Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations
RI/IR is a bilingual publication whose mission it is to be the foremost site in Canada for the publication of high calibre research papers from both established and new researchers in the industrial relations field. At the same time, the Journal serves as an international forum for contributions and research debates for both Canadian and international researchers. RI/IR is fully not-for-profit. The Journal’s mission includes the promotion of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach as applied to the study of work and employment, the major fields involved in industrial relations, which traditionally includes human resource management, public policies and labour relations. As a scientific journal, RI/IR contributes to the furthering of knowledge in the industrial relations field both in Canada and abroad, and also contributes to the development of theoretical and methodological approaches applied in this field. RI/IR is an essential resource for academics, students, human resources and labour relations managers, union officials, policymakers and observers. The Journal is distributed in more than twenty countries (paper) and all around the world (online). It is officially recognized by the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.
Université Laval. Département des relations industrielles
Navigating Engagement in the New Normal of Telework: Cultural Differences between France and Canada
The shift to telework has significantly transformed traditional work environments, introducing new dynamics in employee relationships and organizational structures. Telework is now mainstream, but it also presents new challenges for employee engagement. To face them, effective management necessitates processes aimed at improving the feeling of engagement, is crucial. This study compares the effects of three variables - organizational fairness, trust with managers, and trust with colleagues - on teleworkers' psychological engagement in Canada and France. Based on a PLS-SEM analysis on two samples of 196 participants in France and 454 in Canada, findings show that organizational fairness is a key common antecedent of teleworkers engagement in both countries. They also revealed strong cultural differences: trust in and by managers is crucial in Canada, while trust in and by colleagues is significant in France.
Copyright (c) 2026 Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations
The Chain Mediating Effect of Ego-depletion and Moral Sensitivity in the Impact of Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior on Time Theft
In recent years, as business competition has intensified, ethical issues in the workplace have garnered increasing attention. The paradoxical nature of Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior (UPB) contributes to its widespread adoption within companies, significantly impacting organizations. This study, based on cognitive dissonance theory, investigates how UPB exacerbates time theft through the chain mediation effects of ego depletion and moral sensitivity, thereby clarifying the pathways of UPB's consequences. A survey methodology was adopted, collecting data from 432 randomly selected retail employees through a structured questionnaire. The survey included demographic information and measures of UPB, ego depletion, moral sensitivity, and time theft. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0, AMOS 24.0, and MPLUS 8.0 to assess the relationships among UPB, ego depletion, moral sensitivity, and time theft. The results indicate several key findings. First, UPB positively influences ego depletion and time theft while negatively impacting moral sensitivity. Second, ego depletion negatively affects moral sensitivity, positively influences time theft, and serves as a mediator in the relationship between UPB and time theft. Third, moral sensitivity negatively affects time theft but is not directly influenced by UPB. Fourth, both ego depletion and moral sensitivity act as a chain mediator in the relationship between UPB and time theft.These findings underscore the need for organizations to acknowledge the detrimental effects of UPB to effectively manage time theft. Targeted support that enhances employees' moral sensitivity is essential for improving work efficiency and curbing time theft behavior. Such proactive strategies can help prevent pro-organizational motives from manifesting as inappropriate behaviors, ultimately fostering a more ethical work environment. This study highlights the importance of addressing UPB to mitigate its adverse impacts and promote a culture of integrity within organizations.
