Taking worker productivity to a new level? Electronic Monitoring in homecare - the (re)production of unpaid labour

Sian, Moore and Hayes, Lydia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4602-9194 2017. Taking worker productivity to a new level? Electronic Monitoring in homecare - the (re)production of unpaid labour. New Technology Work and Employment 32 (2) , pp. 101-114. 10.1111/ntwe.12087

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Abstract

This article explores the use of Electronic Monitoring (EM) in homecare and its impact on the ratio of paid and unpaid working time. It argues that whilst Zero Hours Contracts (ZHCs) blur the distinction between paid and unpaid labour, the introduction of EM can formalise and monitor the demarcation between the two. In the context of local authority commissioning and constrained budgets the combination of EM and ZHC’s may excise so-called ‘unproductive’ but available labour from homecare. In particular the minute-by-minute commissioning of care that EM facilitates means the cost of homecare is anchored in the time that worker’s spend in client’s houses, squeezing out paid travel, time between visits, training and supervision. Paid working time is minimised whilst maximising the use of unpaid time between visits with resulting intensification of care labour.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Law
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
ISSN:	0268-1072
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	5 May 2017
Date of Acceptance:	2 May 2017
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2024 23:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/100348

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