Employment
Empirical methods Prescriptive and policy Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services.
Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other entity, pays the other, the employee, in return for carrying out assigned work.
An employee contributes labour and expertise to an endeavor of an employer or of a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCB)[2] and is usually hired to perform specific duties which are packaged into a job.
Secondly, an independent contractor offers services to the public at large, not just to one business, and is responsible for disbursing payments from the client, paying unreimbursed expenses, and providing his or her own tools to complete the job.
[1] A more traditional approach is with a "Help Wanted" sign in the establishment (usually hung on a window or door[9] or placed on a store counter).
[10] There are many ways that employees are paid, including by hourly wages, by piecework, by yearly salary, or by gratuities (with the latter often being combined with another form of payment).
In sales jobs and real estate positions, the employee may be paid a commission, a percentage of the value of the goods or services that they have sold.
The contract between the two parties specifies the responsibilities of each when ending the relationship and may include requirements such as notice periods, severance pay, and security measures.
In some professions, notably teaching, civil servants, university professors, and some orchestra jobs, some employees may have tenure, which means that they cannot be dismissed at will.
[25] Thomas Ferguson has postulated in his investment theory of party competition that the undemocratic nature of economic institutions under capitalism causes elections to become occasions when blocs of investors coalesce and compete to control the state plus cities.
[26] American business theorist Jeffrey Pfeffer posits that contemporary employment practices and employer commonalities in the United States, including toxic working environments, job insecurity, long hours and increased performance pressure from management, are responsible for 120,000 excess deaths annually, making the workplace the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.
[44] In the United Kingdom, employment contracts are categorized by the government into the following types:[45] For purposes of U.S. federal income tax withholding, 26 U.S.C.
It is obvious that within the context of both statutes the word 'includes' is a term of enlargement not of limitation, and the reference to certain entities or categories is not intended to exclude all others.
Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions.
However, depending on the nature of the job, older workers may need to transition into less-physical forms of work to avoid injury.
Working past retirement age also has positive effects, because it gives a sense of purpose and allows people to maintain social networks and activity levels.
[44] For instance, in India most of the chronically poor are wage earners in formal employment, because their jobs are insecure and low paid and offer no chance to accumulate wealth to avoid risks.
[44] This approach does highlight how higher productivity has helped reduce poverty in East Asia, but the negative impact is beginning to show.
[44] Oxfam and social scientist Mark Robert Rank have argued that the economy of the United States is failing to provide jobs that can adequately support families.
[57][58] According to sociologist Matthew Desmond, the US "offers some of the lowest wages in the industrialized world," which has "swelled the ranks of the working poor, most of whom are thirty-five or older.
"[59] Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute argue that there are differences across economic sectors in creating employment that reduces poverty.
[65] They found that most available literature focuses on OECD and middle-income countries somewhat, where economic growth impact has been shown to be positive on employment.
Using evidence from Africa, a research team found that a program for Liberian ex-fighters reduced work hours on illicit activities.
The study concludes that while the use of capital inputs or cash payments for peaceful work created a reduction in illicit activities, the impact of training alone is rather low.
[67] By meeting the needs of the employer; generating profits to establish and maintain economic efficiency; whilst maintaining a balance with the employee and creating social equity that benefits the worker so that he/she can fund and enjoy healthy living; proves to be a continuous revolving issue in westernized societies.
Economist Edward Lee (1996) studies the effects of globalization and summarizes the four major points of concern that affect employment relations: What also results from Lee's (1996) findings is that in industrialized countries an average of almost 70 per cent of workers are employed in the service sector, most of which consists of non-tradable activities.
At times when jobs are hard to find, such as during recessions, unemployed individuals may decide to get post-secondary education, because there is less of an opportunity cost.
In some countries, individuals who are not working can receive social assistance support (e.g., welfare or food stamps) to enable them to rent housing, buy food, repair or replace household goods, maintenance of children and observe social customs that require financial expenditure.
Workers who are not paid wages, such as volunteers who perform tasks for charities, hospitals or not-for-profit organizations, are generally not considered employed.
One exception to this is an internship, an employment situation in which the worker receives training or experience (and possibly college credit) as the chief form of compensation.