APPUIS SOCIAUX ET INCIDENCES DE L’INTENSITÉ DU TRAVAIL À DISTANCE : UNE ÉTUDE LONGITUDINALE
Cette étude explore les effets modérateurs des soutiens offerts par l’organisation, la supervision immédiate et les collègues sur la relation entre l’intensité du travail à distance et les attitudes au travail. Elle s’est déroulée en trois vagues par questionnaires auprès de personnes à l’emploi de 13 organisations. À la 3ème vague, 2105 personnes ont répondu (taux de 58 %). Les résultats montrent : Un jour de travail à distance par semaine est lié à un sentiment plus faible de concilier les sphères de vie; 3-4 jours à distance est liée à une performance perçue plus faible en termes d’adoption de comportements de développement et d’amélioration continue; 1 jour et 5 jours à distance sont liés à une intention de quitter plus faible. Le soutien organisationnel améliore les trois types d’engagement, la satisfaction, la performance en termes de résultats et d’efficacité, mais réduit l’intention de quitter et la productivité à distance par rapport à celle en présentiel en termes de quantité de travail/heure de travail. Le soutien de la supervision et celui des collègues renforcent les engagements (sauf l’engagement moral pour les collègues), la satisfaction, la performance en termes de développement et d’amélioration continue, et réduisent l’intention de quitter. Les soutiens offert par l’organisation et les collègues perdent de leurs effets positifs sur la performance perçue en termes d’atteinte des résultats et d’efficience au travail pour les personnes qui travaillent à distance 1 jour et 5 jours par semaine. De plus, le soutien des collègues perd de son effet positif sur la satisfaction lorsque le nombre de jours à distance passe de 1 à 3-4 jours, mais cette perte d’effet positif disparaît à 5 jours. Globalement, le capital social à distance reste crucial pour comprendre les attitudes du personnel, et ce, sans trop de différences selon l'intensité du travail hybride.
The Representation of Employability Among Individuals furthest from the labor market The French case of Support advisors
Despite the decline in unemployment rates in Europe, certain individuals still struggle to access employment. This challenge is pronounced for those furthest from employment, such as individuals receiving the Revenu de Solidarité Active (RSA –Income Support) in France. RSA advisors play a role in promoting the employability of this group. The aim of this article is to explore the connections between RSA advisors' representations of employability and their support practices. Using a mixed-methods design, the findings reveal varying representations of employability and diverse support strategies among these professionals. They highlight paradoxes between the advisors' perceptions of employability and their practices. The first paradox is between an interactive conception of employability, with shared responsibility for employability in the society, and a rather psychologizing practice, with responsibility attributed to the RSA beneficiary. The second paradox for these integration professionals is the difference between a perception of employability as universal, as supported by employment policies, and the segmentation of RSA beneficiaries as employable/inemployable in the field.
Experimentation with a New Social Dialogue Arena between Public and Private Hospitals: Chronicle of a Forced Union
This article contributes to the literature on institutional experimentation and industrial relations by analysing the emerging phase of a hybrid social dialogue arrangement bringing together public and non‐profit private actors in the Belgian hospital sector. Based on a longitudinal qualitative case study, it examines the creation and reconfiguration of the Public–Private Committee (CPP) and shows that, rather than moving along towards consolidation, the arrangement remained in a transitional format sustained by converging strategic interests and a specific balance of power. This instability, far from signalling failure, reflects the absence of a shared legal framework and the rarely articulated coexistence of pragmatic, moral, and cognitive forms of legitimacy. Combining the theory of organized action with a processual approach to legitimacy, the article highlights the political uses of experimentation in fragmented institutional environments and offers insights relevant to other hybrid configurations of social dialogue and collective bargaining beyond the Belgian case.
Unveiling interactions between individual, entrepreneurial and organizational resilience of entrepreneurs with disabilities
This work aims to understand how individual, entrepreneurial and organizational resilience interact and reinforce each other, in the context of entrepreneurs with disabilities. It appears that individual resilience translates into entrepreneurial one, which in turn reinforces organizational resilience, via identified characteristics, e.g. anticipation, adaptation, empathy. This research also suggests a positive retro-effect of entrepreneurial resilience at the individual level, reinforcing locus of control, self-efficacy and identity. Having to develop solid resilience capabilities, persons with disabilities turn into resilient entrepreneurs, fostering inclusion in their organizations.
Self-doubt at work. The dymanic of work identity in the career path
The research focuses on the phenomenon of self-doubt in the identity work carried out by employees in their day-to-day professional activities. Drawing on the work of Ricoeur, who distinguishes between idem and ipse identity processes, we propose a cyclical model of identity dynamics. Using narrations from employees in the social sector, we show that self-doubt can result from the employee's solitary relationship with his or her work, without the influence of others. Self-doubt can also be expressed by colleagues, provoking reactions of resistance. Finally, we establish links between the dynamics of identity, marked by more or less self-doubt, and the career path associated with choices of mobility or professional stability.
