A Measure of Decent Work

ACCELL has partnered with other researchers to establish an international benchmark measure of “decent work”. We wish to better understand your experiences of decent work as it relates to where you live.

Please support our research by completing the Online Survey.

The notion of “decent work” refers to fair, safe, and equitable conditions of employment as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This project will contribute to that international study and also explore a range of factors, such as psychological flexibility, career adaptability, decent work, meaningfulness of work, work engagement, place attachment, and job satisfaction, that influence the wellbeing and retention of workers in non-metropolitan areas of Australia.

Thank you for your interest in this research project, which is part of a larger, international study by ACCELL, whereby teams from different countries are working together to develop an international version of the Decent Work Scale (Duffy et al., 2017).

Participation

We would great value your participation, which will involve the completion of a survey that will take a maximum of 15 minutes of your time. The survey is anonymous and your participation is entirely voluntary.

If you do not wish to take part, you are not obliged to. If you decide to take part and later change your mind, you are free to withdraw from the project at any stage. Please note, that if you wish to withdraw from the project after you have submitted your responses, the Research Team are unable to remove your data from the project because your survey responses are anonymous. If you do wish to withdraw from this project, please contact a member of the research team (contact details at the top of the form). Please know that your decision to withdraw from the project will have no effect on your relationship with USQ or the research team.

Expected Benefits

It is expected that this project may not have direct or immediate individual benefits for you. However, in the long-term, the larger research project on the Decent Work Scale will enable policy-makers, bodies that represent employers (e.g., business councils) and employees (e.g., unions) to learn about “decent work” and how to support and create “decent work” in their communities. This knowledge has potential benefits to the community in the form of improved policies and practices that impact on workers. Your responses to this survey will also assist policy-makers, industry bodies, and researchers to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence employee wellbeing and retention in non-urban areas of Australia.

Risks

There are no anticipated risks beyond normal day-to-day living associated with your participation in this project. Questions may unintentionally trigger discomfort. If this situation arises, we recommend visiting your local doctor and discussing your concerns or ringing a telephone counselling service, such as Lifeline (ph. 13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (ph. 1300 22 46 36).

Privacy and Confidentiality

The information you provide will be kept private, secure and strictly confidential. Information will be stored securely as per the University of Southern Queensland’s Research Data Management Policy.

Consent to Participate

Only persons 18 years of age or older may consent to participate. Clicking on the ‘Submit’ button at the conclusion of the questionnaire is accepted as an indication of your consent to participate in this project. Clicking ‘Submit’ also indicates that you have read and understood the information about the project.

Questions or Further Information about the Project

Should you have any questions regarding the progress or conduct of this research, you can contact the project supervisor Dr Nancey Hoare on 07 4631 1740.

After all data have been analysed and formally reported in academic journals, the de-identified anonymous data set may be made available to other researchers by request of those involved in the larger international team.

At the completion of the project, the team will disseminate a summary of the findings through avenues, such as jounal publications, conferences, and reports and commentaries to government and non-government organisations with an interest in decent work and the wellbeing and retention of workers in non-metropolitan areas of Australia. If you would like a summary of the results from this project once it is completed, please contact a member of the research team.

Concerns or Complaints Regarding the Conduct of the Project

If you have any concerns or complaints about the ethical conduct of the project you may contact the University of Southern Queensland Ethics Coordinator on (07) 4631 2690 or email ethics@usq.edu.au. The Ethics Coordinator is not connected with the research project and can facilitate a resolution to your concern in an unbiased manner.

If you have any questions about the study please contact Louisa Hall or Shannon Munday on 0431148343 or email louisa.c.mason@gmail.com. For technical concerns or difficulties accessing the survey please contact Ken Askin, University of Southern Queensland, at askin@usq.edu.au.