A glossary for the social epidemiology of work organisation: Part 3, Terms from the sociology of labour markets

Abstract

Contingent employment refers to work with unpredictable hours or of limited duration.^9,10 Work may be unpredictable because jobs are structured to be of short term or temporary, or because the hours vary in unpredictable ways. The US Bureau of Labour Statistics has adopted the first part of this definition, short-term or temporary work contracts, as its definition of contingent employment, and has considered the second part, unpredictably variable hours, as an alternative employment arrangement, a strategy for increasing the flexibility of work assignments.¹¹ Workers are in contingent employment when they are working on limited-duration contracts, working through temporary work agencies or on call. One form of particular interest is the development of firms specialising in the placement of temporary workers. This industry has grown dramatically in recent years and was a substantial proportion of job growth in the US in the 1990s.¹² Some self-employed workers may be considered to …