Repurposing institutions through categorization: Can new apprenticeships in peripheral service sectors cure skills shortages in these fields?
The shortage of skilled workers is a growing concern for policy makers and researchers internationally. While skills shortages are often highlighted in the large, central industries of developed economies, they also impact more peripheral sectors. Consequently, Germany has recently seen the creation of new apprenticeships in some outsourced, secondary service sectors. We explore this development from a categorization perspective in case studies of two relatively new vocational credentials in industrial services in Germany. Focusing on how key industry actors categorized the occupational domain of newly apprenticeship-qualified workers, we unpack whether the recategorization of peripheral jobs and tasks as skilled labour represents a corrective to precarious work. In highlighting how employers detached apprenticeships from their traditional worker-friendly functions, we show how actors can repurpose, and ultimately undermine, institutions through categorization.
Sustainable Human Resource Management, Trade Unions, and Equality Enabling Practices: A Framework Based Systematic Literature Review and Directions for Future Research
Purpose– Influenced by sustainability development goal V (SDG), organisations integrate sustainability into their strategies by adopting socially responsible HR practices addressing gender equality. Despite this, research lacks how HR practitioners collaborate with trade unions to implement equality-focused HR practices. This study, grounded in a social justice approach, explores the antecedent, decisions and outcomes of sustainable HRM practices that promote workplace equality in collaboration with trade unions. Design/methodology/approach– The research uses a framework-based systematic literature review (SLR) method guided by the Antecedents-Decisions-Outcomes (ADO) framework of Paul et al., (2023). Further, the SLR research followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols to ensure comprehensive and transparent reporting of systematic review by focusing on initiation, screening, evaluation, and confirming inclusion. Findings– Using the ADO framework, the results identified organizational culture and values, stakeholder involvement, trade union trends, legal framework and regulations, collective agreements, and firm size as ‘Antecedents’ to union-supported sustainable HRM practices that facilitate workplace equality. ‘Decisions’ encompass inclusive recruitment and hiring practices, equal pay and compensation initiatives, diversity and inclusion training, flexible work arrangements, and mechanisms for conflict resolution and grievance handling. The ‘Outcomes’ include improved employee well-being, enhanced productivity and performance, greater support for diversity and inclusion, and a positive impact on employee health and safety. Originality/value- In response to the call for SDG-V related research, this study explores the antecedents, decisions, and outcomes of equality-enabling sustainable HRM practices supported by unions. Additionally, it significantly contributes to future research by highlighting critical gaps that need further investigation.
Companies and the expectations of Generation Z: a risk of misalignment of values
In a professional environment undergoing profound transformation, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, understanding and meeting the expectations of Generation Z is crucial for businesses. This research explores the professional values and expectations of this generation, highlighting the importance of aligning personal values with those of the company, flexibility, and ethical work environments. Through a qualitative methodology using Iramuteq software, semi-structured interviews revealed that Generation Z values management practices that promote regular recognition and personal development. The findings confirm the importance of transparency and daily accountability in task execution, as well as the need to create dynamic and collaborative work environments. Managerial implications suggest the proactive integration of these expectations into human resources policies to effectively attract and retain this generation. Recommendations include the implementation of sustainable environmental policies and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Hybrid management practices at university: managing individual and collective work, balancing spheres of life.
