Labour casualization and the psychosocial health of workers in Australia

Michael McGann, Kevin White and Jeremy Moss
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Michael McGann: The University of Melbourne, Australia
Kevin White: The Australian National University, Australia
Jeremy Moss: The University of New South Wales, Australia

Work, Employment & Society, 2016, vol. 30, issue 5, 766-782

Abstract: This article presents the results of a qualitative study of 72 workers in regional Victoria, Australia. Against the background of the growing casualization of the workforce it demonstrates the impact on the health and well-being of these workers, focusing on the intersection between psychosocial working conditions and health. In particular it focuses on the detrimental impact on workers’ sense of self-efficacy and self-esteem. It emphasizes how the job insecurity characteristic of non-standard work extends beyond the fear of job loss to involve uncertainty over the scheduling of work, with debilitating consequences for workers’ autonomy, self-efficacy and control over their lives. Additionally, it is argued that the exclusion of these workers from paid leave and other entitlements in the workplace confers a lower social status on these workers that is corrosive of their self-esteem. It is these key socio-psychological mechanisms that provide the link between insecure work and workers’ health.

Keywords: Australia; health; psychosocial; rural; work (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:30:y:2016:i:5:p:766-782

DOI: 10.1177/0950017016633022

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