Not the Inevitable Bleak House? The Positive Experiences of Workers and Managers in Retail Employment in Sweden

Andersson, Thomas; Kazemi, Ali; Tengblad, Stefan; Wickelgren, Mikael

doi:10.1007/978-0-230-34488-4_13

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Research shows that in different national contexts, the degree to which retail can be described as either high or low road might vary (Andersson et al ., ). Yet as Carré et al .…”

Section: The Lean Food Retail Market and Attendancementioning

confidence: 97%

Too scared to go sick? The management and the manifestations of workplace attendance in the food retail sector

Hadjisolomou

2016

Industrial Relations Journal

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This article is a response to Taylor et al’s (2010) call for further research regarding workplace attendance. It examines the new politics of absence management in the UK and Cyprus in food retail sector, identifying a dual approach in managing attendance across the two countries. The first approach suggested the penalization of absence, whilst the second focused on the prevention of absence through accommodation. The article argues that ‘coercion’ is not the sole vehicle to tackle high absence in food retailing rather it suggests the development of other practices to enhance cooperation to regular attendance. The research identifies significant differences regarding the formality of these processes between the two countries, and suggests the generation of a particular attendance culture within the organisations, one that is not merely a culture of fear, as Taylor et al (2010) suggest, but rather a culture that includes accommodation and cooperation.

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“…Research shows that in different national contexts, the degree to which retail can be described as either high or low road might vary (Andersson et al ., ). Yet as Carré et al .…”

Section: The Lean Food Retail Market and Attendancementioning

confidence: 97%

Too scared to go sick? The management and the manifestations of workplace attendance in the food retail sector

Hadjisolomou

2016

Industrial Relations Journal

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“…Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence that better conditions in retail positively benefit retailers (Andersson et al 2011;Ruetschlin 2012;Ton 2012). Consequently, in addition to solidaristic motivations, the socioeconomic centrality, significance, and impact of retail should drive a greater commitment to improving retail work.…”

Section: Raising Retailmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raising Retail

Coulter

2013

Labor Studies Journal

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Retail workers are a significant but largely unorganized group in Canada and the United States. However, in recent years, there has been a marked increase in efforts to organize retail workers, including pursuit of innovative structures and strategies. The author focuses on the dominant threads of contemporary retail organizing work in Canada and the United States, outlining three current organizing vehicles: unionization, store-based networks, and occupation or sector-based associations. The author then reflects on the strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities of these approaches, independently and collectively, and emphasizes the need to confront the social and cultural as well as the economic devaluation of retail workers.

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“…Factors found specifically in insecure retail work are underemployment, low worker control over their rostered hours (Campbell & Chalmers 2008), working short or split shifts and needing to work in multiple jobs to earn enough income (Zeytinoglu et al 2004;Andersson et al 2011). Casual workers' vulnerability to changes in shifts and hours worked and to unexplained dismissal indicates that in general casual workers have low workplace power compared to permanent workers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Equally dressed-up, unequally casual: different experiences of precarious work in designer fashion retail boutiques

Johnson

2015

Labour & Industry: a journal of the social and economic rel

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Casual employment in Australia is highly precarious with minimal job security, and it is used heavily in the retail sector. With few legal entitlements, casual employment creates an unregulated space for workers and employers to negotiate work conditions. This underlies claims that casual employment increases flexibility for both employees and employers. However, with low employment security, casual workers have low workplace power to assert their preferences. At the same time, recent analysis shows that vulnerable workers are likely to get trapped in highly precarious work such as casual employment. This study explores the experience of 18 women working casually in designer fashion retail boutiques in Melbourne. Findings show that even in the same role in similar workplaces, some workers are able to broker better working conditions for themselves. Factors that improved participants' empowerment levels to seek better conditions were general knowledge of workplace rights and having a high workplace sense of entitlement. Those who had spent less time in the role had lower empowerment levels. The social class background of participants was an important underlying factor. The research finds that due to differences in individual agency, vulnerable workers receive inferior working conditions compared to their less vulnerable coworkers in equivalent roles.

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Not the Inevitable Bleak House? The Positive Experiences of Workers and Managers in Retail Employment in Sweden

Cited by 14 publications

References 30 publications

Too scared to go sick? The management and the manifestations of workplace attendance in the food retail sector

Too scared to go sick? The management and the manifestations of workplace attendance in the food retail sector

Raising Retail

Equally dressed-up, unequally casual: different experiences of precarious work in designer fashion retail boutiques

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