Considering the rise of hybrid work, the aim of this study is to examine hybrid managerial practices and work organization, from managers/employee’s and teleworkers/non-teleworker’s perspective, within a French university. A total of 52 semi-structured interviews (teleworkers = 33; non-teleworkers = 19) were conducted within 12 departments. The thematic analysis shows that both telework and non-telework managerial practices are rooted, most of the time, in a transformational approach. Management practices do not appear to have radically changed with the hybridization of work but have evolved towards a more relational approach. There is no monitoring imposed on employees, except for indicators put in place in a department for the development of the teleworking plan. Trust from managers leads to greater autonomy and satisfaction with teleworking. Social relations and mutual assistance are still present, especially if one day on-site is imposed by the manager. Work-outside work interaction may pose a problem and lead some managers and employees to decide not to opt for teleworking. Based on a qualitative approach that combines different perspectives, our results provide better empirical knowledge, both for researchers and practitioners, about hybrid work and managerial practices within the public administration.
Digital Transformation Acceptance in IT SME: A Contextualized Analysis of Acceptance Drivers
Organizational agility is a dynamic capability that enables SMEs to adapt quickly and proactively to unforeseen changes in uncertain environments. Digital transformation is a key lever for achieving such agility, but its success largely depends on employees’ acceptance of digital technologies. Although this topic has been widely studied, it warrants renewed attention in light of specific and constantly evolving organizational contexts—particularly in the information technology sector. Based on an exploratory qualitative study conducted within a Tunisian SME in this sector, this research aims to update classical models of technology acceptance by identifying the individual and organizational factors that influence the acceptance of digital transformation. The analysis of twenty-eight semi-structured individual interviews, supplemented by participant observation, confirms some findings from the existing literature while offering new insights, refinements, and even challenges to certain established conclusions. This highlights the relevance of a contextualized and updated perspective on the issue.
Beyond Bargaining: The Strategic Transformation of German Employers' Associations in the Metalworking Industry.
This article analyses the transformation of German employers' associations in the metalworking industry within the context of the significant erosion of collective bargaining coverage. Drawing on an extended regulation approach, it argues that globalisation and the intensification of Germany's export-oriented accumulation strategy have prompted capital to reassess employers' associations as sources of associational power. In response, these associations have implemented strategic adaptations encompassing both organisational structures and collective bargaining approaches. The analysis reveals a fundamental shift wherein the collective bargaining function has been progressively marginalised whilst service provision has become increasingly central. In the metal and electrical industry, this process has culminated in the transformation of employers' associations into service organisations, thereby challenging the foundational structure of the German collective bargaining system and reflecting a broader transition from monopolistic to competitive regulation.
Labour shortages, job quality and workers’ bargaining power
Labour shortages have been rising steadily since recovery from the 2008-10 financial crisis, driven by increased demand and transitions in the labour market – digital, green and demographic. Covid-19 exacerbated the situation through a shift in workers’ preferences, followed by growing demand in the post-Covid rebound. While these shortages are bad for the economy and can worsen working conditions for workers, they also offer opportunities in terms of bargaining power. While much of the ongoing debate focuses on the issue of specific skills shortages and possible solutions through reskilling/upskilling or expanding the labour force, primarily by migration, it is increasingly recognised that shortages are aggravated by bad quality jobs and that raising job quality is a way to compete for labour. Labour shortages may therefore increase workers’ bargaining power, offering some counterbalance to the trends in the last decades of reductions in workers’ relative power. This paper describes the link between labour shortages and job quality, particularly wages, at aggregate and individual levels. Wages indeed tend to increase more in sectors with higher labour shortages, and particularly so for workers with more vulnerable backgrounds – by gender, migration status or age – or lower bargaining power through less institutional support. This paper points out the complex relation between labour shortages and workers’ job conditions and bargaining power.
Call for Papers - Repercussions of Labour/Skills Shortages
From Transparency to Fairness: How AI Shapes Engagement and Autonomy among Workers
Emma trusted her HR department until an AI decided on her promotion without explanation. Was it fair? As AI-driven HR tools shape careers (notably), their transparency and fairness become crucial. This study explores their impact on workplace behavior. Using the Social Exchange Theory mediated by AI (SET-AI) framework, we explore to what extent AI functions as an exchange partner influence employee engagement and autonomy. A survey of 300 employees engaging with AI-based HR tools confirms that algorithmic transparency enhances perceptions of fairness, positively influencing job autonomy and work engagement. The findings emphasize the critical role of transparency and fairness in AI governance to foster employee autonomy and engagement. Based on these results, organizations are advised to implement explainability mechanisms and fairness in AI-driven tools. By positioning AI as an active agent in workplace exchanges, this research extends the SET-AI framework and underscores the importance of integration. Future research should explore the long-term effects of AI transparency and fairness on employee behavior across various industries to deepen the understanding of AI’s evolving role in organizations.
