Comparisons of the Impact of Employment Contract and

Comparisons of the Impact of Employment Contract and Gender on Psychological Contracts • Kerstin Isaksson, • National Institute for Working Life, Sweden • & Moshe Krausz, • Bar Ilan University, Israel Kerstin Isaksson

Theoretical background • Employment contract related to transactional or relational PC (Rousseau) • Dimensions of the PC (e. g. range, duration, volition) more relevant • Gender differences in PCs are poorly investigated Kerstin Isaksson

Research questions • How does degree of job permanency (permanent, fixed term, or hourly employment) affect the content of the PC, the degree of contract fulfilment and the state? • The role of volition ? • Gender differences in PCs ? Kerstin Isaksson

Hypotheses • A higher degree of job permanency will be related to a wider PC in terms of content • No difference in relation to fulfilment and state (org. climate more important) • Women in fixed term/hourly contracts will have a more narrow PC (interaction effects). • Volition is assumed to have a moderating role (interaction effects Kerstin Isaksson

Sample • Selection of from 7 countries, three sectors aiming to find a variation in degree of contract permanency to test questionnaire • Not random and non-representative, • This study: the three most common contract forms (n=1517), 66% female – 74% permanent, 22% fixed term, 4% day/hour – 37% health care sector, 20% retail sector, 18% temp. help, 25% other Kerstin Isaksson

Measures (employee perspective) • Content of PC Has your organization promised or committed itself…. (yes/no) (7 dimensions of employer promises, 5 for employees) • Range - number of promises perceived by employees • Contract fulfilment. - For each item “To what extent has this promise or commitment been kept? (Scale 1 -7) • State of the PC (8 items) • Volition (3 items) • + controls: age, gender, education, job tenure, weekly work hours) Kerstin Isaksson

Results • Employees on permanent contracts are generally older, with longer tenure and weekly work hours • Permanent employment positively related to range of the contract but not to delivery of the deal • Gender differences on the employee side Kerstin Isaksson

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Factors explaining variation in range (=number of promises) • Employer promises • Employee promises – Permanent/hourly contract – Voluntary choice – Weekly work hours – Organizational climate Kerstin Isaksson – Permanent/fixed term contract – Gender (women wider) – Education (low education - wider)

Factors explaining variation in fulfilment and state of the PC Kerstin Isaksson

Conclusions • Degree of contract permanency has an effect on both range, contract fulfilment and state of the PC (permanent employment positive for range but negative for evaluation) • Organizational climate significant for evaluation of state+fulfilment by employers • Volition, significant direct effect • Women report a wider range of employee promises Kerstin Isaksson

Discussion • Degree of job permanency has a positive effect on the PC in terms of range, content differences in dimensions of the PC need more investigation • Volition critical for employer side of PC but not employee? • Gender differences not in range but in profile? • Proportion of variance explained was very low (310%), missing factors? • Sample limitations ? Kerstin Isaksson