The Employee’s Perspective

Abstract

This chapter analyses the employment relationship from the perspective of the employee. It looks at how they are able to access jobs and job security in a very informal environment with scant contract enforcement, and focuses in particular on how drivers signal their trustworthiness as opposed to how they decide whether or not to trust the employer. The chapter analyses drivers’ relationship with their employers and how they are hired as protectors—not just as drivers. It also examines what happens when the relationship between employer and employee breaks down. Overall, the chapter helps us to understand how relationships are entered into and sustained in an environment of insecurity.