work as required without fixed hours or attendance arrangements. However, these workers are employees, for employment rights purposes.

Some legislation will apply, for example, the right to receive a pay slip. In other instances where a set period of employment is required it will be unlikely that a casual employee will have sufficient service to qualify, for example, 2 years' service is required in order to be entitled to statutory redundancy.

Children and young people

The law does not allow children (that is, those aged under 16) to be employees apart from in very restricted circumstances, for example, to take part in a film.

Children aged over 14 may do light work outside school term. Children aged over 15, but under 16, may also do light work and this may be during school

term.

In any of the above circumstances there are restrictions on the number of hours that may be worked and when the work may be done, with a complete prohibition on work between 8pm and 8am.

Different kinds of employment

What’s the difference between an employee and independent contractor?

What’s the difference between part-time and full-time work?

What does casual work mean?

What does being on a fixed term mean?

What does doing a seasonal job mean?

What’s the difference between an employee and independent contractor?

An employee is anyone who has agreed to be employed, under a “contract of service”, to work for some form of payment. This can include wages, salary, commission and piece rates (see also All Things Pay section).  Volunteers (i.e. people who have no expectation of reward for work performed), share-milkers (a type of farmer), self-employed or independent contractors, or real estate agents (if their contract says they are an independent contractor) are not employees.

It is important to be clear about whether you are an employee or an independent contractor, as only employees receive minimum rights and entitlements, such as paid annual holidays, sick leave, etc, under employment legislation.  However, independent contractors and volunteers still receive protections under Health & Safety legislation.

For more information about determining what is employee or an independent contractor, please see our Who is an employee page.

What’s the difference between part-time and full-time work?

This usually means how many hours you have to work.  Employment legislation does not define what a full time or part time worker is.  However, full-time work is usually around 35-40 hours a week, and part-time work might be any number of hours a week like 10 or 25. You have exactly the same employment rights if you are a part-time or full-time employee.

What does casual work mean?

There is no definition in employment legislation defining what a casual is.  Normally it means that you work as and when required, i.e. when the employer calls you into work.  This can sometimes happen because it is hard for the employer to predict when that work needs to be done, or when the work needs to be done quickly.  If you are employed to do casual work, this must be made clear in your employment agreement.

What does being on a fixed term mean?

There are special rules for being employed on a fixed term agreement. You can only be employed on a fixed term if there is a genuine reason (like filling in for a permanent employee, seasonal work like fruit picking, or until a project is complete). Your employer must also tell you how and when the employment will end, before you start the job. This must be recorded in your employment agreement.

What does doing a seasonal job mean?

A seasonal job is usually a type of fixed term agreement where the employer needs some extra workers for a certain job that comes up every ‘season’, for example to pick apples when they ripen.  After the work is completed (for example, when all the apples are picked) the employer does not need the workers and the fixed term ends.

What is an employment agreement?

An employment agreement sets out the terms and conditions of your job. Under the law, your employer must provide you with a written employment agreement, no matter what kind of job you do. You can have an individual agreement, or if you join a union, a collective agreement.

An employment agreement is agreed to by both the employer and the employee. An individual employment agreement is just between you and your employer and may be similar to any collective agreement in your workplace. A collective agreement is negotiated by a union representing employees who are members of the union.

Your employment agreement is the most important document about your job. Make sure you sign it and keep a copy of it in a safe place.

What does an employment agreement look like?

An employment agreement is a legal document that contains the ‘terms and conditions’ of your employment.

An individual employment agreement must include:

Employer & Employee – your name and your employer’s name as you are both ‘parties’ to the employment agreement

Position – the position which you are employed in (e.g. shop assistant).

Duties – what type of work you will be required to do as part of your job (e.g. customer service, point of sale, keeping the shop and items tidy)

Place of Work – where you will be required to work.

Working Hours – what hours you will be required to work. If you change your working hours, you and your employer should update your employment agreement with the new hours.

How and what you will be paid for your work.  Your pay must be at least the minimum wage if you are 16 or older. Your wages must be paid in money (i.e. in cash, cheque, or transfer of funds into your bank account), not in goods or services provided.

Public Holidays – your employment agreement has to say that you will be paid at least time-and-a-half for any time worked on a public holiday. You still get all other public holiday rights covered by the law, even if they are not written into your employment agreement.

Resolving Employment Relationship Problems – your employment agreement has to contain an explanation of the steps that should be taken to deal with workplace problems if they happen. It is important that both you and your employer follow these steps if you have a problem at work.

Employee protection provision – your employment agreement must say what process the employer will follow in restructuring situations, such as jobs being reorganised or cut.

