

“To understand this, you could draw an analogy to a classroom,” explained researcher Jean Fox Tree. When one voice tends to dominate all conversations, this can create an exclusionary environment that makes it more difficult for others to share or feel engaged. But by creating time to talk about things unrelated to the project, everyone involved can feel like their voice is heard, which makes the whole experience more enjoyable. This dynamic can create an imbalance in conversations when the designated leader speaks more than others. This is important when thinking of work-related projects because usually one employee has a leading role over one or more other employees. When small talk was balanced with task-related talk, participants reported enjoying the task more. They learned that having reciprocity in interactions, which allows both parties to contribute equally to a conversation, is what yielded the best results. The researchers were most interested in understanding how often the participants were talking strictly about the task at hand versus how often the conversation veered to unrelated topics. The source has transcripts from nearly 70 different art walks, which required someone in a lab to virtually instruct someone else walking around Santa Cruz on where to look for specific pieces of art to be photographed. Santa Cruz dataset known as the Artwalk Corpus. To understand how the small talk can benefit workers, the researchers analyzed data from a U.C. So this research highlights the importance of perhaps trying to institute moments throughout the day with unstructured chat time.” Creating reciprocity in conversations Everything is structured, and everything is essentially a task nowadays. “You’re not talking to coworkers at their desks or in the hall. “An average workday now is getting the team together into a virtual meeting, where there’s a very clear goal and task,” said researcher Andrew Guydish. “That would dramatically narrow worker protections…in the jobs that particularly need them, including construction, agriculture, janitorial and delivery jobs.”Ĭreating a positive environment at work is key to employees’ happiness and job performance, and now a new study conducted by researchers from the University of California at Santa Cruz has explored how coworkers can gain the most from simple small talk.Īccording to their findings, making time for small talk between employees that’s unrelated from work-related business can lead to better outcomes in the workplace and also make employees enjoy their tasks more.
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“The rule gives license to employers to call most of their workers independent contractors,” said Catherine Ruckelshaus, general counsel at the National Employment Law Project.

The National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit labor rights group, called the rule a “narrowing” of the standards.

“We appreciate the efforts made to modernize our nation’s laws.”īut labor rights groups have already voiced opposition to the plan. “Forcing a binary choice upon workers-to either be an employee with more benefits but with less flexibility, or an independent contractor with limited protections-is outdated,” Danielle Burr, Uber Technologies Inc.’s head of federal affairs, told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The ride-hailing firm has argued that flexible work is a key reason people choose to work for gig-economy companies. Over the years, Uber has strongly advocated to preserve workers’ independent contractor status. Once inaugurated, Biden could decide to change the rule or choose not to defend it in the event that it’s challenged in court. The Biden administration hasn’t said how it plans to handle the bill. The rule isn’t set to take effect until March 8, well after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The federal rule “respects the time-honored American tradition of being your own boss,” Deputy Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella said. Under the finalized version of the rule, the Labor Department has made it more difficult for “gig-economy companies” to count workers as employees. On Wednesday, the Trump administration released its final version of a rule that clarifies the difference between independent contractors and employees who can claim benefits.
