TY - JOUR T1 - ‘I’d Rather Work in a Supermarket’: Privatization of Home Care Work In Japan JF - Work, Employment & Society Y1 - 2014 A1 - Broadbent, Kaye KW - employment conditions KW - home care KW - home care sector KW - Japan KW - Long Term Care Insurance KW - organization of work KW - workplace AB -

The rise in nuclear family households and more married women engaging in paid work have forced governments to address the issue of aged care for the elderly to a greater degree. A good illustration is home care in Japan where the government introduced a Long Term Care Insurance scheme (LTCI) (2000) focused on offering affordable almost universal care by extending existing home care services. Japan’s home care services were privatized in 2006 and, while this is not unique to Japan, the combination of cost-cutting measures and the client-driven model encompassed in the LTCI has had a significant impact on employment conditions and the organization of work in home care services. This research assesses the impact on employment conditions and the organization of work in Japan’s former government-run home care sector compared with the pre-LTCI period and argues that privatization has resulted in work intensification and deteriorating employment conditions.

VL - 28 L2 - eng CP - 5 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Precarious Employment: Understanding an Emerging Social Determinant of Health JF - Annual Review of Public Health Y1 - 2014 A1 - Benach, J. A1 - Vives, A., A1 - G. Tarafa A1 - Vanroelen, C. A1 - Amable, M. A1 - Muntaner, C. KW - employment conditions KW - precarious employment KW - social determinants KW - social epidemiology KW - working conditions AB -

Employment precariousness is a social determinant that affects the health of workers, families, and communities. Its recent popularity has been spear- headed by three main developments: the surge in “flexible employment” and its associated erosion of workers’ employment and working conditions since the mid-1970s; the growing interest in social determinants of health, including employment conditions; and the availability of new data and information systems. This article identifies the historical, economic, and political factors that link precarious employment to health and health equity; reviews concepts, models, instruments, and findings on precarious employment and health inequalities; summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of this literature; and highlights substantive and methodological challenges that need to be addressed. We identify two crucial future aims: to provide a compelling research program that expands our understanding of employment precariousness and to develop and evaluate policy programs that effectively put an end to its health-related impacts.

VL - 35 L2 - eng UR - http://www.upf.edu/greds-emconet/_pdf/P_Employment_ARPH_2014.pdf ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Cross-Border Social Dialogue and Agreements: An Emerging Global Industrial Relations Framework? Y1 - 2008 A1 - Papadakis, K. KW - codes of conduct KW - employment conditions KW - globalization KW - IFAs KW - industrial relations KW - international framework agreements KW - workers’ rights AB -

The book examines various facets of international framework agreements (IFAs), as one of numerous private initiatives that have emerged in the absence of a state-driven multilateral framework, in view of organising a common labour relations framework at cross-border level. It also addresses relevant issues such as the possibility of cross-border solidarity action as a complement to cross-border dialogue.

PB - International Institute for Labour Studies CY - Geneva L2 - eng UR - http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_093423.pdf ER -