Job quality and part-time work in the retail industry: An Australian case study

Abstract

This article focuses on the important issue of job quality in part-time work, using a case study of the retail industry in Australia. Part-time jobs in retail in Australia can be either 'casual' or 'permanent', and this division is often equated with a distinction between bad and good quality work. This article examines the salience of this equation. It reports on the findings from a survey of, and interviews with, part-time retail workers in relation to three aspects of part-time employment that have a direct relationship with job quality: under-employment; variation in hours and schedules; and employee control over working time. In comparison to casual part-time jobs, 'permanent' part-time jobs in retail enjoy a modicum of employment security together with increased regularity and predictability of hours. However, this does not ensure employee control over working-time arrangements. Hence, it is argued that the lines of fragmentation in parttime retail jobs spill over the division between permanent and casual status. This raises important questions about HRM strategies to improve the quality of part-time retail jobs.

New Australian Working Time Minimum Standards: Reproducing the Same Old Gendered Architecture?

“…While lack of predictability in working time may be seen as a hallmark of casual work, it is increasingly spreading to part-time work. Recent evidence from the retail and childcare industries, for example, points to substantial working-time insecurity for many part-time employees on a permanent contract with shorter weekly hours contracts in which hours can be increased, or longer weekly hours contracts in which hours can be decreased (Campbell and Chalmers, 2008;Whitehouse et al, 2011). The standard employment relationship, based on a concept of full-time permanent waged work, has been the bedrock of Australian labour regulation for more than a century (Campbell, 2008), underpinning the SER-centric scope of minimum labour standards.…”

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

“…This has long been recognised as impacting upon power relations between employers and employees (Burgess & Strachan 1999). With all work having become more precarious (Kalleberg 2009), albeit to considerably different degrees (Vosko et al 2009), most workers are now aware of some risk of job loss (Standing 2011), while those employed casually are also at risk of sudden and dramatic shift reductions (Campbell & Chalmers 2008). Lower power levels for those in highly precarious low-skilled jobs are particularly concerning.…”

“…Lower power levels for those in highly precarious low-skilled jobs are particularly concerning. Research shows that these workers can be required to give high levels of flexibility to their employer and yet receive little in return out of fear that asking for flexibility may risk further offers of work Campbell & Chalmers 2008). This situation of low workplace power is compounded by declining union membership (Burgess & Strachan 1999;Arnold & Bongiovi 2013).…”

“…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.…”

‘In a Male Workplace, Things Would Never Be Like This’: Using Gendered Notions to Neutralize Conflicts in a Swedish Supermarket

“…A large body of research has acknowledged the relevance of gender for service and retail organizations, including issues such as gendered differences in employment structures (Campbell and Chalmers, 2008;Zeytinoglu et al, 2004), the dominance of men among managers (Broadbridge, 2007;Traves et al, 1997) and/or gendered allocation of work (Pettinger, 2005;Williams, 2004). Entwined in these gendered patterns are specific notions of gender.…”