The new psychological contrac: Implications of the changing workplace for labor and employment law

In this article, the profound changes that are occurring in the employment relationship in the US are described. Firms are dismantling their internal labor markets and abandoning their implicit promises of orderly promotion and long-term job security. No longer is employment centered on a single, pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:UCLA law review 2001-02, Vol.48 (3), p.519
Main Author: Stone, Katherine V W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Corporate culture
Employees
Employment
Employment contracts
Employment security
Human capital
Labor law
Occupational mobility
Psychological aspects
Social conditions & trends
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Summary:In this article, the profound changes that are occurring in the employment relationship in the US are described. Firms are dismantling their internal labor markets and abandoning their implicit promises of orderly promotion and long-term job security. No longer is employment centered on a single, primary employer. Instead, employees operate in a boundaryless workplace in which they expect to move frequently between firms, and between divisions within firms, throughout their working lives. At the same time, employers and employees have a new understanding of their mutual obligations, a new psychological contract, in which expectations of job security and promotional opportunities have been replaced by expectations of employability, training, human capital development, and networking opportunities. The changes in the nature of the employment relationship have many implications for labor and employment regulation. This article discusses the implications of the new workplace for three issues that are problematic in the new workplace: ownership of human capital, employment discrimination, and employee representation.
ISSN:0041-5650
1943-1724