Some things (like rest and meal breaks, or four weeks annual holidays) do not need to be in your employment agreement but your employer must still provide them by law. If you and

your employer agree to better terms and conditions these should be recorded in your employment agreement.

Your employment agreement can also contain other terms and conditions that you and your employer have agreed to.  Click here to see what things are minimums in law and what are negotiable.

An Urban area is a location characterized by high human population density and vast human-built features in comparison to the areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.

Unlike an urban area, a metropolitan area includes not only the urban area, but also satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is socio-economically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting, with the urban core city being the primary labor market.

ROLE OF EMPLOYMENT The experience of countries that succeeded in reducing poverty significantly indicates the importance of high rates of economic growth in achieving this. High growth, however, is not a sufficient condition for poverty reduction; the pattern and sources of growth as well as the manner in which its benefits are distributed are equally important from the point of view of achieving the goal of poverty reduction. In this context, employment plays a key role in all developing countries. Indeed, countries which attained high rates of employment growth alongside high rates of economic growth are also the ones who succeeded in reducing poverty significantly.Has employment fallen in India?

KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF EMP. AND UN-EMP.

The National Sample Survey (NSS) has just released some key characteristics of employment and unemployment in India based on the survey conducted between July 2009 and June 2010. Discussion on these topics in India often loosely uses language of employment and labour markets from the more developed world, with misleading and confused conclusions.

To illustrate the problem, consider the following: one employment measure commonly used in India is the so called Usual Principal and Subsidiary Status (UPSS) —a measure of employment based on time spent in the year before the survey. This number has been used to conclude that employment growth has slowed. It also raises concerns about the quality of economic development.

This last conclusion is based on the assumption that all forms of employment in the UPSS measure are equally desirable. This is not correct because this bunched number hides many distinct structural components. Three of these are worth detailed assessment. These are: “Subsidiary status employment”, employment of the young, and employment of women.

Subsidiary employment:

The UPSS measure includes, in the definition of employment and workforce, both principal and subsidiary status activities. The principal activity status (PS) on which a person spent a relatively

longer time (major time criterion) during the 365 days preceding the date of survey is considered the usual principal activity status of the person. A person may have, in addition to his principal status activity, pursued some other economic activity for 30 days or more during this time. Any such activity is termed subsidiary economic activity status (SS). The two measures are used to determine the workforce and the number of persons who are working and available for work (labour force). We should expect that improvements in principal status employment or household well-being can and should lead to reductions in subsidiary employment, a feature that emerges in the data almost consistently from 1983.

Employment in the young:

The overall WPR and the labour force participation ratio—the number of persons in the labour force in the population—are for all age groups. Absence from the labour force in different ages is for different reasons and has different social implications. Thus, absence of individuals who are younger than 24 is due largely to their attending school. This feature is sharpest in males and in females below 15, but remains significant in females over 15. As we see in the accompanying table, these age groups see sharp declines in their WPR. This decline then can be attributed to an increase in school attendance and a decline in child labour, an objective promoted consistently in government policies.

Employment of women:

A third hidden dimension in the data relates to the employment of women. Since the 1980s there has been a near-consistent decline in WPR for women. This has been commented upon earlier and there may be social and cultural reasons for this trend.

However, disentangling these distinct trends leads to very interesting comparisons in the employment growth depicted in the table.

The table shows that if we focus only on male PS employment in ages 25 or more then, far from a slowdown in growth of workers since 2004, we actually see a sharp increase.

EMPLOYMENT -2

Employment has always featured as an element of development policy in India. Thepriority and attention it has received in development plans have, however, variedfrom time to time and so have the approaches and strategies as well as policies andprogrammes for employment generation. When India embarked on a strategy ofindustrialisation-based development in 1950’s, employment was not perceived to bea major issue in so far as a relatively faster growth of economy as envisaged in theconsecutive Five Year Plans was expected to generate enough employment,particularly in industry, to take care of a small backlog of unemployment at the timeand increase in labour force that was expected to be relatively modest. Ensuring aregular and adequate supply of suitably skilled workforce was conceived to be amatter of greater concern. Improving the quality of employment, in terms ofreasonable and rising level of wages and a minimum measure of social securityagainst the common risks of work and life was, however, considered an importantconcern of state policy.Public sector, providing conditions of good quality employment, was regardedas ‘model employer’ and expanded its workforce continuously for about fourdecades. Also, where the private sector failed to continue operations of enterprisesand employment of workers, the government took over such enterprises, with aview to, inter alia, protecting employment. The private sector was expected to followthe rules of employment as laid down in various legislations and agreements so asnot only to protect employment but ensure its quality.Growth of employment emerged as an important concern in developmentplanning around the middle of 1970s, when it was realised that economic and