Labor shortage and union bargaining power: between opportunities and challenges
The article suggests possible explanations for the variation in the effects of labour shortages on union bargaining power. To this end, a new conceptual model centred on the effectiveness of power is proposed, which lies at the intersection between ‘power to’ and ‘power over’: it therefore combines both the unions' ability to construct collective strategies and use their resources (power to) and their ability to exert a decisive influence on the other party to generate results that are beneficial to them (power over). In an attempt to avoid the determinism often associated with ‘power over’, this model proposes the integration of elements specific to the negotiation process, thus recognising the importance of actors' strategies. By means of interviews with experienced union negotiators, this article demonstrates that the same phenomenon, in this case the labour shortage, produces differentiated effects depending on the subjects of negotiation and the strategies deployed by the players, by affecting both the quality of the strategic leverages, the challenges posed to the unions' organizational capacity and the nature and strength of the employer resistance in negotiation. Furthermore, this theoretical model facilitates an enhanced dialogue between literature focusing on the unions' agentivity and that focused on negotiation strategies and processes, while providing an analytical framework for labor relations practitioners to understand the effects of environmental changes on their bargaining power.
Geopolitical Shockwaves in the Office: The Erosion of Workplace Norms and the Rise of Antisemitism in the Post-October 7 World
The October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel triggered a surge in antisemitism worldwide, with North American workplaces and campuses emerging as places of exclusion, harassment, and alienation of Jewish persons. This study examines the impact of October 7th on Jewish professionals in the U.S. and Canada, utilizing the Industrial Relations (IR) Systems Framework approach to contextualize workplace dynamics within broader socio-political shifts. Drawing on two waves of survey data - one from university campuses in late 2023 and another from workplaces in 2024, and on a randomized survey experimental design, our analysis reveals high levels and a significant increase in antisemitic rhetoric, victimization, and social marginalization. Findings indicate that while campus settings had pre-existing hostility toward Jewish and Israeli individuals, non-academic workplaces experienced a more abrupt and intense rise in exclusionary behaviors, verbal harassment, and institutional failures to address safety concerns. Our analysis suggests that the normalization of exclusionary workplace practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with ideological biases in institutional policies, has exacerbated post-October 7th antisemitism. We argue that this phenomenon reflects a systemic failure to uphold workplace dignity and equity for Jewish employees, necessitating urgent policy interventions.
les modes managériales favorisent-elle le harcèlement moral ? une etude juridico-gestionnaire de la jurisprudence française
Incontestablement, les modes managériales entraînent des modifications des pratiques organisationnelles. Ces modifications sont d’autant plus rapides que le cycle de vie des modes managériales s’accélère et se raccourcit, favorisant les changements organisationnels. Partant du postulat qu’il existe un lien entre l’organisation du travail et la santé des salariés, en particulier en matière de harcèlement moral l’objectif de cet article est de mettre en évidence et préciser le lien entre les modes managériales et le harcèlement moral. A partir de l’analyse exhaustive de la jurisprudence, cette étude montre une relation ambivalente entre le harcèlement moral et les modes managériales. Si, en effet, il n’est pas possible d’établir une corrélation directe entre les deux, l’analyse montre que l’adoption d’une pratique à la mode entraine des changements organisationnels qui constituent eux-mêmes un terreau fertile pour le harcèlement moral. Ces conséquences pourtant sont peu interrogées par la littérature sur le harcèlement, qui ignore les modes managériales, comme par la littérature sur les modes managériales, qui questionne peu l’implémentation des pratiques et limite l’analyse à l’alternative adoption / rejet des pratiques à la mode.
