Activating employers: the politics of regulation in the UK, the US and Australia

在当代劳动力市场中，高增长、低收入的服务行业缺乏好工作，这已被政策制定者和学者以及工会和商界领袖确定为一个经常性的问题，特别是在英国、美国和澳大利亚等英美国家。在英国，鲍里斯约翰逊政府鼓励雇主投资于工人，并向他们支付体面的工资。在美国，总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden）在竞选中承诺在经济的各个领域，特别是在社会护理领域，创造、恢复和维持“中产阶级、工会工作”。在澳大利亚，斯科特·莫里森领导的自由党政府正在推行放宽劳工标准的放松管制议程，而维多利亚和新南威尔士等州则推行社会采购政策，以支持在服务和建筑部门创造良好的就业机会。该项目旨在解决以下问题：决策者是继续让求职者和福利申请人承担填补低收入服务部门劳动力市场短缺的责任，还是相反，他们向雇主施加压力，要求提高就业质量？我们的出发点是，雇主激活的新政治与激活求职者的“旧”政治发生冲突。这些相互冲突的政策议程和优先事项导致这三个国家的国家和国家以下各级政府出现了几次180度大转弯和相互矛盾的声明。研究调查了各级政府如何处理这种紧张关系。它研究了英国、美国和澳大利亚发展良好就业和需求侧政策的指导原则、基本战略和机制。具体而言，它会问：什么是激励（胡萝卜）和制裁（棍棒），正在部署，以鼓励雇主实施包容性的人力资源管理做法在高增长低收入的服务部门？雇主对利用社会采购提高工作质量有何看法？该项目将实现以下产出：1.通过制作证据和差距图2，巩固英国、美国和澳大利亚关于好工作与工作优先议程的知识基础。就英国、美国及澳洲使用采购合约及社会福利协议的情况进行有系统的检讨3。通过与相关利益攸关方（决策者、从业人员和方案管理人员）的对话，对正在进行的就业和福利工作方案监管改革进行深入细致的分析。评估COVID 19后的劳动力短缺是否被用来促进商业模式的变化，以提高就业的可持续性，或者政策制定者是否仍然坚持工作第一的议程研究将在24个月的时间内进行，将包括三个阶段：首先，对所有三个国家的监管举措和项目干预措施的证据进行系统审查;第二，与决策者和利益攸关方进行一系列试点访谈，了解他们认为哪些做法有效，对谁有效，在什么情况下有效，第三，在选定的地方进行一系列案例研究。该项目将使决策者、劳动力市场中介机构、雇主和求职者受益。这项研究补充和增加了现有的和以前的ESRC投资，因为它的强大的比较维度，其重点是监管工具和立法，以及公共当局的标准制定活动的分析。这些都是新的研究领域，将加强从美国/澳大利亚在就业和福利政策领域的政策学习。

The lack of good jobs in high growth, low pay service sectors in contemporary labour markets has been identified as a recurrent problem by policy makers and academics, as well as trade union and business leaders, especially in Anglo-American countries like the UK, the US and Australia. In the UK, the government of Boris Johnson has encouraged employers to invest in workers and pay them a decent salary. In the US, President Joe Biden has campaigned on the promise to create, restore and sustain 'middle class, unionised jobs' in various sectors of the economy, particularly in social care. In Australia, whilst the Liberal government of Scott Morrison is pursuing a deregulatory agenda that relaxes labour standards, individual states such as Victoria and New South Wales have pursued social procurement policies to support good jobs creation in the service and construction sector. This project seeks to address the following question: do policymakers continue to put the onus on jobseekers and benefit claimants to fill labour market shortages in low-paid service sectors, or, on the contrary, do they put pressure on employers to improve the quality of employment? Our starting point is that the new politics of employers' activation clashes with the 'old' politics of activating jobseekers. These conflicting policy agendas and priorities lead to several U-turns and contradictory statements at various levels of national and subnational government in all three countries. The research investigates how this tension is being addressed at different government levels. It examines what the guiding principles, underlying strategies and mechanisms are for the development of good jobs and demand side policies in the UK, the US and Australia. Specifically, it will ask:What are the incentives (carrots) and sanctions (sticks) that are being deployed to encourage employers to implement inclusive HRM practices in high growth low-paid service sectors? What are the views of employers on the use of social procurement to improve the quality of jobs?The project will deliver the following outputs:1. Consolidate the knowledge base on good jobs vs work-first agendas in the UK, the US and Australia through the production of an evidence and gap map2. Produce a systematic review on the use of procurement contracts and community benefit agreements in the UK, the US and Australia 3. Obtain an in depth, granular analysis of ongoing regulatory reforms in employment and welfare to work programmes through a dialogue with relevant stakeholders (policymakers, practitioners and programme administrators)4. Assess whether labour shortages post-Covid 19 are being leveraged to foster changes in business models to increase the sustainability of employment or whether policymakers are still wedded to a work-first agenda The research will take place over a 24 month period and will comprise three stages: first, a systematic review of evidence regarding regulatory initiatives and programme interventions in all three countries; second, a series of pilot interviews with policymakers and stakeholders regarding what they think is working, for whom and in what circumstances, and third, a series of case studies in selected localities. The project will benefit policymakers, labour market intermediaries, employers and those looking for work. This research complements and adds to existing and previous ESRC investments because of its strong comparative dimension, its focus on regulatory tools and legislation, and its analysis of standard setting activities by public authorities. These are new areas of research that will strengthen policy learning from the US/Australia in the field of employment and welfare policies.