Workers’ voice from the triangular employment relationship lens: towards a conceptual framework

Abstract

PurposeThis paper examines the circumstantial state of mediated work to develop a conceptual framework exemplifying the determinants of voice of workers in triangular employment relationships. These workers are in work context involving two or more firms – agency/platform and clients/client firms.Design/methodology/approachParalleling employee voice research in the triangular employment relationship context, the authors theorised the influencing forces at four levels to propose 12 distinct antecedents of triangular workers' voice. External level (2) – legal employer ambiguity and legal regulation and protection; employment context level (3) – availability and presence, assignment duration and autonomy; firm level (3) – institutional complexity, cost and control and governance structure conflicts; individual level (4) – perceived relative equity, voice skill, self-identity and transition opportunity.FindingsThe triangular workers' voice determinants framework provides a comprehensive outlook on how the external, employment context, firm and individual forces influence voice of workers in triangular employment relationships.Research limitations/implicationsEmanating from the framework are propositions that can be empirically tested for validation. Hence, as with conceptual papers, this paper is limited by non-empirical testing.Practical implicationsManagers of workers in these employment relationships should be cognizant of the different levels of forces that can influence their voice.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the employee voice literature by presenting a four-level framework that demonstrate a holistic view of how triangular workers' voice is influenced.

Shaping the future of work: how labour market intermediaries (LMIs) use institutional work to transition to triadic, project-based employment relationships

“…key account managers) to fill longer-term assignments (weeks or months) or projects (Meijerink and Arets, 2021). The dimensions used in research to describe triadic employment relationships (LMI, client organization-worker, employee) apply to both OLPs and "offline" LMIs, and these dimensions distinguish these relationships from dyadic employment relationships (employee-employer)in terms of matchmaking form and processes; workers' status; determination of workers' pay; and responsibility for workers' replacement, discipline, recruitment and selection and performance rating (see also Oyetunde et al, 2024;Meijerink and Arets, 2021;Ruiner et al, 2020).…”

“…This study shows exactly how an LMI establishes a powerful position in both the labour market and in its relations with client organizations through institutional work (Suddaby and Viale, 2011) (see Figure 3), transforming existing dyadic employment relationships into a triadic employment relationship. It does so by conferring on workers the status of either an employee of the LMI or a self-employed worker, (co)determining workers' pay and assuming responsibility for worker recruitment and selection (Oyetunde et al, 2024;Meijerink and Arets, 2021;Ruiner et al, 2020). TempX accomplishes this transformation by progressing through four dynamics of institutional change.…”

Exploring the performance of casual workers of banks in Sokoto-Nigeria

“…Most people assume that their actions will be responded to since obligations demand a commitment of time as well as mental and emotional energy. Employees in non-standard occupations in Nigeria may be able to get permanent professions, either directly with the client or indirectly, by developing skills with experience and training such as computer training with a range of former employers who may have recruited them as casuals (Oyetunde et al, 2023). However, this may not always be the case, even the casual workers who are already employed with various banks in Nigeria reports that they have acquired additional qualifications, yet they still remained as casual workers.…”