demographic performance of the economy had fallen short of earlier expectationsand as a result unemployment had been on an increase. The problem was sought tobe tackled through a two-pronged strategy: on the one hand, efforts were initiatedto make development more employment oriented, by encouraging growth ofemployment intensive sectors and including employment among the objectives of~ 2 ~macro-economic and sectoral policies, and, on the other, special employmentEmployment Performance of theIndian Economy: The LongTermExperienceEmployment has grown at an average annual rate of two per cent in India during thepast four decades since 1972-73 when comprehensive information on employmentand unemployment started becoming available from the NSSO quinquinnial surveys.In itself this could be regarded as a significant record, as such an employment growthhas not been recorded by many countries historically or in recent periods. In fact,most countries in general, and developed countries in particular, have had very lowemployment growth in recent years. According to ILO data, most of them saw anincrease of less than one per cent per annum in their employment during the 1990s.It was 0.45 per cent in United States, 0.18 per cent in United Kingdom, 0.32 per centin France, 0.41 per cent in Germany and -0.15 per cent in Japan. In the case ofdeveloping countries strictly comparable data are not available, but broad assessmentplaces their average employment growth at around 1.5 per cent per annum duringthat period (ILO, KILM, 2007 and Ghose et al, 2008). During the past decade, 2001-2010, employment is estimated to have grown globally at about 1.5 per cent perannum: the developed countries registering a growth rate of barely one per centduring 2001-08, which also seems to have been more than negated by a large declineduring the next two years. India’s significant record on employment growth has, however, not beenadequate in view of a faster growth of labour force. Further, there are a fewdisconcerting features of employment growth in recent years. First, employmentgrowth has decelerated. Second, employment content of growth has shown adecline. Third, sectors with higher employment potential have registered relativelyslower growth. Fourth, agriculture, despite a sharp decline in its importance in grossdomestic product, continues to be the largest employer as the non-agriculturalGrowth of Urban Employment (UPSS)Primary Sector Mining &Quarrying manufacturingUtilities ‐Construction Secondary Sector Trade, Hotelling Transport &Communicationetc. Financing,Insurance, Realestate &businessservices Community,social and personal services Tertiary Sector All Non‐Agricultural Total 4.55 3.50 2.91 3.40 2.30 4.44 1.78 4.08 3.19 3.27 3.10Source: Own estimates based on various rounds of NSS data on employment and unemployment.

Faster Growth of Productive EmploymentAs the employment challenge that India faces consists both of creating of new jobs and improving the quality of existing jobs, a faster economic growth is the key to meet this challenge. A faster growth even with relatively low employment elasticity can generate reasonably high employment growth with significant increase in productivity. With a view to making employment growth faster, sectors and activities with relatively higher employment elasticity could be targeted for particularly high economic growth. But the compulsion of raising productivity with a view to improving employment quality in major part of the economy makes it imperative that economy grows at a high rate to generate the required number of new employment opportunities. Thus the strategy for creating quality employment essentially consists

of a strategy for a rapid and diversified economic growth.A faster growth of agriculture derived from geographically and crop wisediversification is an essential element of such a strategy in the Indian case.Agricultural growth is to be achieved not for a quantitative increase in employmentbut for a qualitative improvement in employment of those working in the farmsector, through increase in productivity and income. So far as the numbers ofworkers in agriculture are concerned one should expect them to decline as moreand more of them move out to other sectors. Manufacturing offers itself as the bestcandidate for absorbing those moving out of agriculture as also other job seekers iIt is, however, important that employment in the formal sector increases toensure improvement in quality of employment on a sustainable basis. ‘Restrictive

