The nuanced nature of work quality : evidence from rural Newfoundland and Ireland

This article explores the relationship between job and work quality and argues that while it is important to examine job quality, to understand workers’ experiences fully, the focus should be on the broader concept of work quality, which places the job against its wider socio-economic context. Based on the experiences of 88 rural workers gathered via interviews in Newfoundland and Ireland, it appears that the same or similar jobs can be regarded very differently depending upon the context in which they are embedded, as people at different locations and/or stages of life have an individual set of aspirations, expectations and life experiences. The study found that the factors that affect work quality are moulded by broader aspects of life – family, friends, community, lifestyle and past experiences – that shape an individual

PUBLIC-SECTOR INDUSTRIAL-RELATIONS ON THE EVE OF MASS PRIVATIZATION IN TURKEY

This paper examines public sector industrial relations and employment practices in Turkey in the light of the privatization programme under way since 1984. It starts by discussing how the s\stem of public sector industrial relations was prepared for privatization during the 1980s, with major changes in trade union structure, collective bargaining and employment patterns, Actual privatization has so far been limited and has therefore not in itself had a major impact on industrial relations. However. the new Government of Ms. Tansu Ciller, which took office in June 1993, intends to accelerate the pace of privatization

Constituents of effective support for homecare workers providing care to people with dementia at end of life

Objective: The aim of this study was to enhance understanding about homecare workers providing care to people with dementia at end of life by exploring homecare workers’ perceptions of challenges and the support they needed and sometimes received. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 homecare workers and 13 homecare managers in England. Framework analysis was used to analyse the data.Findings: Four overarching challenges were identified: working with clients with dementia, including clients’ sometimes unpredictable responses, communication difficulties, and mood changes; caring for the dying; conflict with family members; and working alone, which often left homecare workers at risk of exhaustion, fatigue, and a sense of isolation. When their work entailed high levels of emotion, such as a client’s death or getting embroiled in a client’s family conflict, they felt emotionally drained, under-prepared and overwhelmed. Supportive elements include receiving encouragement and learning from experienced peers and their feelings being acknowledged by managers at their employing homecare agency. Some workers were offered time off or encouraged to attend the client’s funeral as a means of supporting the process of bereavement.Conclusions: Peer and manager support are essential and effective in coping with work pressures. There is a need to develop models of effective support to alleviate staff’s practical, emotional and interpersonal pressures. However, due to the isolating nature of homecare work, managers may not recognise early signs of their staff finding stress unmanageable and miss the opportunity to mitigate these negative effects<br/