Pre-cursors to physical employment standards for rural tanker-based bushfire suppression work

This thesis quantified the physical demands of Australian rural bushfire suppression and developed a controlled bushfire simulation suitable for ongoing bushfire research. The findings of this thesis will be used to develop physical employment standards and OH&S strategies to protect the 200,000 volunteer firefighters Australia wide.

The activities and impacts of part-time employment on full time undergraduate students in property and construction courses in Australia

This paper examines the extent of part-time employment of undergraduate students enrolled in property and construction related courses in five universities across Australia. Forty five percent of the students responded to a questionnaire on their part-time work. Past research reveals that there is need for a more accurate understanding as to why students seek part-time work to the extent that they do and that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. Increased employer work demands results in less time available for study and an inability to attend lectures because of work. There is growing concern that students are increasingly disinterested in connecting with the broader and total university experience and are instead, seeking to adopt a minimalist approach to education.

Analysis of current research for Property and construction students’ results reveals that students are working on average 18 hours per week during semester time. The students therefore appear to be working beyond what is considered beneficial to their studies, although their contextual understanding and work ethic improves.

The paper concludes with some approaches that could re- engage students into the learning process. It may be helpful to develop a partnership between the University and the industry thereby providing work experience that complements the program of study. Otherwise students may not get the range of experience they need and may struggle to find the linkages between theory and practice.

Part-time employment trends for full-time undergraduate property and construction students : results of a two year sequential investigation

This paper reports on the initial findings of an investigation into the experiences and part-time work practices of undergraduates enrolled in the Bachelor of Property and Construction (BPC) and combined degree courses at the University of Melbourne. Initial data was collected from final year students during 2001 and for all four years of the course in 2002. The results suggest that students in earlier years of the course are more likely to work in non-industry (casual) related employment and work fewer hours. Students in later years of the BPC course are more likely to work in jobs in the construction industry and also to work longer hours than those in earlier years. An analysis of final year students shows that the students employed by contracting organisations work significantly more hours than students employed by other types of organisations including architectural practices. The consequences of part-time semester employment on academic performance and students' well-being are considered and proposals are put forward as to how to better manage the industry experience-University relationship.

The productivity-wage and productivity-employment nexus : a panel data analysis of Indian manufacturing

This article investigates the long-run relationship between labour productivity and employment, and between labour productivity and real wages in the case of the Indian manufacturing sector. The panel data set consists of 17 two-digit manufacturing industries for the period 1973–1974 to 1999–2001. We find that productivity-wages and productivity-employment are panel cointegrated for all industries. We find that both employment and real wages exert a positive effect on labour productivity. We argue that flexible labour market has a significant influence on manufacturing productivity, employment and real wages in the case of Indian manufacturing.

Restructuring the architecture of state regulation in the Australian and Aotearoa/New Zealand cleaning industries and the growth of precarious employment

This paper examines changes in the commercial cleaning industry in Australasia which are occurring against a backdrop of significant transformation in the mode of labour market regulation in both countries. Specifically, whereas for most of the twentieth century both Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia had systems of labour market regulation in which the state provided minimum wage and work protections through the interventions of arbitration courts, in the past few years these courts have either been abolished (in the case of New Zealand) or severely restricted in their ambit (in the case of Australia), all as part of a neoliberal effort to introduce “flexibility” into labour markets. The result has been an erosion of wages and a worsening of conditions of employment for cleaners and many other groups of workers. At the same time, this transformation in the architecture of labour market regulation poses significant challenges to unions seeking to represent cleaners and other low-paid service sector workers.

On the mopfloor: researching employment relations in the hidden world of commercial cleaning

This chapter explores some of the challenges and tribulations of studying the hidden and hitherto unresearched world of work in the New South Wales (Australia) cleaning industry. The findings and analysis presented here are informed by my research into employment relations, labour management and the organisation of work in the NSW commercial cleaning industry (Ryan, 2007). This research used primarily a case study of an industry exemplar, and made extensive use of participant observation to obtain evidence on the perceived realities of work and organisation for those on the front line of cleaning work - the cleaners and their supervisors - and to understand how they make sense of their working world. The discussions and findings presented in this chapter support the use of an ethnographic approach to work, and provide some guidance as to how a participant observation study might be carried out and what might be found through the use of this method.

How precarious employment affects health and safety at work : the case of temporary agency workers

International studies indicate temporary agency workers are more likely to be injured at work than other types of employees. However explanations for this have been less forthcoming. This paper seeks to begin filling this gap. A study was undertaken in Victoria, Australia, of occupational health and safety (OHS) amongst temporary agency workers drawing upon workers' compensation claim files for injured agency and directly hired workers from 1995-2001, and focus groups of temporary agency workers conducted in 2003. In analyzing the results, use was made of risk factors identified in a model that has been developed to explain how precarious employment affects OHS--the pressure, disorganization and regulatory failure (PDR) model (Quinlan and Bohle, 2004, 2009). Drawing principally on qualitative data, the paper finds that whilst agency workers share common risk factors with other forms of precarious workers, unique characteristics associated with the triangular nature of agency employment heighten their vulnerability further.

Who chose this restaurant anyway? The effect of responsibility for choice, guarantees and failure stability on customer complaining

Customers often behave in the context of a group, with different behavior occurring in this context to that which transpires in an individual context. However, customer complaining behavior (CCB), including voice, negative word of mouth, in addition to that transmitted electronically, and exit, in a group setting has not been studied previously. A service failure during a group celebration at a restaurant and the pattern of CCB that ensues is examined. This is based on customers’ level of responsibility in restaurant selection on behalf of the group, the presence of an unconditional service guarantee, and the perceived stability of the failure. Findings suggest that customers are more inclined to exit when they have participated to a greater degree in choice and that the presence of an unconditional guarantee interacts with participation to influence negative word of mouth intentions. Perceived failure stability had the greatest influence on CCB.

Concurrent undergraduate study and industry employment - the Australian experience

Undergraduate education in Quantity Surveying (QS) and Construction Management (CM) in Australia has traditionally incorporated concurrent industry experience as an important requisite prior to graduation. This has been primarily driven by accrediting professional associations but most universities have also recognized the value of this cooperative approach to education with industry. However, in recent years many universities have become concerned about the amount of time that students are spending in industry employment to the point where, for some students, their employment takes precedence over their academic studies. Past research has shown that working long hours has a negative effect on the study patterns of undergraduate students. This paper presents the results of research undertaken to examine the amount of time that Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students actually spend engaged in paid work during semester time and the impact on their studies. The methodology for the research was based on two separate questionnaire surveys distributed to undergraduate Quantity Surveying and Construction Management students at 7 universities across Australia. The questionnaires focused on the nature and extent of their paid work while enrolled in full-time study. The results indicate that students in the early stages of their program tend to undertake casual work that is not related to their degree but move to construction industry employment in the later stages of their program. The research found that students were spending an average of 18 hours per week in industry employment with this average increasing to over 23 hours in their final year. A number of students were spending well over 30 hours per week in industry employment. The implications of the extent of this concurrent industry employment are discussed.