Workers’ Voice From The Triangular Employment Relationship Lens: Towards A Conceptual Framework

Purpose – This paper examines the circumstantial state of mediated work to develop a conceptual framework exemplifying the determinants of voice of workers in triangular employment relationships. These workers are in work context involving two or more firms – agency/platform and clients/client firms.

Design/methodology/approach – Paralleling employee voice research in the triangular employment relationship context, we theorised the influencing forces at four levels to propose 12 distinct antecedents of triangular workers’ voice. External level (2) – legal employer ambiguity and legal regulation and protection; employment context level (3) – availability and presence, assignment duration, and autonomy; firm level (3) – institutional complexity, cost and control, governance structure conflicts; individual level (4) – perceived relative equity, voice skill, self-identity, transition opportunity.

Findings – The triangular workers’ voice determinants framework provides a comprehensive outlook on how the external, employment context, firm and individual forces influence voice of workers in triangular employment relationships.

Research limitations/implications – Emanating from the framework are propositions that can be empirically tested for validation. Hence, as with conceptual papers, this paper is limited by non-empirical testing.

Practical implications – Managers of workers in these employment relationships should be cognizant of the different levels of forces that can influence their voice.
Originality/value – This paper contributes to the employee voice literature by presenting a four-level framework that demonstrate a holistic view of how voice of workers in triangular employment relationships is influenced.