La dignité au travail chez les employés atypiques
This study begins with a brief historical overview of the concept of dignity. Despite the multiple meanings given to the notion of dignity over time, a clear duality appears between definitions that privilege the intrinsic, inalienable nature of dignity and those that attribute dignity according to the quality of an individual's actions. While dignity at work has received far less scholarly attention, the emergent literature replicates the same dichotomy that is found in studies of dignity. The question of dignity at work is particularly important for atypical employees who, due to their precarious status, are especially vulnerable to workplace indignity. Surprisingly, atypical workers, a category that includes seasonal workers, temporary workers, workers on short-term contracts, and permanent part-timers, remain on the sidelines of much academic research, despite constant growth in their numbers as a proportion of the Canadian labour market since the late 1990s. The importance of studying dignity at work appears clearly in the following conundrum: how can we understand dignity at work when dignity implies that one recognizes the unique value of every human person based on his/her autonomy to choose his/her own ends, yet the context of work requires that workers commit themselves to attaining objectives imposed by someone else?   Using an interpretive methodology to explore the meanings of dignity at work, this study is based on semi-structured interviews with twelve atypical employees. The findings show how participants reconciled the duality between being and doing as a source of dignity. Participants added three other dimensions that are not present in the extant literature: interaction, work systems, and time. These five dimensions are combined to create a typology of dignity at work that is specific to atypical employees. Interaction acts as a core concept that links all of the other dimensions together. The organization of work systems and the ephemeral status of atypical employees work together to trivialize workplace practices that undermine the dignity of atypical employees, who come to perceive their situation as a rite of passage to be endured while waiting for a better future.
Méritocratie Respect Dignity Dignity at work Atypical employees Temporary employees Autonomy Meritocracy Recognition Respect Rite of passage Work status