labour laws’ have often been identified among the factors that constrain increase ininvestment and employment. For example, several studies over the years haveconcluded that employment in organized manufacturing sector in India would havebeen significantly larger if the provision relating to prior government permission forretrenchment, lay off and closure, under the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) was notmade applicable to all enterprises employing 100 or more workers (e.g. Fallon andLucas, 1991, Besley and Burgess, 2004). World Bank Doing Business Reportsclassified India as a country with stringent regulations, including labour regulations.(For a detailed account of the findings of studies and reviews on the subject, seeWorld Bank, 2010). Though restrictive labour laws do not get listed among the mostsevere constraints by the employers, it is widely agreed, including by the government(See e.g. Economic Survey, 2005-06, Planning Commission 2008, Vol. III, pp. 49-50)that some of the legal provisions including the above mentioned one in IDA andrestrictions in the use of contract labour under the Contract Labour Regulation andAbolition Act (CLRA), which specially hinder the operations of firms that produceprimarily to meet fluctuating export orders, constrain expansion of production andemployment. Political compulsions seem to have made the government refrain fromtaking any initiative to change the law. However, some states have taken steps tomodify laws and rules to make employment of labour more flexible. Also, a generallyrelaxed attitude to implementation has prevailed in recent years (See Papola, et al2008). In fact, in a recent speech, the Prime Minister stated that “….this view (thatthe labour laws are unduly protective of labour) has lost its importance in recentyears as more and more state governments have become considerably more flexibleIn addition to the foregoing demand side measures, an important initiativerelating to the supply side of the labour market that needs special attention isdevelopment of adequate quantity and quality of skills. Most workers – employedand looking for work – have not had any vocational training for acquiring skills.Institutional capacity needs to be vastly expanded for training of young entrants tothe labour market and realisation of the ‘demographic dividend’ India potentiallypossesses. It also needs to be oriented towards greater flexibility in timing andregularity to suit the requirements of the employed, specially those in the informal~ 76 ~sector, to enable them to upgrade their skills. Training requires to be made demand– induced for which it would be necessary to have an important role for industry inits planning and execution. A public – private partnership mode is necessary for thispurpose as well as for sharing the financial cost by the users. It is hoped that thenationally launched Skill Development Mission, establishment of the National SkillDevelopment Corporation and formation of a Council under the chairmanship of thePrime Minister to monitor progress will place the subject on the high enoughpriority to give effect to adequate expansion in the skill base of the Indian workforceand better matching of skill supplies and demand, both in quantity and quality.

GOVT. EFFORTS

The story of India’s employment experience in recent years would not be completewithout a reference to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme whichhas been in operations since 2006 under the National Rural Employment GuaranteeAct (NREGA), now rechristened as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MGNREGA). India has a long history of special employmentprogrammes, specially since 1970’s when such wage employment programmes, alongwith subsidized self employment programmes were started as a part of the strategyto combat poverty. The unique feature of the employment programmes underMGNREGA is the provision of manual work up to 100 days per rural household in ayear, as a matter of a statutory right. It primarily aims at enhancing livelihoodsecurity of rural households by supplementing their income through wageemployment. Side by side, it is also expected to create infrastructure such as ruralconnectivity and irrigation, enhance the livelihood and natural resource base tomitigate poverty and environmental degradation and strengthen grass rootsprocesses of democracy and infuse transparency and accountability of governance.Programmes under the Act have now been in operation for over five years. Startingwith 200 districts in 2006, they are now implemented in all the rural districts of thecountry. Major outcomes of the programmes during the first five years aresummarized in Table 32.The programme could be regarded as having significant achievements in

terms of coverage of households, inclusion of women and socially disadvantagedgroups as well the relevance of the types of assets created. Average number of daysor employment provided to participating households has been increasing from yearto year till 2010-11 when it reached 54. It is however, significantly lower thanmaximu provision of 100 days. And in 2010-11, it declined to 47. Averages wages perday of work stood at Rs 117 in 201-011 rising steadily from Rs 65 in the first year(2006-07). Average earnings of participating households from the work in theprogramme now are thus around Rs 5500 which is a significant addition to theincomes of poor households in rural areas. According to a study based on householdsurvey, earnings from NREGA work made 15 per cent of household income inAndhra Pradesh and 12 per cent in Rajasthan, though only 5.2 per cent in Bihar(IHD, 2011). These differences to a large extent reflect the average number of daysof employment provided to participating households in different statesNumerous studies evaluating the programmes under NREGA have beenundertaken in different parts of the country. It is not in the scope of this paper togive an account of their coverage and findings here. It may, however, be noted thatmost of them have related to the implementation processes. Weaknesses identifiedin implementation include: non-provision of work on demand, lack of transparency incalculating wages based on schedule of work, non-payment of minimum wages, nonpaymentof wages within stipulated 15 days of work, use of contractors inspite ofprohibition, non-payment of employment allowance, non-provision of worksitefacilities etc. Cases of “fudging” of muster rolls to ‘sell’ entitlements are alsoreported. (For a discussion on different issues involved in implementation see Khera,2011).

Employee

An employee contributes labor and expertise to an endeavor of an employer and is usually hired to perform specific duties which are packaged into a job. An Employee is a person who is hired to provide services to a company on a regular basis in exchange for compensation and who does not provide these services as part of an independent business.

