Dafydd Mali, Rexford Attah-Boakye, Kweku Adams, Adil EL Fakir, Richard Fairchild, Freeman Brobbey Owusu
{"title":"Concerning Evidence About the Availability of Labour Force Information Within Financial Reports: Investigating Human Capital Reporting Over Time","authors":"Dafydd Mali, Rexford Attah-Boakye, Kweku Adams, Adil EL Fakir, Richard Fairchild, Freeman Brobbey Owusu","doi":"10.1111/irj.70043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70043","url":null,"abstract":"<p>No policy requires firms to disclose workforce-level human capital (HC) information on financial reports. We are therefore motivated to capture whether HC (and workforce-related information) reporting quality has changed in 2021 relative to 2011, for the top 25 FTSE-indexed firms. Using a content analysis approach, empirical tests are conducted to determine the extent ethnicity, gender, diversity and inclusion (IEGD) disclosure quality has improved, relative to other important HC disclosures. Empirical results show that HC reporting quality remains low in the United Kingdom. However, reporting quality differs based on HC characteristics. The quality (and quantity) of IEGD disclosures increases. However, other important HC and workforce variables such as well-being, mental health, performance, training and disability do not. Empirical results suggest that HC reporting quality/quantity is dynamic. Contrary to previous studies that surmise British firms disclose diversity/equality information as a superficial branding strategy, our results show that top 25 FTSE indexed firms disclose higher quality IEGD information, consistent with legitimacy theory. However, because some important equality HC and workforce variables are shown to provide relatively lower quality disclosures, the study identifies potential policymaking oversights, provides insights to management about strategies to enhance HC reporting quality and speaks to how potential legislative oversights can negatively impact British society.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 5","pages":"368-393"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70043","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dual Labour Market Reform and Employment Outcomes: Evidence From Poland","authors":"Krzysztof Bartosik, Łukasz Piętak","doi":"10.1111/irj.70040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70040","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Between 2005 and 2015, Poland recorded one of the highest shares of temporary employment in the European Union. Following labour market reforms introduced in 2016–2017, the incidence of temporary contracts declined markedly. This paper examines how this decline was associated with the level of dependent and permanent employment. The study covers the period 2008–2023 and uses quarterly sectoral data (NACE Rev. 2) disaggregated by gender and age group. The analysis employs second-generation panel estimators that account for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneous dynamics, using CS-ARDL as the main specification and AMG and CCEMG as robustness checks. The results indicate no evidence of a contraction in dependent employment in the post-reform period. The association between temporary and dependent employment remains positive but becomes weaker after the reform. In contrast, the estimates do not provide consistent evidence that declines in temporary employment systematically translate into increases in permanent employment.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 5","pages":"334-346"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Efficiency, Equity, and Voice Under Institutional Pressure: Evaluating Workplace Dispute Resolution in the Global South","authors":"Paulo Marzionna","doi":"10.1111/irj.70042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70042","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper applies the efficiency, equity and voice (EEV) framework to dispute resolution mechanisms in Brazilian banking, empirically extending it in three ways: separating procedural from accessible equity; recognising collective strategic value beyond individual dispute performance; and treating efficiency-equity trade-offs as institutionally contingent, explaining mechanism proliferation as multi-actor adaptation.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 5","pages":"357-367"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70042","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Post-Crisis Legacy Effects of Union Legitimacy in Liberal Market Economies","authors":"Colm McLaughlin, Chris F. Wright","doi":"10.1111/irj.70039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70039","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article uses theories of legitimacy to explain, first, why centre-right governments in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom collaborated with trade unions to develop worker-protective policy mechanisms during the COVID crisis and, second, variation in the post-COVID influence of unions over the policy agendas of these governments. Drawing on an analysis of 35 elite interviews, it argues that unions in all three countries were able to achieve policy influence during COVID because their legitimacy increased in a crisis context. However, the extent to which union influence over neoliberal governments was sustained post-COVID varied, with weak influence in the United Kingdom, moderate influence in Australia and stronger influence in Ireland. The findings highlight the importance of residual forms of legitimacy derived from previous episodes in explaining this variation and the circumstances in which actor legitimacy changes over time, thus adding a temporal dimension to industrial relations theories of legitimacy.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 5","pages":"323-333"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70039","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Formation and Direction of Workers' Collective Action in Bangladesh's Readymade Garment Industry: A Political Process Model Analysis","authors":"Abul Fazal Md. Salahuddin, Md. Ismail Hossain, Md. Faisal Ahmmed, Munshi Naser Ibne Afzal","doi":"10.1111/irj.70041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70041","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This qualitative study examines the formation and direction of worker unrest in Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) industry through the lens of McAdam's Political Process Model, investigating how workers mobilize collective action despite systemic constraints. Using data from 25 in-depth interviews and 9 focus group discussions across six RMG factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj, we identify mechanisms through which workers achieve cognitive liberation, build organizational capacity, and navigate political opportunities within an oligopolistic industry characterized by extreme power asymmetries. Our findings reveal that oligopolistic industry structures create distinctive barriers to sustained collective action, challenging the traditional application of the Political Process Model. We propose that a fourth element—capacity to sustain participation costs—must be added to the model when analyzing labour movements in