REGULATION OF CIVIL LAW EMPLOYMENT OR EMPLOYMENT LAW?

Performance of work on a basis other than an employment relationship takes various forms. Predominantly, it takes place based on civil law relationships, which are characterised by the principle of freedom of contract, which results in the possibility of freely shaping the content of any such legal relationship. However, recent years are marked by a gradual increase in regulations of employment other than based on contracts of employment, i.e. based on civil law contracts. Introducing a minimum hourly wage, limiting employment in trade on Sundays and public holidays, providing temporary work under civil law contracts or the much earlier widespread granting of employment rights to contractors in the putting-out system and, above all, granting the right to safe and hygienic working conditions to everyone who performs work justifies asking questions about future developments.

Compensation incentives and heat exposure affect farm worker effort

Farm workers are exposed to high risk of heat-related illness, especially when their jobs require working outside at a fast pace during hot days. Climate change has increased the number of days with high temperatures, and thereby the amount of time that farm workers are likely exposed to extreme heat. To better understand how high heat exposure affects farm workers, this study investigates how crop workers respond to heat exposure and estimates the effects of different pay and work arrangements on workers’ responses to heat exposure. We explore, specifically, whether piece-rate arrangements increase workers’ effort during periods with high heat exposure compared to workers paid by hourly wages. We use observational data from detailed measurements of localized heat exposure and individual workers’ effort in the field. First, these results show workers adjust their effort in response to heat exposure when the heat exposure level changes. Second, piece-rate arrangements increase workers’ effort during work shifts. Third, piece-rate arrangements allow workers to modify their effort more easily during different heat exposure levels. When facing low levels of heat exposure, workers who were paid by piece-rate arrangements exert a higher effort than workers paid by hourly wages, up until WBGT is 26.6˚C. When facing high levels of heat exposure (with WBGT exceeding 29.6˚C), workers paid by piece-rate arrangements lower their effort compared to workers paid by hourly wage arrangements.

What Makes Our Medical Laboratory Workforce Unique?

Introduction/Objective A career in the medical laboratory requires advanced education and technical training. To assist both employers and employees, several government organizations conduct demographic, education, and wage surveys for the general U.S. labor market. Through its workforce surveys, the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP) does the same for the medical laboratory professions. Our aim was to compare the findings of these surveys and identify similarities and dissimilarities between the general labor pool and the medical laboratory workforce. Methods/Case Report Since the 2021 ASCP Wage survey is currently open, we reviewed the findings described in ASCP’s 2019 Wage Survey of Medical Laboratories in the United States (Am J Clin Pathol 2021;155:649-673) with the publicly available information (for 2019) on demographics, educational attainment, and average hourly earnings available on the websites of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) as well as United States Census (www.census.gov). Results (if a Case Study enter NA) In 2019, the male: female ratio was 52.9:47.1 in general labor pool and 19.1:80.9 in the medical laboratory workforce. The average age of a worker in the general labor pool was 41.9 years and was 42 years in the medical laboratory workforce. The average hourly earnings were $27.99/hour in the general labor pool and ranged from $16.64/hour (phlebotomists) to $53.95/hour (pathologists assistants) in the medical laboratory workforce, with the MLS/MT/CLS earning $30.02/hour to $52.53/hour. While 33.1% adults in the U.S. have attained a bachelor’s degree or above, 73.79% have attained this in the medical laboratory workforce. Conclusion Compared to the general labor pool, the medical laboratory workforce is a highly educated workforce and has a higher participation by women. The average worker age and average hourly wage are comparable. We encourage laboratorians to participate in ASCP surveys since such surveys reveal data that can drive better prospects for the medical laboratory workforce.

Preparations of exploration of immediate hypersensitivity to antineoplastic agents: An oncology pharmacy perspective

Background Cancer patients are being exposed to antineoplastic drugs more frequently and for longer periods, resulting in a higher risk of hypersensitivity reactions. The aim of this study was to assess the pharmaceutical time and direct cost of drug allergy explorations following immediate hypersensitivity reactions to antineoplastic agents. Methods A micro-costing method was used to collect data on consumption of human and material resources for allergy exploration preparations. The monetisation was carried out on the basis of prices and hourly wage costs applied in 2018. The number and type of allergy explorations prepared by the pharmacy as well as nature of antineoplastic drugs tested, and the number of culprit drugs reintroductions were collected. Results Almost 1.5 h is required to realise allergy tests for one patient including pharmacist time for prescription analysis and pharmacy technician's time for tests preparation. The mean manufacturing cost of these tests is estimated at €62.87 (€57.82–65.49) per culprit drug for one patient. Programming patients according to culprit drugs tested allows rationalising healthcare provider time and increasing efficiency. From January 2010 to December 2018, 277 patients were tested and 490 allergy explorations were performed, corresponding to more than 5000 preparations. Mostly, the culprit drug could be reintroduced ( n = 383, 78.2%) allowing patients to receive the best possible treatment. Conclusion Management of hypersensitivity reactions is constantly progressing, as it contributes to improving patient care in oncology. This activity is time-consuming for the pharmacy team but allows patients with previous hypersensitivity reaction to continue effective treatment.

