Labour and Industry [Publication date December 2013]
Technology, Work Organisation and Job Quality in Service Work: Changing Contours
In a critical assessment of innovation in the UK Green (2004) defined new technology as incorporating both new work methods and work organisation, in combination with complementary information and communication technology (ICT), which enable management to control work flows and monitor work. The internet and advances in ICT have greatly increased the ability for work to be conducted outside of ‘normal’ working hours (Hyman et al., 2003). Scholarship has previously found a strong association between the intensification of work effort and the introduction of new technology and work organisation (Burchell et al. 2002; Green, 2004). More recently, Askenazy and Caroli (2010) reported that advances in ICT were associated with reducing the isolation some employees feel on the job but mental strain was also found to rise. Other organisational and workforce developments have seen the blurring of organisational boundaries, organisational networking and ambiguous and complex employment arrangements (Rainnie et al., 2006; Currie et al., 2008), all of which impact on job security and job design.

The Australian Labour Law Association is pleased to announce that its 6th Biennial Conference will be held in Canberra on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 November 2012. The conference will run all day on the Friday, with a dinner that night, then conclude at lunchtime on the Saturday. The venue is the Rydges Lakeside Hotel, conveniently located in the heart of Canberra.

Labour & Industry (Publication date December 2013)

Technology, Work Organisation and Job Quality in Service Work: Changing Contours

In a critical assessment of innovation in the UK Green (2004) defined new technology as incorporating both new work methods and work organisation, in combination with complementary information and communication technology (ICT), which enable management to control work flows and monitor work. The internet and advances in ICT have greatly increased the ability for work to be conducted outside of ‘normal’ working hours (Hyman et al., 2003). Scholarship has previously found a strong association between the intensification of work effort and the introduction of new technology and work organisation (Burchell et al. 2002; Green, 2004). More recently, Askenazy and Caroli (2010) reported that advances in ICT were associated with reducing the isolation some employees feel on the job but mental strain was also found to rise. Other organisational and workforce developments have seen the blurring of organisational boundaries, organisational networking and ambiguous and complex employment arrangements (Rainnie et al., 2006; Currie et al., 2008), all of which impact on job security and job design.

2nd International Conference on Vulnerable Workers and Precarious Work in a Changing World

London, 10-11 September 2012
Middlesex University Business School
Hendon campus, The Burroughs, NW4 4BT, London

Marco Biagi” Centre for International and Comparative Studies, ANMIL – The Italian National Association between Injured and Disabled Workers and Middlesex University, Business School are holding the 2nd International Conference on Vulnerable
Workers and Precarious Work in a Changing World.
This conference follows on from a successful conference held in London in 2010 on Vulnerable Workers, Health, Safety and Well-Being. The papers from that conference have now been published as an edited book (Vulnerable Workers; Health, Safety and Well-being
Gower Publishing 2011).

We wish to continue this theme but also widen it to take into consideration all issues related to vulnerable workers and precarious working such as: employment protection; job
exploitation; slavery; migrant workers; gender and race issues; particular groups of
vulnerable workers; domestic workers; the role of trade unions, NGOs and other interested
bodies; the work of the ILO and other international bodies as well as relevant national
organisations; decent work, contractual issues and turning precarious work into secure work.

This is not intended to be a closed list of topics and we welcome papers submitted on any
topic related to this wide field.

There will be the option to publish suitable papers from this conference in the E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, a new refereed international on-line journal edited by Adapt University Press.
More info at:
http://www.adaptinternational.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9

The working language will be English.

Contributors are invited to submit an abstract of not more than two pages (Times New Roman 12) by March 30 2012. Abstracts should contain a clear outline of the subject matter with the research questions it intends to answer. Contributors will receive a response to their submission by April 27 2012.

Participation is free. Participants who would like to attend the conference without presenting a paper are highly welcome too.
Abstracts and/or registration should be submitted via the online collaboration area (Moodle area) dedicated to Adapt International events:
http://moodle.adapt.it/course/view.php?id=31
Please follow the instructions you find there.

For any information, please refer to helpdesk@adapttechnologies.it
If you already have an active profile on our Moodle, please refer to that profile.

Symposium proposals – we are also interested in proposals for symposia by groups of academics wishing to present a themed topic. If you are interested in making such a proposal, then please make contact with Professor Malcolm Sargeant on M.Sargeant@mdx.ac.uk

For further information contact the conference organisers:

Dr Maria Giovannone, Adapt Responsible for Occupational Health and Safety Research Unit, Member of the Editorial Board of the E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies maria.giovannone@adapt.it Professor Malcolm Sargeant, Managing editor of the E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies at M.Sargeant@mdx.ac.uk

*Malcolm Sargeant and Maria Giovannone (eds) Vulnerable Workers: health, safety and well-being 2011 Gower Publishing