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This article is about work. For the Kaiser Chiefs album, see Employment (album). Employment is the debut album by English Rock band Kaiser Chiefs.

Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law A party is a Person or group of persons that compose a single Entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the Law. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how the work is to be performed. A service is the non-material equivalent of a good. A service provision is an economic activity that does not result in Ownership, and this is what differentiates A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An oral contract is a Contract that terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication in contrast to a written contract where the contract is a written document A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise Materiality is a legal term which can have different meanings depending on context Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a Contract ( Employment " Black's Law Dictionary page 471 (5th ed. Black's Law Dictionary is the most widely-used Law dictionary for the Law of the United States. 1979).

In a commercial setting, the employer conceives of a productive activity, generally with the intention of creating profits, and the employee contributes labour to the enterprise, usually in return for payment of wages. In Linguistics, productivity is the degree to which Native speakers use a particular grammatical process especially in Word formation. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor. Employment also exists in the public, non-profit and household sectors. The public sector is the part of economic and administrative life that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the Government, whether national Regional A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage The household is the basic unit of analysis in many Social, Microeconomic and Government models To the extent that employment or the economic equivalent is not universal, unemployment exists. A job is a role served by a Person or thing usually involving productive work. Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work.

Contents

Employer

An employer is a person or institution that hires employees or workers. Employers offer wages or a salary in exchange for the worker's labor power, depending upon whether the employee is paid by the hour or a set rate per pay period. A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor. A salary is a form of periodic payment from an Employer to an Employee, which may be specified in an Employment contract. Labour power (in German Arbeitskraft, or labour force is a crucial concept used by Karl Marx in his critique of capitalist Political economy A salaried employee is typically not paid more for more hours worked than the minimum, whereas wages are paid for all hours worked, including overtime. Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours.

Employers include everything from individuals hiring a babysitter to governments and businesses which may hire many thousands of employees. Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to In most western societies governments are the largest single employers, but most of the work force is employed in small and medium businesses in the private sector. In Economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private Profit and is not controlled by the State.

Although employees may contribute to an enterprise, the employer maintains control over the productive base of land and capital, and is the entity named in contracts. Land in Economics comprises all naturally occurring resources whose supply is inherently fixed (i In Economics, capital or capital Goods or real capital refers to items of extensive value A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law The employer typically maintains ownership of intellectual property created by an employee within the scope of employment and as a function thereof. Intellectual property ( IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical literary and artistic works inventions and symbols names These are known as "works for hire". A work made for hire (sometimes abbreviated as work for hire and WFH) is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally-recognized

An employers’ relative level of power over employees is dependent upon numerous factors; the most influential being the nature of the employment relationship. The relationship employers share with employees is affected by three significant factors – interests, control and motivation. It is up to employers to effectively manage and balance these factors to ensure a harmonious and productive working relationship.

Interests can be best described as monetary constraints and economic pressures placed on organizations in their pursuit of profits. It covers facets such as labour productivity, wages and the effect of financial markets on businesses.

Wood et al (2004, p 355) describe control can as being either output focused, focusing on desired targets with within managers defining, and using, their own methods for reaching targets, or process controls, which specify the manner in which tasks will be achieved (Ibid, p. 357). 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. Thus employers must balance interests such as decreasing wage constraints with a maximization of labour productivity in order to achieve a prolific employment relationship.

Motivation is the third and most difficult of the factors in the employment relationship for employers to effectively manage. Employee motivation can often be in direct conflict with control mechanisms of employers, and can be broadly defined as that which energizes, directs and sustains human behaviour ( Stone, 2005, p 412). Dubin (1958, p 213) further elaborates on this, noting motivation as “something that moves a person to action, and continues him in the course of action already initiated. ”

The employment relationship is thus a difficult challenge for employers to manage, as all three facets are often in direct competition with each other, with interests, control and motivation often clashing in the equally important quest for individual employee autonomy ,employer command and ultimate profits.

Employee

An employee contributes labour and expertise to an endeavour. Employees perform the discrete activity of economic production. Of the three factors of production, employees usually provide the labour. In economic theory factors of production (or productive inputs) are the resources employed to produce goods and services

Specifically, an employee is any person hired by an employer to do a specific "job". In most modern economies the term employee refers to a specific defined relationship between an individual and a corporation, which differs from those of customer, or client. A customer is someone who makes use of the paid products of an individual or Organization. Consumers refers to individuals or households that use goods and services generated within the economy.

