Developing a diagnostic tool and policy instrument for the realization of decent work

Based on nine of the indicators identified by the ILO's 2008 Tripartite Meeting of Experts on the Measurement of Decent Work, the authors develop a questionnaire, supplemented by in‐depth interviews, to assess job quality in the security, farming and hospitality industries in South Africa's Gauteng province. Their diagnostic tool differs from the standard ILO index in that it focuses on individual workers at industry level rather than conditions at country level. This approach, the authors argue, can be used to monitor progress towards decent work while enabling key actors at industry level to develop evidence‐led strategies to overcome decent work deficits.     

Hand therapy and ergonomics: integration of approaches in vocational rehabilitation and promotion of decent work in Brazil

Among the indicators of Decent Work in Brazil, the one referring to the "Safe Working Environment" was the only which had no improvement in the time series analyzed by the International Labor Organisation. There is an increased number of accidents with significant economic and social impacts. Given that many of these accidents involve the hands and cause functional sequels, this paper presents an integration between the approaches of Hand Therapy and Ergonomics in order to facilitate the process of rehabilitation and reintegration, as well as acting to prevent further accidents, thus contributing to the promotion of Decent Work in the country, particularly with regard to safety and health at work and equal opportunities.     

Ergonomics and design in the Brazilian agricultural sector: a proposal to build matrix of contradictions

The paper presents a correlation between the parameters of classical TRIZ and variables of analysis of the EWA to construct a matrix of contradictions in ergonomics, with the objective of assisting the designing processes in the Brazilian agricultural sector. Given the representativeness of the sector in the economy, the boundary conditions in which the activities are developed and their impact on the health of workers, this proposal should contribute to the development of adaptable solutions and the promotion of Decent Work.     

Measuring labour absorption problems in developing countries: Limitations of the concept of unemployment

The “standard” unemployment rate is often criticized for omitting large numbers of people who are classified as employed or as not economically inactive, when in fact their situation amounts to unemployment. The author discusses the limitations of this standard definition for developing countries. After reviewing the methodological and statistical problems posed by the standard rate, he looks at the reality behind the words in contexts where the labour market is highly segmented. He shows that the standard unemployment rate underestimates excess labour supply and is a poor indicator of the Decent Work deficit, and considers its limitations in guiding economic policy.     

Books Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Theoretical perspectives on work and the employment relationship . Edited by Bruce E. KAUFMAN. Recent books: Does “trickle down” work? Economic development strategies and job chains in local labour markets . By Joseph PERSKY, Daniel FELSENSTEIN and Virginia CARLSON. La mondialisation: Origines, développements et effets . Third edition. Edited by James D. THWAITES. The economics of sustainable development . Edited by Sisay ASEFA. Work behavior of the world's poor: Theory, evidence and policy . By Mohammed SHARIF. Workers and narratives of survival in Europe: The management of precariousness at the end of the twentieth century . Edited by Angela PROCOLI. New ILO Publications: A global alliance against forced labour . Global Report under the Follow‐up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Report of the Director‐General. International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report I (B). Promotional framework for occupational safety and health . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report IV (2). Reconciling work and family responsibilities: Practical ideas from global experience . By Catherine HEIN. Work in the fishing sector . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report V (2A). Youth: Pathways to decent work. Promoting youth employment ‐ Tackling the challenge . International Labour Conference, 93rd Session, 2005, Report VI.     

Assessing companies' decent work practices: An analysis of ESG rating methodologies

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) rating agencies, as non-financial data providers, have become central actors in the field of responsible investment. Although research has explored the construction of ESG metrics, little is known about how agencies evaluate decent work. Building on the analysis of six rating agencies, this article investigates how these actors measure and assess companies' performance in terms of decent work and related areas and identifies the challenges they face in this endeavour. The authors seek to better understand the capacity of responsible investment and ESG ratings to promote and improve decent work within companies.     

Filling a critical gap: measuring work policies that affect families globally

Work is a central element in most people's lives, and its adequacy and value cannot be measured by simple figures showing how many people have gained or lost jobs. Current measures of decent work are more comprehensive in terms of what matters to individuals, but deficient in their coverage of work policies that matter to families. In this article, we argue the importance and feasibility of measuring policies and laws that shape work quality, and in particular those that shape how work affects families on a global basis. We make the case that this policy area is especially critical under changing social conditions, and propose a manageable and feasible set of indicators permitting an assessment of the extent to which national labor policies facilitate the ability of working adults to meet the requirements of their jobs as well as the needs of their families. Methods are described and findings mapped for all UN countries in key areas including maternal leave, paternal leave, leave to care for children's health, leave to care for adult family members, and leave to meet other family needs.     

