Sarah Kaine’s research while affiliated with University of Technology Sydney and other places

... Our research identifies potential points of intervention around labour and human rights risks within the textiles and apparel value chain, particularly focusing on the Australian cotton industry as an "upstream" supplier of raw materials. The Australian cotton industry has a low risk profile compared to other cotton-producing countries (Boersma et al., 2022). Australian cotton is sold on the open market by cotton merchants, which means that Australian growers have little insight into where their cotton goes. ...

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Beyond the farm gate: addressing labour and human right issues occurring downstream in the textiles and apparel value chain

... Given the legislation specifically regulates gig work and road transport contractor arrangements outside the employment relationship it will prove difficult to avoid and could therefore operate to spread compliant business behaviour across industries. A growing number of studies indicate that regulating entire supply chains in hierarchically organised industries can improve working conditions of workers at the base, provided the legal framework is actively enforced by a regulator (Rawling 2014, 206-207;Rawling et al 2021) In light of this evidence (which is from both the cleaning and apparel sectors) we are optimistic that the road transport contractual chain orders can have a similar positive effect. The ability of the relevant union as well as the FWO to enforce these contractual chain orders (ss539, 536PM, 536NS FW Act) in the road transport industry increases the chances of successful implementation, (provided the legislation lasts for a considerable period of time for this to occur). ...

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Regulating precarious work: A paradigm shift

... Australia's political economy is generally classified as liberal, but its construction sector was partly coordinated until the 1990s. Thereafter, weakened coordination over industrial relations and the marketization of training by allowing private providers to compete with state colleges for government training funds became defining features of Australia's liberalized skill-sourcing system, which reflected employer preferences for greater labor market flexibility (Toner 2008;Wright and Kaine 2021). This enhanced employer control over training content and delivery but inhibited the ability of the VET system to address skill shortages. ...

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Labor Migration as a Source of Institutional Change: Danish and Australian Construction Sectors Compared

... The gig economy is expanding and consists of various forms of contingent labour arrangements like freelance and short-term work (Tran and Sokas, 2017). Business models used in the gig economy try to save on labour expenses like insurance and paid leave, and employees tend to be independent contractors (Josserand & Kaine, 2019). This provides a tremendous level of flexibility for the company and the workers; but it transfers different expenses related to training, paid time off, and insurance to the workers (De Stefano, 2017), leading to a precarious working arrangement for most individuals (Howard, 2017). ...

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Addressing Technostress & Well -Being in Gig Economy: A Path to Economic Sustainability

... For the purpose of this review article, I selected those studies (a) that were based on empirical research and (b) in which gender-based violence was discussed using empirical data (instead of, for example, drawing on existing literature or making inferences from the prevalence of similar forms of violence in sectors such as domestic work), regardless of whether gender-based violence was a central aspect or just one element of the research. It is worth noting that scholarship examining gender-based violence in platform work as the main focus of analysis is very scarce (Ma et al., 2022;Stringhi, 2022) due to the relative newness of this form of work; the difficulties in accessing the target populations, particularly in the context of online work; and the general problem of underreporting with regard to gender-based violence (European Institute for Gender Equality, 2021; Kaine et al., 2020;Moore, 2018). Studies were excluded if their examination of gender-based violence in platform work, albeit based on empirical data, did not provide any substantive insight that contributed to the discussion. ...

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Gender-Based Violence in the Context of the Future of Work: A Qualitative Review of the Literature

... Developing and rewarding employees is closely linked to perceptions of fairness and opportunity within the organization. Ongoing training programs, mentoring and recognition of merit are just some of the strategies used to strengthen employee loyalty and motivate employees to reach their full potential (John, et al., 2020). In this sense, reward is not only about the financial aspects, but also includes symbolic recognition, personalized benefits and promotion opportunities that add value to the professional experience. ...

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Key Factors in Talent Retention: An Integrated Approach Based on Bibliometric Analysis

... While the gig economy offers numerous advantages, including time and cost flexibility, it poses significant challenges, particularly in achieving more efficient operational cost management. Therefore, it is essential to explore how corporate cost structures in this sector can be optimized to support longterm operational sustainability (Hickson, 2023;Kaine & Josserand, 2019). ...

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Business Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship Optimizing Corporate Cost Structures in the Gig Economy: Financial Adaptation Strategies to Support Operational Sustainability

... Depending on the contextual study one adopts, a variety of combinations can be used for investigating corresponding knowledge management processes impacts, including on employee performance. Rahmayanto, et al. (2019) study on employee performance considered latent variables such as cost, quality, discipline, and commitment, while John et al. (2020) emphasized employee deliverables with respect to level and functional units, viewing employee performance as divisible into five aspects: tasks, contextual and adaptive dimensions, employee organizational citizenship and employee counterproductive work behavior; which Abouzeid (2018) declared critical in conducting comprehensive measurement of employee performance. In their study on tertiary institutions in Kenyan education sector, Koech & Cheluget (2019) investigated the relationship between knowledge management and employee performance, decomposing the latter into task, adaptive, and contextual constructs, also adopted in this study, with recommendation that further studies be conducted in contexts other than education sector. ...

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Influences of Knowledge Management Processes on Employee Performance in Food Manufacturing Firms in Kenya

... Employee voice is the result of interaction between workplace, sector and national regulation (Marchington, 2015), and, therefore, occurs within a wider institutional, regulatory and organisational context (Kaine & Ravenswood, 2019). In a care work setting, this context is mediated by gender regimes (Ravenswood & Markey, 2018) which see care work as low status and low value (England et al., 2002;Folbre & Nelson, 2000;Palmer &Eveline, 2012), and/or intrinsically motivated (Ravenswood & Harris, 2016). ...

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Voices from the ‘Margins’ of a Pandemic: Impact of a Lack of Employee Voice on Health and Safety for Community Support Workers During COVID-19

... Furthermore, in 2019 women were much more likely to be underemployed (10 per cent) than men (7 per cent) and much less likely to be in full-time employment ( The gender pay gap, as measured by full-time average weekly ordinary-time earnings, has ranged between 14 and 19 per cent over the past 20 years (Williamson et al. 2019). In 2019, it was just over 14 per cent, with private sector industries tending to have larger gender pay gaps than the public sector (Kaine & Boersma 2018). In the past, major advances towards pay equity came from test cases in the Commission and its predecessors, where wage increases were achieved through the application of equal pay principles. ...

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Employment Relations in Australia