When shortages affect day-to-day management: site managers faced with foreign subcontractors
In the construction sector, the use of international subcontracting has been widely described as a business model aimed at mobilising a flexible and inexpensive workforce at the expense of employment conditions. The current context of labor shortage is such that companies must increasingly work to retain their subcontractors, including foreign subcontractors, at the risk of running out of labour to carry out their projects. Consequently, they need to rethink the relationship between companies and their subcontractors. In this paper, we are focusing on the managerial issues involved in the day-to-day management of subcontractors, with a particular emphasis on the role of site managers. The analysis enables us to produce an original argument on the links between subcontracting and scarcity, showing how day-to-day management is essential in understanding the balances that are established between the parties.
“It’s social dialogue, stupid”. How to address labour and skills shortages into the future in Ireland.
Labour and skills shortages are a key concern for most countries. Whilst a range of strategies exist to address labour and skills shortages, a much deeper engagement with those strategies is necessary, particularly how those strategies are understood and viewed across a range of actors. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with a range of actors this paper explores the various strategies that may help address labour and skills shortages in the future. In doing so, the paper analyses those strategies from a variety of perspectives. The paper illustrates the challenges that all actors face in addressing labour and skills shortages, in particular, the importance of social dialogue as a means to identify and consider the variety of policies and practices that exist to address those shortages.
The Labor Shortage in Québec: Analysis of its Various Scales and Employers' Perspectives
This article examines the phenomenon of labor shortage in Québec by investigating its demographic and economic dimensions as well as employers' perceptions at various scales. It first highlights the lack of consensus on the definition of the concept of shortage, often conflating lack of workers, skills deficit, and recruitment difficulties. Secondly, the article shows that the labor shortage is a multifactorial phenomenon influenced by demographic, economic, and institutional factors. Young people are often blamed for the problem, even though they are already widely present in the labor market. The analysis of employers' perspectives on the labor shortage, presented in the third section, indicates that they tend to explain the phenomenon by a change in mentalities, particularly among young people, whom they perceive as less engaged in collective team and more demanding in terms of work temporalities. However, the results show that other structural factors, such as unattractive employment conditions and inequalities in labor market access, play a key role. In response to the shortage, employers adapt their recruitment practices, reduce their selection criteria, and diversify their recruitment channels. The analyses presented are based on statistical data from Statistics Canada and qualitative interviews with employers in the Québec region.
Beyond the Usual Suspects: Job Desperation as the Top Driver of Turnover Intention and Job Search Behavior
Workers may find themselves trapped in a state of job desperation: a condition of deep frustration characterized by intense pressure to leave their current job, negative perceptions of their employment situation, and a willingness to take extreme measures to secure a new position. First, this study examines the psychometric properties of a French version of the newly established job desperation scale. Second, it assesses the antecedents of job search behavior and intention to quit. The first (n = 253) and second (n = 184) samples, composed of employees from France and Canada, respectively, completed the translated scale to support exploratory and confirmatory steps. The third sample (n = 252) of French employees completed the French job desperation scale alongside additional measures usually found as antecedents of job search behavior and turnover intention. Findings confirm the single-factor structure and robustness of the French version of the scale. More importantly, results highlight the substantial and incremental predictive power of job desperation in explaining job search behavior and turnover intention compared to more traditional factors. These insights enhance the understanding of job desperation as a critical factor in contemporary labor markets and contribute to vocational behavior literature.
Gaining Political Legitimacy through Social Dialogue: The Interest Representation of European Employers’ Organizations
This article examines the interest representation of European Employers’ Organizations in the European Union. Previous literature in employment relations focused on employer activity in Social Dialogue, while literature in political science focused on political representation and lobbying of business associations towards European Union political institutions. Going beyond this dualism in the literature, this article suggests that to fully understand the interest representation of European Employers Organizations requires analyzing the interaction between the political and social dialogue arenas. We argue that European Employers’ Organizations gain legitimacy through participating in Social Dialogue to facilitate their primary focus of political interest representation. Strategic and institutional perspectives on legitimacy provide insights into how European Employers’ Organizations respond to challenge and manage their environment within the European Union to pursue their interests.
