ABSTRACT
In 1890, the international trade union movement called for an international demonstration to demand an eight-hour day. But it was not until 1919, and the founding of the International Labour Organisation, that this was recognised. One current issue is the encroachment of work into non-working time. This can lead to additional stress and often leaves workers conducting unpaid labour. The rise of communications technology that enables to access emails or other work when not in the office means that the end of the working day can be an elastic concept. A related issue is the unpredictability of working hours, also enabled by new technological innovations, in particular scheduling systems and platforms that enable faster interactions between an employer and large groups of people. The rise of platform-based working seeks to follow the same strategy. Work is parcelled into ever smaller tasks, with workers only paid while it can be demonstrated that they are delivering profit for the company.
