AbstractTraditionally, employment and non-working time were seen as two separate

spheres of life, distinct from each other and only tangentially related insofar as each simply supported the existence from the other. Yet more and more evidence has emerged that the work environment can have negative effects on employees as

individuals even outside of the employment environment...as well as potential to have a positive influence. This project reviews the existing literature on the subject and presents policy recommendations that would encourage firms to, through their

influence on their employees, work for the social betterment of their societies. Specifically addressed are the impacts of stress, work organization, labor relations,

and various other psychological and social concerns, with special focus on the benefits, implementation, and obstacles to employee voice and workplace

involvement schemes.

Cindy Schipani, Professor, Business LawMateusz Borowiecki, Researcher

“the work environment can have negative effects on employees as individuals even outside of the employment environment...”

“encourage firms to, through their influence on their employees, work for the social betterment of their

societies”

BackgroundA large pool of previous research has shown that a poor work environment can have a wide range of negative effects on employees, including decreased health, and increases in destructive and anti-social behavior. This project aims to find the best ways to improve the employment environment and remove these negative effects, eventually centering on the importance of employee involvement in the workplace.

MethodsThis is the first part of a two year research project covering this topic. This first year covered mainly the basic research needed to build from during the second year, spanning business and legal theory, psychology, sociology, and economics. A wide range of sources were consulted and prepared in reports, and recommendations drawn from this information.

ResultsThis project has found that communication between employees and employer is essential to creating a positive work environment, to the benefit of all those involved. It was found that such communication, often referred to as employee involvement or voice, must be considered (a) safe, (b) effective, and (c) legitimate to be successful. In addition to granting employees a level of control over their workplace lives, successfully implemented voice opportunities, whether through unions or alternative structures, have been shown to significantly increase workplace morale, productivity, and efficiency. Meanwhile, a more satisfied and less stressed employee tends to be better adjusted to non-work life.. Several proposals for both governments and firms in the United States to improve the current situation are outlined to the right.

Recommendations

Further ResearchAs the project progresses into its second year, we are planning to focus the project on several specific areas, such as investigating the connection between employment safety and security, and the usage and utility of voice opportunities. We plan to gather survey data in both the US and Europe, and to assemble quantitative evidence pertaining to these relationships.

Acknowledgements: I would firstly like to thank my research sponsor, Dr. Cindy Schipani, for all of her assistance, advice, and support during this project. In addition, I would like to thank my UROP peer advisor, Emma Saraff, for her consistent support on my project and general research experience, as well as all of the fantastic people at the UROP office that guided us through theUROP program and ensured that our projects would be a success.

Changes to American Labor Law

Quality Circles

Works Councils

Changes to American Business Culture

Employee involvement can take many forms in the workplace, ranging from giving employees discretion in how to exactly fulfill their tasks to granting employee

representatives seats on corporate boards. A more involved and autonomous environment has in turn shown to have positive effects on physical and mental health, motivation,

productivity and general employee well-being.Image source: Eurofound

American labor law currently presents obstacles for both labor and management to improve the workplace. The permanent-replacement doctrine limits the effectiveness of strikes against abusive employers, while other laws treat unions largely as collective bargaining agents, limiting their ability to negotiate on workplace conditions. Meanwhile, a prohibition on broadly defined “company unions” prevents firms from implementing such features as works councils and quality circles, discussed further below.

Similar to works councils, quality circles involve a group of employees regularly meeting with a management representative to discuss and analyze improvements to the production process and workplace environment.

Works councils are joint management-worker committees that are informed and consulted on workplace conditions, production methods, and any major changes to the work environment. Besides acting as a localized alternative to a larger union, works councils are effective at resolving workplace conflicts and ensuring that everyday employee concerns are heard.

To an alarming degree, management thinking in the United States remains inspired by scientific management, a managerial paradigm popularized by Frederick Taylor in the 19th century that encouraged a strict division between “planning” and “doing” (i.e. between management and labor) and fostered distrust of workers. Instead, management should adopt a more collaborative and trusting method to counter the hostile work environment created by “Taylorism”.

Image sources: http://www.ascentis.com/blog; http://explorepahistory.com; http://www.libcom.org; http://www.hutchins.co.uk