Inclusive Management in Public Administration: The Development of a Work-Centred Training Action
This article examines the development and implementation of a work activity-centred training program designed to promote inclusive management by leaders in a Portuguese Public Administration institution. Using a mixed Design-Based Research methodology, the study engaged leaders in the design and application phases of the program. Data was collected through a focus group to understand leaders’ experiences and training needs, while a monitoring system tracked implementation via pre-, post-, and mid-training questionnaires. The resulting 60-hour b-learning program combined e-learning modules with in-person sessions. Findings highlight the program’s effectiveness in enhancing leaders’ capacity to promote inclusion through work activity analysis and collective reflection. The study underscores the value of participatory, context-specific training and emphasizes collaboration between academia and public institutions to develop impactful inclusion strategies.
A Great Place to Work, also for Senior Women: The Label Impact on their Perception of Fairness and Inclusion
In this research, we investigate the perception of senior women in organizations that have been awarded the Great Place to Work® label in France, compared to organizations that have not been selected. The data used in this study were derived from the anonymous Trust Index© survey results, which was conducted among a total of 346,516 respondents working in 418 organizations. Our study mobilizes hierarchical linear regressions to examine the impact of the Great Place to Work® label on perceptions of inclusion and fairness, in function on respondents’ age and gender. Our findings illustrate that the label has a stronger impact on these perceptions in France than in the United States. While it serves as a barrier against the double standard of aging, encompassing ageism and sexism in the workplace, it has a limited effect on inclusion perceptions for senior women. We suggest that employment branding labels measure demographic characteristics survey differences prior to promoting a fair and inclusive workplace for all employees, with a particular focus on senior women in France.
An evaluation of the financial incentive strategy for the employment of seniors in Quebec
Our research identifies the introduction since 2008 of four types of financial incentives in Quebec and Canada aimed at encouraging the employment of older people: the authorization to combine employment income and retirement pensions, a tax credit to encourage the supply of work, a bonus-malus mechanism on retirement pensions and a tax credit to encourage the demand for work. Those changes represent a reconfiguration of the institutional logic of the retirement system geared towards keeping older people in work for longer. The main objective of our research is to assess the effects of these financial incentives on the participation of the elderly in the labour market, on the type of employment held and on its intensity. Using master microdata from the Labour Force Survey from 2000 to 2023, and employing the difference-in-differences method, we evaluated the effectiveness of four different types of financial incentive within a single model. Our results show that all measures exerted a moderate upward influence on the activity of older people, with the most effective incentive being the possibility of combining employment income with retirement pensions. In terms of working hours, incentives had little impact on work intensity and the use of part-time work, which can be explained by opposite effects depending on the measures implemented. These results lead to the conclusion that greater efforts should be made to accommodate the employment conditions of older people, in order to influence them more effectively to remain in the labour market.
CSA Cooperation : an atypical working relationship to undertake together in an enabling environment
The objective of this article is to analyze the specificities and the entrepreneurial issues of the atypical work relationship that constitutes the CSA cooperation initiated between a small farmer and a group of volunteer consumers. Similar to a specific form of agricultural collective entrepreneurship, the creation of a community supported agriculture (CSA) materializes through a contractualized commitment of consumers in the activity of agricultural production and direct sales of local food products. The commitment of these consumers can then be compared to a real workforce for the small farmer, facilitating access to complementary expertise and skills. Our research aims to understand how CSA cooperation, as an atypical work relationship, makes it possible to stimulate, within a territory, collective rural entrepreneurship between a small farmer and a group of volunteer consumers. Based on a qualitative methodology, our results show that this atypical work relationship is characterized by a system of co-production, co-management and learning reciprocity. Furthermore, it promotes, for the rural entrepreneur, the establishment of an enabling environment thanks to the principles of replacement, support, education and accompaniment which the creation of a CSA obeys and which strengthen the capacity for action and empowerment of the small farmer. Thus, the purpose of this atypical work relationship lies in “undertaking together” to, ultimately, co-create social value. This entrepreneurial and altruistic approach to the atypical work relationship enriches the academic literature which has, until now, considered it mainly from the worker's vulnerable situation. We also propose to consider it based on the worker's ability to take part in a collective entrepreneurship project by providing a community with a set of expertise and skills.