Predatory purchasing practices in global apparel supply chains and the employment relations squeeze in the Indian garment export industry

While the literature has long acknowledged worker rights abuses in global apparel supply chains, less attention has been paid to the recent worsening of certain decent work deficits and its causes, which this article links to predatory purchasing practices arising from growing power asymmetries. These practices, illustrated here by the garment export industry in India, exert downward pressure on wages and incite non‐standard forms of employment and greater verbal and physical abuse as productivity demands rise. They can be addressed through pricing mechanisms that cover the cost of decent work, appropriate State regulation and worker involvement.     

Books Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Precarious work, women, and the new economy: The challenge to legal norms. Edited by Judy FUDGE and Rosemary OWENS. Recent books: 2001–2004: les sortants de l'enseignement supérieur face au marché du travail. By Jean‐François GIRET Globalization, employment and income distribution in developing countries. Edited by Eddy LEE and Marco VIVARELLI. La huelga hoy en el derecho social comparado. Edited by Antonio MARZAL. Barcelona, J. M. Bosch Le principe du droit au travail: juridicité, signification et normativité. By Dominic ROUX. Le travail. Un marché pas comme les autres. By Jean VERCHERAND. Collection “Des Sociétés”. The other half of gender: Men's issues in development. Edited by Ian BANNON and Maria C. CORREIA. New ILO publications: Changing patterns in the world of work. Report of the Director‐General, International Labour Conference, 95th Session, 2006, Report I (C). The role of the ILO in technical cooperation: Promoting decent work through field and country programmes. International Labour Conference, 95th Session, 2006, Report VI. Decent working time: New trends, new issues. Edited by Jean‐Yves BOULIN, Michel LALLEMENT, Jon C. MESSENGER and François MICHON. Labour and social issues arising from problems of cross‐border mobility of international drivers in the road transport sector. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Labour and Social Issues arising from Problems of Cross‐border Mobility of International Drivers in the Road Transport Sector. Sectoral Activities Programme. Merchants of labour. Edited by Christiane KUPTSCH. International Institute for Labour Studies. Social and labour implications of the increased use of advanced retail technologies. Report for discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on the Social and Labour Implications of the Increased Use of Advanced Retail Technologies. Sectoral Activities Programme. Violence at work. By Duncan CAMPBELL and Vittorio DI MARTINO.     

Social Status and Decent Work: Test of a Moderated Mediation Model

On the basis of the psychology of working theory (PWT; Duffy, Blustein, et al., 2016), we tested a moderated mediation model with subjective social status, work volition, proactive personality, and decent work as variables. Data were collected from 225 South Korean employees (115 women, 110 men). Results indicated that work volition mediated the relation between low subjective social status and decent work. In addition, proactive personality moderated the link between low subjective social status and work volition. Further analysis revealed that the indirect effect of social status on decent work via work volition was conditional upon proactive personality; that is, the indirect effect was weaker for individuals with a higher level of proactive personality. These results provide an application of the PWT-based model in a South Korean context. Future research could include samples from marginalized populations and additional constructs (e.g., career adaptability, human need satisfaction) of PWT.     

A Review of Practice of Teaching and Learning of Communication Skills in Social Work Education in England

There is a renewed focus on skills for practice in the new Social Work degree in the UK, expressed in the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) Benchmarks for Social Work and the National Occupational Standards (NOS). Together these make specific a range of requirements for practice which set the terms for what students need to learn in order to work with users and carers most effectively. Of five key areas identified for the new degree, communication skills is the third. In this context, the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) commissioned a review of practice in teaching and learning of communication skills in social work education in England. This article presents the findings from this review. It concludes that, whilst there is significant activity and much good practice, there is little clarity or consensus about meanings, definitions, content and methods between all the stakeholders, including users and carers. Through the lens of current teaching and learning of communication skills it is the contention of this article that social work education needs systematically to address its strategy for replying to the challenge of a greater focus on practice skills.     

Transforming Teaching and Learning in South Africa: First Year in the Bachelor of Social Work

The South African qualification for social work was transformed in 2003, along with other transforming post-apartheid policies and practices since the first democratic government was elected in 1994. The educational collective was committed to outcomes-based approaches which were legislated by statutory bodies emphasising redress of previous inequities. The new Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) is accordingly criterion-based and measured by 27 exit level outcomes, giving direct guidance which assists historically disadvantaged students and facilitates entry to qualifications as intended by the current South African reform. The BSW replaces the previous Bachelor of Arts in Social Work [BA (SW)] which was norm-based and relied on good students educated in historically advantaged institutions. The political history and context for the new qualification is presented and typical difficulties experienced during the first year are referenced. With the BSW being due for revision in 2012, a research project on its teaching and learning in the first year was commissioned in 2010 by the Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions. A section of this project is presented here. Consistent with the international literature, human and material resources emerge as very important in providing academic support. Tension between policies and practice should provide a good basis for revising the BSW.     