developing countries. Workers demonstrate cognitive liberation through lived experiences of dehumanization, verbal abuse, and unsafe working conditions, yet face structural constraints due to employer retaliation, blacklisting practices, and severely limited employment alternatives. Notably, the industry's concentrated ownership structure, coupled with weak government enforcement and workers' profound economic vulnerability, creates participation costs that far exceed those borne by traditional labour movements. This research contributes theoretically to understanding social movements in developing country contexts and provides policy implications for multi-stakeholder initiatives (Accord, Alliance) seeking to improve labour rights in global supply chains, directly addressing UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 5","pages":"347-356"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148862257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"London Calling: Devolution and the London Living Wage Campaign","authors":"Deborah Hann, David Nash","doi":"10.1111/irj.70030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70030","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article examines the role of devolution in shaping employment relations through a case study of the Living Wage in London. Drawing on a mixed methods approach it explores the rationale and methods by which the Greater London Authority has promoted fair pay despite possessing limited direct legislative power. The article identifies five key mechanisms; its role as an employer, soft regulation, procurement, institution-building, and ideological leadership, and evaluates their effectiveness in promoting Living Wage adoption in the capital. Our findings suggest that that collaborative, multi-actor strategies can reshape employment practices, highlighting the potential of ‘devolved without power’ governance to reconfigure labour standards.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 4","pages":"259-273"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70030","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148533324","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alan Felstead, Rhys Davies, Duncan Gallie, Francis Green, Golo Henseke, Ying Zhou
{"title":"The Spatial Anatomy of Working at Home: Concepts, Measures and Types of Spaces Used","authors":"Alan Felstead, Rhys Davies, Duncan Gallie, Francis Green, Golo Henseke, Ying Zhou","doi":"10.1111/irj.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This article provides a spatial analysis of working at home. It makes distinctions according to the extent to which the boundaries of work and home spatially overlap. Using this conceptual lens, it deploys data from Britain′s Skills and Employment Survey to track the trends and patterns of homeworking and hybrid working over the last two decades. The article also examines the type of home spaces used. It identifies the characteristics of those who use a home office as opposed to other spaces, such as the kitchen or the lounge, where unpaid domestic tasks are carried out. The results show that, first, the relatively privileged are more likely to work at home. Second, those spending more time working at home, living in larger and better-maintained homes, and men rather than women are more likely to have a home office. Furthermore, gendered access to a home office persists even among dual-earner households.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 4","pages":"274-286"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70032","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148534409","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Play to Submission: Gaming Capitalism in a Tech Firm. By Tongyu Wu, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2024. 231 pp. $30.95 (paperback). ISBN 9781439922989","authors":"Wen Li Thian","doi":"10.1111/irj.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70036","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 4","pages":"319-320"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148532451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From Efficiency to Illness: Do Highly Automatable Jobs Take a Toll on Health in Germany?","authors":"Mariia Vasiakina, Christian Dudel","doi":"10.1111/irj.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Automation transforms work at a rapid pace, with gradually increasing shares of the workforce at risk of being replaced by machines. However, little is known about how this risk is affecting workers. In this study, we examine the relationship between exposure to high automation risk at work and both subjective (self-reported health, anxiety, and health satisfaction) and objective (healthcare use and sickness absence) health outcomes of workers in Germany. We base our analysis on survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and administrative data from the Occupational Panel for Germany (2013–2022). Employing panel regression, we demonstrate that for workers, exposure to high automation risk at the occupational level is associated with lower self-reported health and health satisfaction, as well as increased sickness absence. No significant effects are observed for anxiety and healthcare use. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals only minor variations in the effects across several demographic and occupational characteristics. We also conduct multiple robustness checks (i.e., alternative model specifications and risk measures with different thresholds), with the results remaining largely consistent with our main findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 4","pages":"297-308"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/irj.70034","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148522954","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Organization and Solidarity: Solidarity Council of Foundation Universities Case in Türkiye","authors":"İlknur Karanfil","doi":"10.1111/irj.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Academics in Turkish private universities created a solidarity network to advocate for labour rights. The network employed both online and traditional forms of struggle, functioning as a hybrid mode of non-union labour organizing. In this study, the author—also a participant in the network—selected the most active members to conduct qualitative interviews and analysed the data from an ethnographic perspective.The study contributes to the literature on non-union labour organizations by conceptualizing the solidarity network as a unique organizational form. It attributes a transitional role to such networks in facilitating union membership. It also explores how similarities between these networks and trade unions function as enabling mechanisms for unionization.The findings reveal that collective action, shared demands, and supportive union leadership are key factors driving the transition from a solidarity network to formal union affiliation.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":46619,"journal":{"name":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL","volume":"57 4","pages":"309-318"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148522800","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}