Public fundings of associations and gender pay gap
The disparity in gender pay gap among non-profit organizations (NPOs) has rarely been studied. In this article, we consider this question by taking as our object of investigation the French associations, which represent the vast majority of NPOs in this country. More specifically, we examine the existence of a possible relationship between the wage differentials paid to the men and women they employ and the share of public funding in their monetary resources. Two approaches leading to the hypothesis of a negative correlation between these two variables are envisaged: a) public authorities may condition their funding, in particular via public procurement, on the reduction of gender pay gaps within organizations receiving this funding; b) associations heavily dependent on such public assistance may be driven by a public service culture likely to encourage less unequal treatment between men and women. For the empirical study, we matched data from two sources: the INSEE survey "Situation des associations en 2018" and the all-employee database (BTS) for the same year. The investigation focuses on the health and social sector, where the majority of associative employees are employed. The results show a negative correlation between the gender pay gap and the proportion of public funding received by associations. This is due to lower male wages, not higher female wages. Such a situation might be the result of a desire to reduce the wage gap between the sexes, while at the same time maintaining a strong vigilance on the part of associations to control their wage costs in a context of severe financial constraints.
The failure of self-regulation and the market in OHS: noise in the workplace + silent government = deafened workers
Despite legislation designed to protect occupational health and safety (OHS), surveys reveal continuing exposure to avoidable risks. To understand this compliance deficit, this study focuses on noise at work in Quebec, revealing the limits of the system. Based on the holistic model of compliance (Parker and Nielsen, 2017), adapted by Walters et al. (2021) to OHS, the study analyzes the period from 1979 (adoption of the law inspired by the Robens model) to 2023, examining the paralysis of noise regulation and data on inspectorate action, including intervention reports. Despite the prevalence of harmful noise (among manual workers, 24% of men and 16% of women, 2008) and the eight-fold increase in recognized cases of occupational deafness (1997-2021), the paralysis of joint regulatory work prevented the revision of the excessively high exposure threshold for over 30 years, without the government taking action. Although the threshold was indeed lowered, the revised regulation was weakened, under pressure from employers, by the deletion of the reference to the hierarchy of preventive measures, aimed at reduction at source. Between 2002 and 2019, the term “noise” appears in only 3.06% of intervention reports, and articles specific to noise in establishments are used in only 0.06% of derogations. The work of the inspectorate, whose numbers have not kept pace with the growth in the number of workers, is heavily dependent on that of the public health network, which is independent of employers. The ineffectiveness of self-regulation is compounded by the failure of market-based regulation: when employers' costs have risen in line with workers' exposure to noise, the effect of incidence-based pricing has been reduced, if not wiped out, by cost-sharing provisions.
Inclusive management of tattooed people in France: valuing singularities within the collective
In both European and North American organizations, more and more employees today are tattooed. Yet academic literature, mainly from North America, shows that there is still a great deal of discrimination against them in the workplace. In France, a relatively conservative country resistant to external markers of identity, initial research shows the existence of subtle and discreet but very real discrimination against tattooed people. However, this research remains incomplete, particularly in terms of inclusion. We therefore asked ourselves how psychological safety, which is essential to enable everyone to assert their singularities while respecting a neutral approach to diversity, can reduce the process of discrimination against tattooed people and enhance their inclusion in the workplace. To answer this question, we conducted a double quantitative survey in 2023 and 2024 (n=406) among tattooed people working in organizations in France. Our results show that tattooed people's feeling of discrimination leads to heightened vigilance on their part, prompting them to hide their tattoos and even impacting on their engagement at work, particularly for younger people. They also show how managerial practices aimed at reinforcing the psychological security of employees within teams reduce this process of discrimination and disengagement at work.