Quality of Work in the European Union

This collective volume on quality of work in the European Union offers a comprehensive analysis on the current situation of the tensions between work and welfare in Europe, with a special emphasis on employment-related issues. The volume tackles a crucial aspect of employment policies, namely the strengthening of the quality dimension in the decisions taken by policy-makers to foster the performance of the labour market and to combine this orientation with the demands of workers for welfare, protection and a better reconciliation of work and family life. Quality of work has been on the agenda of policy-makers, practitioners and academics for the last few years, promoting a wide debate.
The book provides a contribution to this debate and takes into consideration a range of issues associated with the analysis of work quality from an innovative perspective. Relevant subtopics including a conceptual and political analysis of work quality, wage differentials and in-work poverty, gender issues or workers' direct and indirect representation in the firm and its relation with work quality are addressed.

Autorentext

The Editors: Ana M. Guillén is Professor of Sociology at the University of Oviedo (Spain). She is an internationally recognized expert on comparative social policy. She acts as a consultant to the European Commission and the International Labour Organization. Currently she is co-coordinator of Strand 3 (Tensions between Quality and Quantity of Jobs) of the RECWOWE Network of Excellence (2006-2011).
Svenn-Åge Dahl is Deputy Director at the Department of Research Management at the University of Bergen. His research and publications concentrate on social insurance, health and labour market issues. Until July 2008 he was co-coordinator of Strand 3 (Tensions between Quality and Quantity of Jobs) of the RECWOWE Network of Excellence (2006-2011).

Inhalt
Contents: Ana M. Guillén/Svenn-Åge Dahl: Introduction. Tensions between Quality and Quantity of Jobs in the European Union Svenn-Åge Dahl/Torstein Nesheim/Karen M. Olsen: Quality of Work. Concept and Measurement Ramón Peña-Casas: Monitoring Quality of Work and Employment in the European Union. Conceptual Frameworks and Indicators Ana M. Guillén/Rodolfo Gutiérrez Palacios/Ramón Peña-Casas: Earnings Inequality and in-Work Poverty Dalila Ghailani: Gender Wage Gap as a Tension between Quality and Quantity of Jobs in the European Labour Market Judith Clifton/Daniel Díaz-Fuentes: Changing World of Public Services. Consequences for the Organisation of Work Holm-Detlev Köhler/Sergio González-Begega: Participation of Employees as a Mean to improve Quality at Work. The Case of Social Dialogue in the European Union María C. González: The Multidimensional Impact of Workplace Direct Participation in European Jobs. An Assessment of Theory, Debate and Research Robert Salais: Between Discourse and Facts. Quantity and Quality of Employment in the European Debate Olof Bäckman/Ingrid Esser/Tommy Ferrarini/Tomas Korpi/Kenneth Nelson/Yerko Rojas/Ola Sjöberg: Comparative Indicators on Job Quality and Social Protection.