Abstract
A survey was conducted among 768 migrant workers working in urban cities in China finding out about their experiences over ten types of workplace bullying measures. This paper examines how the ex-ante choices of migrant workers in their choice of which region to work in, choice of how long to stay in their company, choice of level of education to receive, choice to transfer their hukou to the city of their workplace, and also their choice to be educated in the labor law, impact the intensity of workplace bullying experienced. Except for knowledge of the labor law, all other choices lessen workplace bullying in some of these dimensions but increases workplace bullying in others. For those with Junior High qualifications and above, the consistent result is that migrants who are more familiar with the labor law, are able to experience less workplace bullying across most of the ten domains.
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Notes
Hukou is the household registration system of China which ties welfare of residents to their registered city/village address.
For a copy of the survey, feel free to contact the corresponding author.
This was to ensure that the researchers could verify that students had actually interviewed migrant workers. These photographs can be seen at http://s1339.photobucket.com/user/Migrant2013/slideshow/.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the 2013 Shandong University Faculty Grant (Grant No. 2013TB013) for funds for this research and I commend Ms Qiu Dan on excellent research assistance.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Correlation Coefficients of the Workplace Bullying Measures (768 obs)
HideInfo | Unappreciated | Overtime | NoLeave | VerbalAbuse | Overwork | WorkAbuse | NoPromotion | OwedSalary | AddedAllow | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
HideInfo | 1 | 0.2996 | 0.1592 | 0.1527 | 0.2605 | 0.1389 | 0.2028 | 0.3633 | 0.192 | −0.0587 |
Unappreciated | 1 | 0.2417 | 0.2806 | 0.331 | 0.2383 | 0.2534 | 0.3449 | 0.3544 | −0.0921 | |
Overtime | 1 | 0.3904 | 0.2173 | 0.3109 | 0.1806 | 0.2116 | 0.2101 | −0.0173 | ||
NoLeave | 1 | 0.257 | 0.3762 | 0.2447 | 0.2129 | 0.3235 | −0.1069 | |||
VerbalAbuse | 1 | 0.2094 | 0.5025 | 0.2966 | 0.3824 | −0.1678 | ||||
Overwork | 1 | 0.1547 | 0.1772 | 0.2214 | −0.0503 | |||||
WorkAbuse | 1 | 0.3633 | 0.5181 | −0.0696 | ||||||
NoPromotion | 1 | 0.3352 | 0.0156 | |||||||
OwedSalary | 1 | −0.1414 | ||||||||
AddedAllow | 1 |
Appendix 2: Survey Responses from the Labor Law Test
Question | Choices | % Correct | SD |
---|---|---|---|
1. Based on the labor law, must a company provide social security to you if you work for them? | X Yes | 0.7 | 0.46 |
____No | |||
2. Based on the labor law, if you have worked for an employer for 6 months without a contract and he pays you 500 yuan a month, how much more must he pay you? | ____0 | 0.29 | 0.46 |
____an extra 500 yuan | |||
____an extra 1000 yuan | |||
X an extra 3000 yuan | |||
3. If a firm gives an employee two 1 year contracts, and wants to give a third 1 year contract, is this legal in the new labor law? | ___Yes | 0.45 | 0.5 |
X No | |||
4. If an employer terminates your job suddenly without cause after you have worked for 3 years, based on the labor law, how much compensation must the company pay you? | ____0 | 0.46 | 0.5 |
____1 month’s pay | |||
X 3 month’s pay | |||
____6 month’s pay | |||
5. If a firm gives you 30 days notice that they will terminate your job, which of the following reasons is a legal reason for them to do so? | ____The firm does not suit your working style | 0.43 | 0.5 |
____You are unable to perform overtime | |||
X You have been sick and have not be able to perform your stipulated duties | |||
6. Based on labor laws, what is the maximum number of hours you can work a week before the company must pay you overtime compensation? | X 44 h | 0.39 | 0.49 |
____55 h | |||
____66 h | |||
____77 h | |||
7. Which of the following reasons is not illegal for a firm to terminate an employee? | ____A female employee is pregnant and has taken 2 months maternity leave | 0.84 | 0.37 |
____An employee has already worked for the firm for more than 15 years | |||
____An employee sustained an injury in the course of performing his work duties | |||
X An employee is found to be an alcoholic and is negligent towards his duties | |||
8. Based on the labor law, can a firm keep your National ID card? | ____Yes | 0.89 | 0.31 |
X No |
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Cheo, R. Migrant Workers and Workplace Bullying in Urban China. Soc Indic Res 132, 87–115 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1214-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1214-0