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Brian William Halpin

Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, University of California, Davis
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About Brian

Halpin's research interests focus on low-wage work and workers, low-wage labor markets, and the reproduction of social and economic inequality. Current research explores how low-wage workers weather the precarious economy exploring how they manage risk, uncertainty, and the unpredictable nature of low-wage employment. 

Contributions

How Precarious Scheduling Hurts Workers - And What Can be Done to Mitigate Problems

  • Savannah Marie Hunter

Publications

"Employment Management Work: A Case Study and Theoretical Framework " (with Vicki Smith). Work and Occupations 44, no. 4 (2017): 339-375.

Analyzes the employment management strategies of low-wage workers to highlight the various forms of unpaid labor workers necessarily engage in to find and maintain employment. Uses a comparative framework to theorize how these strategies converge and diverge across class lines.

"Subject to Change Without Notice: Mock Schedules and Flexible Employment in the United States" Social Problems 62, no. 3 (2015): 419-438.

Examines the use of undocumented workers in conjunction with flexible scheduling practices in the food service industry. Centers on scheduling manipulation as a mode of workplace control.

"Low-Wage Work Uncertainty often Traps Low-Wage Workers," (with Victoria Smith), Center for Poverty Research, forthcoming.

Examines the employment situation of low-wage immigrant workers. The findings suggest that the conditions and uncertainty of low-wage often traps low-wage workers.