IRLE Publications

UCLA’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment publications can also be found at eScholarship® which provides scholarly publishing and repository services that enable departments, research units, publishing programs, and individual scholars associated with the University of California to have direct control over the creation and dissemination of the full range of their scholarship. Learn more here.



More Than A Gig: A Survey of Ride-Hailing Drivers In Los Angeles

Saba Waheed, Lucero Herrera, Ana Luz Gonzalez-Vasquez, Janna Shadduck- Hernández, Tia Koonse, and David Leynov

May 18, 2018

Gig Economy, Publications, The Future of Work, Report

This report captures the reality of TNC drivers in the so-called “gig economy,” foregrounds the experience of drivers, and describes what this labor entails.

This analysis examines whether heat-related health outcomes occur more frequently in communities with higher proportions of residents working in construction, agriculture, and other outdoor industries.

This brief contrasts these “best practices” for economic development as well as Measure JJJ in Los Angeles City with the 2015 operating agreement between the City of Ontario and QVC, Inc.

The Key Role of Work in Population Health Inequities

Paul A. Landsbergis, BongKyoo Choi, Marnie Dobson, Grace Sembajwe, Craig Slatin, Linda Delp, Eduardo Siqueira, Peter Schnall and Sherry Baron

February 7, 2018

Labor and Occupational Safety, Publications, Paper

This essay explores why work is essential to understanding population-level health, why concepts and measures of work have been neglected in health inequities research, and how incorporating them into existing surveillance systems could expand opportunities to improve health inequity research and prevention.

Global Strategies for Improving Low-Wage Jobs

Chris Tilly, Pamela Izvanáriu, Françoise Carré, Peter Evans

May 8, 2017

Economic Justice, Global Research, Publications, Research Project

IRLE researchers are drawing lessons from case studies in the United States and around the world about what makes bad jobs bad, and strategies for improving them.

This report considers the top 200 theatrical film releases in 2015 and 1,206 broadcast, cable and digital platform television shows from the 2014-15 season in order to document the degree to which women and minorities are present in front of and behind the camera.

Media Contact

Dr. Ana-Christina Ramón, Director of Research and Civic Engagement for the Division of Social Sciences, at acramon@ss.ucla.edu

This report presents evidence at the economy-wide level of stasis in traditional proxy measures for independent contracting, such as the “self-employed, unincorporated” worker.

Profile, Practices and Needs of California’s Domestic Work Employers

Saba Waheed, Lucero Herrera, Reyna Orellana, Blake Valenta and Tia Koonse

May 16, 2016

Economic Justice, Labor and Occupational Safety, Publications, Report

This study provides demographic and household details, as well as an understanding of the employment practices and needs of domestic employers.

Get To Work or Go To Jail: Workplace Rights Under Threat

Noah Zatz, Tia Koonse, Theresa Zhen, Lucero Herrera, Han Lu, Steven Shafer, and Black Valenta

March 16, 2016

Black Employment, Economic Justice, Publications, Report

This report examines the effects of the criminal justice system when it compels labor from unincarcerated workers and locks people into bad jobs.

“Current Challenges to Workers and Unions in Brazil”

Roberto Véras de Oliveira

February 16, 2016

Global Research, Publications, Policy Brief

This brief undertakes the evaluation of challenges currently faced by workers and their unions in Brazil by placing the situation in a longer historical context.