An analysis of the California Work and Health Survey indicates that people with disabilities have lower employment rates and less secure kinds of employment than those without disabilities. Once on the job, the two groups do not differ fundamentally in their working conditions. (Contains 19 notes and references.) (Author/JOW)

Flexible work hours have gained prominence, as more than 25 million workers (27.6% of all full-time workers) can now vary their schedules. However, there has been little change since the mid-1980s in the proportion who work a shift other than a regular daytime shift. (JOW)

Examines the age distribution of injured workers relative to their exposure by industry and occupation; and looks at injury characteristics and costs associated with the age of the injured worker. Data indicate that occupational injuries occur at a lower rate to older workers than to younger ones. (CT)

Trends in employment, occupations, output, and input provide evidence that firms increased their use of contract and contingent labor. Further research is needed to explore the causal factors behind the shift toward market-mediated work arrangements. (JOW)

Based on data from the supplement to the February 1995 Current Population Survey, contingent workers were more likely to be female, black, young, enrolled in school, and employed in services and construction industries than were noncontingent workers. More than 10% were teachers. (Author)

Job risk patterns do not vary with age for temporary disabilities, but workers 65 and older are more likely to suffer permanent disabilities and fatalities; age effects are robust to controls for industry and occupations. (Author)

Explores the effect of contingent and alternative employment on individuals' positions in the labor market. Examines the importance of these arrangements and investigates the preferences of contingent and alternative workers regarding their arrangements and their reasons for being in that type of employment arrangement. (JOW)

Noneconomic factors such as level of education, job flexibility in work hours, and physical stress appear to influence older women's labor force participation resulting in many retired women who are employed. Some women classified as retired work nearly as many hours as those employed, although many employed older women work part time. (Contains…

A new measure of work time correlates well with the standard self-reported workweek method. However, a closer look reveals that reference periods (last week versus last year) have an impact on some workers in the distribution. (Author)

This report provides a description and some analysis of noninstitutionalized disabled persons aged 20 to 64. Emphasis is on labor force behavior, including amounts of work, occupational distribution, and wage rates. Defines disability and discusses characteristics of the disabled, wage rates, and disability and deprivation. (CT)

Discusses the definitions of contingent workers and alternative work arrangements used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to analyze data, and presents aggregate estimates of the number of workers in each group. Discusses the overlap between contingent workers and workers in alternative arrangements. (Author/JOW)

Discusses the alternative arrangements of four groups of workers: (1) independent contractors; (2) temporary help agency workers; (3) employees of contract companies; and (4) on-call workers. (JOW)

Drug testing continues to develop as a popular strategy to control substance abuse in the workplace. The incidence of testing is partially based on the type of worksite, characteristics of employees, and policies of the company. (Author)

Summarizes a Bureau of Labor Statistics paper on what is and is not known about the extent and cost of training in the United States. Includes information on studies of the effects of training and discusses the need for a broad-based survey of employer-provided training. (JOW)

A review of 17 studies of high-performance work systems concludes that benefits of employee involvement, skill training, and other high-performance work practices tend to be greater when new methods are adopted as part of a consistent whole. (Author)