Becoming an employee

Most individuals attain the status of employee after a thorough process of interviews with several departments within a company. If the individual is determined to be a satisfactory fit for the position, he is given an official offer of employment within that company for a defined starting salary and position. This individual then has all the rights and privileges of an employee, which may include medical benefits and vacation days. The relationship between a corporation and its employees is usually handled through the human resources department, which handles the incorporation of new hires, and the disbursement of any benefits which the employee may be entitled, or any grievances that employee may have. Newbie (also said as nooby or newby is a slang term for a newcomer to Online gaming or an Internet activity

Types

There are differing classifications of workers within a company. Some are part-time and Some are full-time and permanent and receive a guaranteed salary, while others are hired for short term contracts or work as temps or consultants. A part-time job carries fewer hours per week than a Full-time job and usually pays less than a full-time job A permanent full-time job usually has benefits (such as health insurance however temporary full-time jobs usually do not have benefits A salary is a form of periodic payment from an Employer to an Employee, which may be specified in an Employment contract. A consultant (from the Latin consultare means "to discuss" from which we also derive words such as consul and counsel) is a Professional These latter differ from permanent employees in that the company where they work is not their employer, but they may work through a temp-agency or consulting firm. In this respect, it is important to distinguish independent contractors from employees, since the two are treated differently both in law and in most taxation systems. An independent contractor is a Natural person, Business or Corporation which provides goods or services to another entity under terms Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society

Many companies further classify employees as exempt or non-exempt. This designation is used to separate employees that are eligible for overtime from those that are not. An exempt employee is one that is typically salaried and is not eligible to earn overtime. Non-exempt employees are typically paid hourly and are eligible for overtime pay.

Titles

While the terms accountant, lawyer and photographer might refer to professions, they are not employee titles, which may include Controller, President, Vice President of Legal Affairs, Other Managers, and Head of Media Development. An accountant is a practitioner of Accountancy, which is the measurement disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers investors A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person A photographer is a person who takes a Photograph using a Camera. Corporate titles are titles conferred on individuals as a means of identifying their function in the Organization.

Corporate titles are titles conferred on individuals as a means of identifying their function in the organization. An organization (or organisation &mdash see spelling differences) is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals which controls its own performance and Titles vary by the type of organization, the sector that it is, whether it is for-profit or non-profit, public or private, partnership or sole proprietorship. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage Public is of or pertaining to the people relating to or affecting a nation state or community opposed to private; as the public treasury a road or lake For partnership in cricket terminology see List of cricket terms A partnership is a type of Business entity in which partners A sole proprietorship, or simply proprietorship ( Benjamen Clark Some sectors, such as educational institutions]], have particular titles. Titles are an important aspect of corporate governance. Corporate governance is the set of Processes customs Policies, laws and institutions affecting the way a Corporation is directed administered or controlled

Some of the most common titles are chief executive officer (CEO), Founders, chairman of the board of directors, Co-president are often used interchangeably. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator President is a Title leaders of Organizations companies, Trade unions universities, and countries.

Associate is a term used by some companies instead of employee. Big box and retailers like Wal-Mart and Home Depot and Shaw's Supermarkets, for example, use this term for non-management employees. Big-box store is a term that refers to a style of physically large Chain store, and by extension to the company behind the store Wal-Mart Stores Inc (or Walmart as written in its new logo is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large discount department stores The Home Depot ( is an American Retailer of Home improvement and construction products and services Shaw's, along with sister store Star Market, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eden Prairie Minnesota-based SuperValu. Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise Other firms use terms such as teammate or team member instead of employee.

Organizing

Employees can organize into trade unions or labor unions, who represent most of the available work force in a single organization. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming They utilize their representative power to collectively bargain with the management of companies in order to advance concerns and demands of their membership.

Ending employment

An offer of employment, however, does not guarantee employment for any length of time and each party may terminate the relationship at any time. This is referred to as at-will employment. At-will employment is a doctrine of American law that defines an Employment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability provided

Employment contract

In the United States, the standard employment contract is considered to be at-will meaning that the employer and employee are both free to terminate the employment at any time and for any cause, or for no cause at all. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A contract of employment is a category of Contract used in Labour law to attribute right and responsibilities between parties to a bargain At-will employment is a doctrine of American law that defines an Employment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability provided However, if a termination of employment by the employer is deemed unjust by the employee, there can be legal recourse to challenge such a termination. Termination of employment is the end of an Employee 's duration with an Employer. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life In unionised work environments in particular, employees who are receiving discipline, up to and including termination of employment can ask for assistance by their shop steward to advocate on behalf of the employee. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming In its most general sense discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a Disciple. Union Steward (aka Shop Steward) is the title of an Official position within the organizational hierarchy of a labor union. If an informal negotiation between the shop steward and the company does not resolve the issue, the shop steward may file a grievance, which can result in a resolution within the company, or mediation or arbitration, which are typically funded equally both by the union and the company. For Wikipedia's negotiation policy see WikipediaNegotiation. For other uses see Negotiation (disambiguation. A grievance is a wrong or hardship suffered which is the grounds of a Complaint. Mediation, a form of Alternative dispute resolution (ADR or "appropriate Dispute resolution " aims to assist two (or more disputants in reaching Arbitration, a form of Alternative dispute resolution (ADR is a legal technique for the resolution of Disputes outside the Courts wherein the In non-union work environments, in the United States, unjust termination complaints can be brought to the United States Department of Labor. The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety wage and hour standards In Australia there is the highly contraversial Australian_Workplace_Agreement. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. An Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA was an individual written agreement on terms and conditions of employment between an Employer and Employee in Australia In the Canadian province of Ontario, formal complaints can be brought to the Ministry of Labour (Ontario). Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The Ministry of Labour is responsible for labour issues in the Canadian province of Ontario. In the province of Quebec, grievances can be filed with the Commission des normes du travail. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk

Criticism

Employment is almost universal in capitalist societies. Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Opponents of capitalism such as Marxists oppose the capitalist employment system, considering it to be unfair that the people who contribute the majority of work to an organization do not receive a proportionate share of the profit. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

The Surrealists and the Situationists were among the few groups to actually oppose work, and during the partially surrealist-influenced events of May 1968 the walls of the Sorbonne were covered with anti-work graffiti. Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early-1920s and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members The Situationist International ( SI) was a small group of international political and artistic Agitators with roots in Marxism, Lettrism and the For other events in May 1968 see 1968. The historic University of Paris (Université de Paris first appeared in the second half of the 13th century

Alternatives

A developing model of employment, as practiced by such companies as Semco, Google, DaVita, Freys Hotels and Linden Labs, seeks to set aside the "master-servant relationship" implicit in the traditional employment contract. The concommitant employment practices are often grouped under the heading Workplace democracy, and are characterised by high levels of employee engagement; principles-based rather than rules-based work relations; and a problem-solving approach to workplace conflict. Workplace democracy is the application of Democracy in all its forms (including Voting systems Debates Democratic structuring, Due process In this model management (including its employment function) effectively becomes a domain shared between managers and staff. Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise The resurgent New Unionism movement promotes this employment model, and seeks to extend it. New Unionism is a term which has been used twice in the history of the labour movement both times involving moves to broaden the union agenda

When an individual entirely owns the business for which he or she labours, this is known as self-employment. Self-employment is the individual pursuit of Capitalism. To be self-employed an individual is normally highly skilled in a trade or has a niche product or service Self-employment often leads to incorporation. Incorporation (abbreviated Inc in US and Canadian business names is the forming of a new Corporation (a corporation being a legal entity Incorporation offers certain protections of one's personal assets. Laws of incorporation vary from state to state with Delaware having the most incorporated businesses of any state in the U. S.

Workers who are not paid wages, such as volunteers, are generally not considered as being employed. A volunteer is someone who works for a community or for the benefit of environment primarily because they choose to do so 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. An intern or stagiaire is one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment making it similar to an Apprenticeship

Those who work under obligation for the purpose of fulfilling a debt, such as an indentured servant, or as property of the person or entity they work for, such as a slave, do not receive pay for their services and are not considered employed. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Some historians suggest that slavery is older than employment, but both arrangements have existed for all recorded history.

Globalisation and employment relations

The balance of economic efficiency and social equity is the ultimate debate in the field of employment relations. 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 westernised societies.

Globalisation has effected these issues by creating certain economic factors that disallow or allow various employment issues. Economist Edward Lee (1996) studies the effects of globalisation and summarizes the four major points of concern that affect employment relations:

  1. International competition, from the newly industrialized countries, will cause unemployment growth and increased wage disparity for unskilled workers in industrialized countries. Imports from low-wage countries exert pressure on the manufacturing sector in industrialized countries and foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted away from the industrialized nations, towards low-waged countries.
  2. Economic liberalization will result in unemployment and wage inequality in developing countries. This happens as job losses in un-competitive industries outstrip job opportunities in new industries.
  3. Workers will be forced to accept worsening wages and conditions, as a global labour market results in a “race to the bottom”. Increased international competition creates a pressure to reduce the wages and conditions of workers.
  4. Globalization reduces the autonomy of the nation state. Capital is increasingly mobile and the ability of the state to regulate economic activity is reduced.

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. As a result workers are either forced to become more skilled an develop sought after trades or become of this sector. Ultimately this is a result of changes and trends of employment, an evolving workforce and globalisation that is represented by a more skilled and increasing highly diverse labour force, that are growing in non standard forms of employment (Markey, R. et. al. 2006).

See also

References

External links

Dictionary

employment

-noun

  1. the act of employing
  2. the state of being employed
  3. the work or occupation for which one is paid
  4. an activity to which one devotes time
  5. (economics) the number or percentage of people at work
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