Shared Expectations? Reforming the Social Work Qualifying Curriculum in England

This is the first of two articles presenting findings from a scoping review undertaken in 2011 to inform proposals for a review of the social work qualifying curriculum in England made by the Social Work Reform Board. The review used a mixture of published and unpublished resources to compare the issues raised by the reports of the Social Work Task Force with what was known from published research investigating the ways that the current Requirements for Social Work Training (Department of Health, London, 2002) operate. It found that the evidence base on which the key issues relating to the concerns about initial social work qualifying programmes rest was very variable. The absence of a substantial research evidence base in this area hinders the development of effective policymaking on social work education, but the current changes to social work education and to social work regulation offer a timely opportunity to expand what we know about different assessment systems and how best to regulate social work courses.     

Women's Work: A Challenge to the Sociology of Work

This article confronts the Sociology of Work with the nature of women's work, arguing that this long-standing sociological speciality is threaded through with numerous ontological conceptions that make it difficult not only to understand women's work, but also the changing contours of men's work. On the basis of three key areas in the Sociology of Work — the definition of work, the nature of the firm/organization and the definition of skill — the disjunctures with the nature of women's work are underlined. Feminist research — on housework, homeworking, the link between the productive and reproductive spheres, the sexuality of organization, the gendered nature of skill and on emotional labour, to mention only a few examples — is argued to have contributed profoundly to our rethinking of the workplace for both women and men. Examples of recent feminist conceptualizations of work are provided as illustrations of the direction in which the Sociology of Work could proceed.     

Therapeutic Return to Work: Rehabilitation in the workplace

Therapeutic Return to Work is a work rehabilitation program linking graded work exposure with functional restoration therapy for chronic low back pain. This study evaluates the impact of the program on stable return to work (RTW) and compares it with the impact on RTW of three frequently used ways of management of back pain (normative comparison). At two year follow-up, 93% of participants of the Therapeutic Return to Work program were working. This rate was higher than in the comparison groups. Although limited by its norm-referenced evaluation design, the results of this study indicate the importance of placing the work site in the center of the of work rehabilitation process. In this program occupational therapists make full use of the client's natural environment.     

Must Schools of Social Work be Freestanding? Yes!

Abstract

Point/Counterpoint is a regular feature of the Journal of Social Work Education. Its purpose is to provide a vehicle for the expression of contrasting views on controversial topics in social work education. Our goal is to illuminate important debates and explore the diverse perspectives that are shaping social work education.

In each issue of the Journal, social work educators are invited to comment on a topic about which they have differing viewpoints. Each commentator is given an opportunity to make a brief rebuttal. In this issue, Barbara Shank (Chair, Department of Social Work, University of St. Thomas and the College of St. Catherine), Irving Piliavin (Director, School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Marsha Seltzer (Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison) address the question: Must schools of social work be freestanding?     

A method for work modeling at complex systems: towards applying information systems in family health care units

Work in organizations requires a minimum level of consensus on the understanding of the practices performed. To adopt technological devices to support the activities in environments where work is complex, characterized by the interdependence among a large number of variables, understanding about how work is done not only takes an even greater importance, but also becomes a more difficult task. Therefore, this study aims to present a method for modeling of work in complex systems, which allows improving the knowledge about the way activities are performed where these activities do not simply happen by performing procedures. Uniting techniques of Cognitive Task Analysis with the concept of Work Process, this work seeks to provide a method capable of providing a detailed and accurate vision of how people perform their tasks, in order to apply information systems for supporting work in organizations.     

The ILO Domestic Workers Convention and regulatory reforms in Argentina,Chile and Paraguay. A comparative study of working time and remuneration regulations

In June 2011, the International Labour Conference adopted the Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers, No. 189, and its accompanying Recommendation No. 201. From a comparative law standpoint, this article seeks to analyse the role played by Convention No. 189 on regulatory reforms, focusing on the legislative measures taken in three Latin American countries that have ratified it: Argentina, Chile and Paraguay. An analysis is also made of the discussions and controversies that have determined the way in which the working time and wage provisions contained in the Convention have been incorporated into the national laws on paid domestic work in these three countries.     

A STUDY OF BACCALAUREATE SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS' BELIEFS ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL CONTENT IN SOCIAL WORK

This exploratory quantitative study employs a 4-page Religion/Spirituality and Social Work Questionnaire that focuses on the beliefs and perceptions of 324 undergraduate social work students in 7 Council on Social Work Education–accredited schools of social work in the state of Texas about the role of religion and spirituality in social work practice and education. The vast majority of students in this sample (80.6%) are practicing Christians who have strong personal religious/spiritual beliefs and are relatively open to incorporating at least some religious/spiritual content into their practice with clients. More than 82% indicate that they want their social work courses to include content on religious/spiritual diversity, and 87.6% indicate interest in content on how to effectively deal with religious/spiritual issues in practice.