Controlling routine front line service workers: an Australian retail supermarket case

Robin Price

Work, Employment & Society, 2016, vol. 30, issue 6, 915-931

Abstract: Food retail is known for its use of flexible labour and for the centralisation of functions at head office, resulting in a reduction of managerial autonomy at store level. This article employs a typology of controls developed from labour process scholarship to explore how retail managers negotiate the control of their predominantly part-time workforce. Using an Australian supermarket chain as a case, and mixed methods, the article demonstrates that supermarkets use a multiplicity of forms of control across their workforce. For front line service workers, the article identifies a new configuration of controls which intersects with employment status and acts differentially for checkout operators on different employment contracts.

Keywords: checkouts; control; flexible labour; labour process; labour use strategies; part-time work; retail supermarkets; routine frontline service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:30:y:2016:i:6:p:915-931

DOI: 10.1177/0950017015601778

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