Means of Control in the Organization of Digitally Intermediated Care Work

Paula McDonald, Penny Williams and Robyn Mayes
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Paula McDonald: Queensland University of Technology Business School, Australia
Penny Williams: Queensland University of Technology Business School, Australia
Robyn Mayes: Queensland University of Technology Business School, Australia

Work, Employment & Society, 2021, vol. 35, issue 5, 872-890

Abstract: Digital platforms that facilitate care work are new entrants to the intermediary marketplace and they are growing in number in response to rising demand for care services. This study examines, through the lens of labour process theory, the means of control utilized by digital platforms operating in Australia which organize and direct disability and aged care. The analysis of terms and conditions and website content reveals four means of control that influence the enactment of the labour process: Shifting risks and responsibilities from the platform to workers and clients; Apportioning the costs of doing business to workers; Dictating contractual arrangements; and Monitoring quality standards of service work. The findings advance knowledge of how power relations embedded in platform business models and the organization of work direct a precarious, freelance workforce. More broadly, the study demonstrates the explanatory power of labour process theory for understanding emergent forms of work and labour.

Keywords: aged care; control; digital platforms; disability; labour process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:woemps:v:35:y:2021:i:5:p:872-890

DOI: 10.1177/0950017020969107

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