Legal Avoidance and the Restructuring of Work
The Structuring of Work in Organizations
ISBN: 978-1-78635-436-5, eISBN: 978-1-78635-435-8
Publication date: 17 August 2016
Abstract
This paper posits that legal avoidance – employers’ search for forms of employment to which labor and employment laws do not apply – is an important driver of the restructuring of work. It examines three examples of restructuring that enable employers to avoid legal liability and compliance costs: the classification of workers as independent contractors; the use of part-time and variable-schedule work; and employers’ deskilling of jobs and reliance on vulnerable workers. None of these strategies is itself unlawful, but their impact is to limit workers’ legal protections and weaken the law itself. Employers may also experience unintended consequences of restructuring.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgment
I am grateful to Robert Bird, Diane Burton, Lisa Cohen, and Stephen Park for their feedback on earlier versions of this work.
Citation
Alexander, C.S. (2016), "Legal Avoidance and the Restructuring of Work", The Structuring of Work in Organizations (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 47), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 311-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20160000047022
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016 Emerald Group Publishing Limited