Edoardo Ales – författare

Contributing to the debate on work performance evaluation in a time of technological transformation, this book explores the impact of digitisation on production and organisation models, as well as on the rights and interests of the stakeholders involved. As organisations down-size, merge with other companies and become decentralised, the boundaries in employer-employee-customer relationships are blurred and new models for the organisation and assessment of work performance have emerged. With these new models, innovative regulatory approaches are sorely needed. Taking an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on theoretical concepts from organisation studies, human resource management, sociology and labour economics, this all-encompassing collection is not only essential reading for academics and students, but also for policy-makers and employers who are looking for innovative and practical solutions to the challenges of modern employment relations.

This edited volume explores the old and new “collective dimensions” of employment relations. It examines specific challenges stemming from new forms of work of the digital and sharing economy, such as measurement, monitoring, assessment, and remuneration of work, the protection of work-life balance, the impact of new technologies on health and safety, the adaptation of occupational skills to new work processes, and the responses to the digital restructuring of undertakings. It addresses a series of questions such as how the representational action of unions and works councils can adapt to the challenges posed by new production systems and whether the legislative framework needs to be reformed to ensure that digital workers enjoy the right to collective representation. This important collection offers readers a renewed theoretical perspective and justification of the role that the dialogue between workers (representatives) and companies could play in an increasingly complex world of work.

This book, adopting a multidisciplinary approach, investigates the definition of autonomous work and the kind of protection it receives and should receive in a global perspective. The book advocates for the existence of genuine autonomous work to be distinguished from employment and false self-employment. It deserves specific attention from legislators in the view of removing any obstacles to the exercise of freedom of association and collective action at large. 

The book is divided into two parts. The first focuses on the evolving notion of autonomy and its consequences on social protection, offering a theoretical frame from an organizational, political and legal point of view. The second aims at discovering new regulatory and protective horizons for autonomous work, in the light of blockchain, platform work, EU Competition Law, social security and liberal professions. Finally, the authors offer insights and recommendations on how to protect work beyond categories.

In 2019 the European Green Deal was launched by the European Commission with the aim of making the European Union climate neutral by 2050. Five years on from that, this contributed volume analyses the extensive impact that it has produced on labour relations, from a Labour Law and HRM perspective, and put forward some new ideas on the (just) ‘green transition’ and quality of work.

In order to move the discussion forward and to promote a multidisciplinary debate on the key issues related to the implications, linkages and perspectives of the Green Transition on the quality of work, this book provides contributions from the international scholarly community on some crucial topics like regulatory strategies and players of environmental and employment policies as well as the role of the firm in environmental policies, their promotion and its accountability. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of sustainability, HRM, labour, innovation and public administration.

Contributing to recent debate on the emergence of digital and agile work, this book explores the implications for labour and employment relations within and beyond organizational boundaries.  Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the key issues and challenges of digitalization, this collection covers topics such as the gig economy, crowdworking and Industry 4.0. Theory and analysis are combined as the authors examine the impact of digital and smart work on organization, HRM and labour law. With comprehensive empirical evidence for those interested in understanding the more complex trajectories of today’s transforming work relationships, this book will  not only appeal to students and academics but also to policy-makers, trade unionists and employers’ organizations.

The safety obligation in any employment relationship, enshrined in numerous laws and regulations, must necessarily absorb advances in medicine and technology. The law of health and safety at work is perhaps best understood as an ongoing process engaged in the making of a dynamic and effective regulatory framework able to cope with an ever-changing work environment. This book, an in-depth survey of the current state of health and safety law in Europe represents the work of labour lawyers involved into the Pontignano International Seminars and into the European Working Group on Labour Law (EWL). The seventeen contributing labour lawyers provide national reports from ten EU Member States, along with a chapter on EU law relating to health and safety and a concluding comparative analysis. Among the topics examined are the following:

For practitioners dealing with cases involving health and safety issues at work, this book will be welcomed as a thorough and up-to-date guide on available approaches. Of especial value is the detailed coverage of the scope of the safety obligation, the consequences of its violation, workers’ representation, and the link between occupational health and safety and the fight against harassment at work.