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‘It was doing my head in’: Low‐paid multiple employment and zero hours work
Author(s) -
Smith Andrew,
McBride Jo
Publication year - 2023
Publication title -
british journal of industrial relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.665
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-8543
pISSN - 0007-1080
DOI - 10.1111/bjir.12689
Subject(s) - temporalities , expansive , precarity , labour economics , work (physics) , wage , economics , precarious work , sociology , political science , market economy , engineering , law , mechanical engineering , materials science , compressive strength , composite material
This article explores the lived experiences and working time complexities of low‐paid workers in legitimate multiple employment and zero hours work. Based on detailed qualitative research, these workers have 2, 3, 4, 5 and even 7 different jobs out of necessity due to low‐pay, unpredictable working hours and employment precarity. The research reveals that workers need to be available for (potential) work at any point but may not actually be offered any hours, which we argue constitutes unremunerated labour time. The findings highlight a densification of working time with zero hours work as employers maximize productive effort into specifically numbered, demarcated and minimized working hours, which tightens the porosity of labour. There is a dual fragmentation and individualization of employment, as these workers traverse multiple, expansive, complex and dynamic temporalities of work. This study identifies new economic and temporal indeterminacies of labour, which fundamentally transform the employment relationship and wage‐effort bargain.