Employer-worker relationship[edit]

Employer and managerial control within an organization rests at many levels and has important implications for staff and productivity alike, with control forming the fundamental link between desired outcomes and actual processes. Employers must balance interests such as decreasing wage constraints with a maximization of labor productivity in order to achieve a profitable and productive employment relationship.

Finding employees or employment[edit]

The main ways for employers to find workers and for people to find employers are via jobs listings in newspapers (via classified advertising) and online, also called job boards. Employers and job seekers also often find each other via professional recruitment consultants which receive a commission from the employer to find, screen and select suitable candidates. However, a study has shown that such consultants may not be reliable when they fail to use established principles in selecting employees.[1] A more traditional approach is with a "Help Wanted" sign in the establishment (usually hung on a window or door[2] or placed on a store counter).[3] Evaluating different employees can be quite laborious but setting up different techniques to analyze their skill to measure their talents within the field can be best through assessments.[4] Employer and potential employee commonly take the additional step of getting to know each other through the process of job interview.

Training and development[edit]

Training and development refers to the employer's effort to equip a newly hired employee with necessary skills to perform at the job, and to help the employee grow within the organization. An appropriate level of training and development helps to improve employee's job satisfaction.

Employee benefits[edit]

Employee benefits are various non-wage compensation provided to employee in addition to their wages or salaries. The benefits can include: housing (employer-provided or employer-paid), group insurance (health, dental, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), social security, profit sharing, funding of education and other specialized benefits. Employee benefits improves the relationship between employee and employer and lowers staff turnover.

Organizational justice[edit]

Organizational justice is an employee's perception and judgement of employer's treatment in the context of fairness or justice. The resulting actions to influence the employee-employer relationship is also a part of organizational justice.

Workforce organizing[edit]

Employees can organize into trade or labor unions, which represent the work force to collectively bargain with the management of organizations about working, and contractual conditions and services.

Ending employment[edit]

Usually, either an employee or employer may end the relationship at any time. This is referred to as at-will employment. Models of the employment relationship[edit]

Scholars conceptualize the employment relationship in various ways.[32] A key assumption is the extent to which the employment relationship necessarily includes conflicts of interests between employers and employees, and the form of such conflicts.[33] Mainstream economics: employment is seen as a mutually advantageous transaction in a free market between self-interested legal and economic equals

1. Human resource management (unitarism): employment is a long-term partnership of employees and employers with common interests

2. Pluralist industrial relations : employment is a bargained exchange between stakeholders with some common and some competing economic interests and unequal bargaining power due to imperfect labor markets

3. Critical industrial relations: employment is an unequal power relation between competing groups that is embedded in and inseparable from systemic inequalities throughout the socio-politico-economic system.

4. socio-politico-economic system.

These models are important because they help reveal why individuals hold differing perspectives on human resource management policies, labor unions, and employment regulation.[35] We must get used to the idea that the job is not static—not a given. The technology of electronics, computers, and so forth accelerates the displacement of workers. That is to say, entrepreneurs are enjoying a period of extraordinary success in devising less costly ways of production. They are not "creating jobs," nor can they be expected to do so; their function is to create wealth. The worker must fend for himself. This makes it all the more essential that we not demobilize the job-seeker, but that we encourage the job-finding, job-creating efforts of every worker.

GOVERNMENT AIDS-CONCLUSIONS

Government "aid" of all kinds, whether it be compensation to the "unemployed," relief to the "needy," price supports to farmers, minimum wages to workers, subsidies to shipbuilders, easy credit to "small" business, urban renewal grants, defense contracts to "depressed areas," or

"aid to education," should be discontinued, if not immediately, then gradually. Government should withdraw from the "aid" business, at the same time serving notice on the people that they must depend upon their own initiative. Not only the federal but the state and local governments should demobilize their "aid" forces.

Such action, we predict, would be followed by such a surge of productive activity as this coun-try has never seen. As the easy, lackadaisical, subsidized life came to an end, men would bestir themselves, throw off their aid-induced lethargy, shed the cynical "every-body’s-getting-his-why-shouldn’t-I-get-mine" attitude, and go to work with vigor and daring.

The "unemployed," having no government crutch to lean upon, would break down the "union wage" tradition and find jobs at market wages. As they went to work, production would increase, new projects not now feasible because of cost would spring into being and enterprise would expand. The demand for capital would increase. Simultaneously, knowing that they now must depend on their own resources, people would save more, providing the new investment funds. Opportunities for entrepreneurs would multiply. So would opportunities for workers.