939 Two Is Not Always Better Than One: A Quality Improvement Project Assessing Efficiency and Financial Implications Associated with Using Two Different Electronic Systems in A Busy Orthopaedic Department

Introduction Ensuring correct documentation and safe handover is key to the running of a successful surgical department. At Imperial College Healthcare Trust, this process has been made easier through various electronic systems available to our Orthopaedic department: our in-house CERNER system and out-of-house system eTrauma, the latter of which is predominantly used. The aim of this project was to assess our efficiency in terms of time management between the two systems, as well as financial implications of saved time. Method Multiple members of the Orthopaedic team timed themselves when entering information regarding a referral or an admission into both systems. This allowed us to estimate the financial implications of moving away from eTrauma. Results An average referral took 165 seconds (n = 27) to input information onto eTrauma, versus 38 seconds (n = 25) for CERNER. Time taken to document an admission was 127 seconds (n = 33) and 26 seconds (n = 31) respectively. The current hourly wage for our junior members is £22.84 per hour or 38p per minute. Moving away from eTrauma to CERNER will save around £1.50 for every 2 referrals and 2.5 admissions, solely from documentation. This is excluding the other benefits of CERNER, such as quick access to relevant clinical information, pathology results and imaging. Conclusions Leaving eTrauma behind will reduce the time spent on documentation by orthopaedic junior doctors. This will result in increased efficiency and will lessen the financial burden on an already overstretched budget. Our formal data will contribute to decision making and future resource allocation in our local Trauma and Orthopaedic Department.

Real wage growth in the U.S. health workforce and the narrowing of the gender pay gap

Background Healthcare has been identified as a job engine during recent recessions in the U.S. Whether the healthcare sector provides better than average pay remains a question. This study investigates if wages grew with the expanding demand for healthcare workers between 2001 and 2017. Wage growth in the (1) physicians and surgeons, (2) nurse, (3) healthcare practitioner and technical, (4) healthcare support, and (5) direct patient care jobs are examined. The gender pay gap in each occupation is investigated. Methods The American Community Survey (ACS) public use microdata sample (PUMS) for 2001, 2004, 2008, 2013, and 2017 were used to derive hourly wages for full-time, full-year workers aged 18–75. The cumulative percent change in unadjusted, median hourly wages between 2001 and 2017 was calculated for each occupation. Quantile regression estimates predicted a median hourly wage for men and women by year and job after adjusting for differences in demographics, industry, and hours worked. Results Unadjusted median wage growth was 9.92% for nurses, 5.68% for healthcare practitioners, and 37.6% for physicians between 2001 and 2017. These rates are roughly above the estimated national rate of wage growth at the 50th wage percentile. In healthcare support and direct patient care occupations, workers experienced either stagnant or negative wage growth. Women had lower occupational wages than men. Conclusion The slow or negative median wage growth in all but the physician occupation between 2004–2008 and 2008–2013 confirms that healthcare wages in the U.S. are not recession-proof, unlike healthcare employment. Generally, women's earnings grew at rates that were higher or less negative than rates for men. This trend contributed to narrowing the gender pay gap in every occupation except for nurse.

Are You Ready for Some Football? Estimating the Effect of American Football Season on Labor Supply in the United States

American football season reduces the Monday labor hours of employed men by two-thirds of an hour. A similar effect is found for Friday labor hours. We term these effects the “hangover effect” and “happy hour effect.” Consistent with a wide class of labor market models, the labor supply effect varies over the business cycle, increasing in expansions. The hangover effect implies an intertemporal elasticity of labor supply on the order of 0.014. Evaluated at the median hourly wage, our estimates imply an annual economic cost of foregone earnings associated with football season in the neighborhood of $5.06 billion.

The immigrant-native wage gap in Germany revisited

This study provides new evidence on the levels of economic integration experienced by foreigners and naturalised immigrants relative to native Germans from 1994 to 2015. We decompose the wage gap using the method for unconditional quantile regression models by employing a regression of the (recentered) influence function (RIF) of the gross hourly wage on a rich set of explanatory variables. This approach enables us to estimate contributions made across the whole wage distribution. To allow for a detailed characterisation of labour market conditions, we consider a comprehensive set of socio-economic and labour-related aspects capturing influences of, e.g., human capital quality, cultural background, and the personalities of immigrants. The decomposition results clearly indicate a significant growing gap with higher wages for both foreigners (13.6 to 17.6%) and naturalised immigrants (10.0 to 16.4%). The findings further display a low explanation for the wage gap in low wage deciles that is even more pronounced within immigrant subgroups. Cultural and economic distances each correlate strongly with wages. A different appreciation of foreign educational qualifications, however, widens the wage gap substantially by 4.5%points on average. Moreover, we observe an indication of deterioration of immigrants’ human capital endowments over time relative to those of native Germans.

3. Pay

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the law on employee wages. An employer may be required to pay wages even if there is no work for the employee to do. Part II of Employment Rights Act 1996 deals with the protection of wages. The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 (NMWA) provides a minimum hourly wage for workers. A higher minimum wage for those over 23 (until 2021, this was 25), the National Living Wage, was introduced in 2016.

Longitudinal associations between soft skills, education and labour market outcomes: evidence from a survey of young Australians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a measure of soft skills suitable for use in a large survey of Australian adolescents.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with N = 4,704 Australians aged 15–19 over 2 years. Principal components analysis was performed on 14 self-report items, followed by generalised linear mixed modelling predicting education- and employment-related outcomes.FindingsSelf-reported problem solving, creativity, teamwork and verbal communication were alternately associated with later high school performance, hourly wage and employment status. These effects persisted when controlling for demographics and prior academic achievement.Originality/valueExisting measures have been limited by their length or focus on specific skills or industries. The presented measures are short, domain-general, measure multiple skills simultaneously, and are suitable for a wide range of research contexts.