č. 2/2009 - Výzkumný ústav práce a sociálních věcí

Summaries of selected articles
Long-term Reforms of Welfare and Governance - p. 2
The social states of Europe are in a long-term process of
transformation linked to changes in the basic characteristics
of society. The revolutionary period of transition from
industrial to post-industrial society in European social states
necessitated the creation of new forms of governance and
methods of managing and administrating public policies. The
summary paper looks at welfare reforms. It identifies the
main types of reforms that can be observed in present-day
Europe and examines their possible links to the social state
systems they are taking place under. To conclude the paper,
the features of the governance model built on three
interlinked tiers are mentioned.
Keywords: social state, welfare reform, new public
management, governance
The Czech Labour Market from the Point of View of Selected
Forms of Flexibility and Quality of Working Life - p. 5
In this paper we look at current labour market developments
concerning atypical forms of work relations, time and
nominal flexibility and the quality of work. To this end we
draw on the „Labour Force Survey“ for 2004–2007. Using its
data we document areas of the substance of work activities,
forms of work relations and job stability, the use of parttime
work and second jobs, the customary working week
and overtime and the specific temporal and spatial
arrangement of work. Just 8.5% of workers perform parttime
work; we find a slightly higher percentage among
groups with an increased risk of marginalisation on the
labour market. At the same time, the relatively long duration
of work relations, which is also substantially influenced by
workers' age, is confirmed. Though relatively small overall,
the proportion of part-time work is greater and increasing
among the specific categories of the disabled and mothers
of children under 7 years of age. Despite a slight fall in the
past ten years the average number of hours worked per
week remains relatively high in the Czech Republic. Longer
hours are usually found in management professions, in
certain blue-collar professions and among younger
respondents (especially men). The proportion of workers
working in „non-standard“ time arrangements (e.g. shift
work or work on weekends) is also relatively high. In
a number of areas (especially the scheduling of work) the
Czech labour market appears considerably flexible, but job
stability is relatively high and the proportion of temporary
work contracts is small. One reason for this may be the
considerable emphasis that workers in the Czech Republic
place on job certainty.
Keywords: labour market, atypical employment, flexibility,
quality of work
Flexible Work Arrangements as a Tool for Balancing Working
and Family Life - p. 14
The flexibility of labour and the flexibility of the labour market as
a whole, or segments thereof, have become a topic of recent
debate. In this paper we ask the following questions: to what
extent do flexible job arrangements make it easier to strike
a good balance between caring for children and paid
employment and what are the consequences of the use of these
arrangements in the corporate environment Using a case study
of a food processing company we demonstrate the individual
experiences of mothers of dependent children with flexible
working arrangements. When analysing the semi-structured
interviews we focus on the status of those who use an
alternative work arrangement in the corporate structure. The
interviews reveal negative consequences of the insufficient
protection afforded to employees practising alternative working
arrangements. Pressure to deliver good results and long hours
spent in the workplace put those not working in standard
arrangements in a marginalised role. In the light of this analysis
it would seem that flexible work arrangements in the Czech
Republic are only positively reflected in an increased quantity of
jobs but not in the quality of jobs.
Keywords: flexible work arrangement, flexicurity, work/life balance,
employers, corporate culture, gender and the labour market
Supplemental Pension Insurance is Unsellable Without State
Contributions - p. 23
In the Czech Republic, the creation of supplemental pension
insurance with a state contribution - at the government's
injunction - had a specific political and ideological background
expressed by the marketing term „the civic principle“. It
constituted the rejection of state support for the system of
corporate pension provision, or today's „institutions for
occupational retirement provision“. The legislation on
supplemental pension insurance needlessly complicates Czech
law; since the Czech Republic's accession to the EU it has
conflicted with EU directives on life assurance. Supplemental
pension insurance reforms have been and remain controlled
by a lobby. The product has the highest state appropriation in
the world, but over the long term the average actual additional
value received by clients is zero. „Home saving“ competes
with supplemental pension insurance for appropriations and
(non-) sales. The reform of home saving was an exemplary
form of „easy money“ for building societies. The work
underway to reform supplemental pension insurance is a very
complicated attempt to continue with „easy money“ for
a limited number of financial groups.
Keywords: supplemental pension insurance, occupational
pensions, pension saving, home saving, insurance law, EU
pension directives.