Legal Avoidance and the Restructuring of Work

Publication Title

The Structuring of Work in Organizations (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 47)

Editor

Lisa E. Cohen, M. Diane Burton, & Michael Lounsbury

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Publication Date

2016

Abstract

This essay posits that legal avoidance - employers' search for forms of employment to which labor and employment laws do not apply - is an important driver of the restructuring of work. It examines three examples of restructuring that enable employers to avoid legal liability and compliance costs: the classification of workers as independent contractors; the use of part-time and variable-schedule work; and employers' deskilling of jobs and reliance on vulnerable workers. None of these strategies is itself unlawful, but their impact is to limit workers' legal protections and weaken the law itself. Employers may also experience unintended consequences of restructuring.

Recommended Citation

Charlotte S. Alexander, Legal Avoidance and the Restructuring of Work, in The Structuring of Work Organizations (Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 47) 311 (Lisa E. Cohen, M. Diane Burton, & Michael Lounsbury, eds. 2016).

DOI

10.1108/S0733-558X20160000047022

First Page

311

Last Page

331

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