Work or labor ( labour in British English) is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics , work can be viewed as the human activity that contributes (along with other factors of production ) towards the goods and services within an economy .
111-474: Work has existed in all human societies, either as paid or unpaid work , from gathering natural resources by hand in hunter-gatherer groups to operating complex technologies that substitute for physical or even mental effort within an agricultural , industrial , or post-industrial society . All but the simplest tasks in any work require specific skills , tools , and other resources, such as material for manufacturing goods. Humanity has developed
222-434: A PDA or smartphone . Virtual volunteering is also known as cyber service, telementoring, and teletutoring, as well as various other names. Virtual volunteering is similar to remote work , except that instead of online employees who are paid, these are online volunteers who are not paid. Contributing to free and open source software projects or editing Misplaced Pages are examples of virtual volunteering. Micro-volunteering
333-591: A career . Throughout history, work has been intimately connected with other aspects of society and politics , such as power , class , tradition , rights , and privileges . Accordingly, the division of labour is a prominent topic across the social sciences as both an abstract concept and a characteristic of individual cultures. Work may also present a threat to individual human happiness and survival, either through dirty, dangerous, and demeaning occupations or in extreme cases, from death by overwork . Some people have also engaged in critique of work and expressed
444-805: A corporate entity, the same workers can claim a larger share of the value created by their labor. While a union does require workers to sacrifice some autonomy in relation to their coworkers, it can grant workers more control over the work process itself in addition to material benefits. The need for planning and coordination extends beyond individual organizations to society as a whole too. Every successful work project requires effective resource allocation to provide necessities, materials, and investment (such as equipment and facilities). In smaller, traditional societies, these aspects can be mostly regulated through custom , though as societies grow, more extensive methods become necessary. These complex institutions, however, still have roots in common human activities. Even
555-422: A deposit may be required before services are performed, which acts as a part pre-payment or as security to the service provider. In some cases, progress payments are made in advance, and in some cases part payments are accepted, which do not extinguish the payer's legal obligations. The acceptance of a payment by the payee extinguishes a debt or other obligation. A creditor cannot unreasonably refuse to accept
666-477: A family setting, like parenting or housekeeping . In some cases, the distinction between work and other activities is simply a matter of common sense within a community. However, an alternative view is that labeling any activity as work is somewhat subjective, as Mark Twain expressed in the "whitewashed fence" scene of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . Humans have varied their work habits and attitudes over time. As humans are diurnal , they work mainly during
777-444: A legal obligation or philanthropy desire . The party making the payment is commonly called the payer , while the payee is the party receiving the payment. Whilst payments are often made voluntarily, some payments are compulsory, such as payment of a fine . Payments can be effected in a number of ways, for example: In general, payees are at liberty to determine what method of payment they will accept; though normally laws require
888-468: A natural disaster . The verb was first recorded in 1755. It was derived from the noun volunteer , in c. 1600, "one who offers himself for military service," from the Middle French voluntaire . In the non-military sense, the word was first recorded during the 1630s. The word volunteering has more recent usage—still predominantly military—coinciding with the phrase community service . In
999-541: A work ethic where work itself is seen as virtuous. For example, German sociologist Max Weber hypothesized that European capitalism originated in a Protestant work ethic , which emerged with the Reformation . Many Christian theologians appeal to the Old Testament 's Book of Genesis in regards to work. According to Genesis 1 , human beings were created in the image of God , and according to Genesis 2, Adam
1110-469: A "most valuable analysis" of the correct contractual construction of such payments. An initial up-front partial payment for the purchase of an expensive items or service is often referred to as a " down payment "; this is also called a deposit in British English . A payment may involve more than two parties. For example, a pre-paid card transaction usually involves four parties: the purchaser,
1221-435: A certain period in institutions like hospitals, schools, memorial sites and welfare institutions. The difference to other types of volunteering is that there are strict legal regulations, what organisation is allowed to engage volunteers and about the period a volunteer is allowed to work in a voluntary position. Due to that fact, the volunteer is getting a limited amount as a pocket money from the government. Organizations having
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#17327655751531332-519: A charity of their choice." A majority of the companies at the Fortune 500 allow their employees to volunteer during work hours. These formalized Employee Volunteering Programs (EVPs), also called Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV), are regarded as a part of the companies' sustainability efforts and their social responsibility activities. About 40% of Fortune 500 companies provide monetary donations , also known as volunteer grants , to nonprofits as
1443-413: A group, improve teamwork and relational skills, reduce stereotypes , and increases appreciation of other cultures. Students participating in service-learning programs are shown to have more positive attitudes toward self, attitudes toward school and learning, civic engagement, social skills, and academic performance. They are also more likely to complete their degree. Volunteers are observed to have
1554-554: A highly-repetitive set of simple actions, like in mass manufacturing , complex machines can carry out much of the effort. The workers present will focus on more complex tasks, operating controls, or performing maintenance . Over several millennia, invention , scientific discovery , and engineering principles have allowed humans to proceed from creating simple machines that merely redirect or amplify force , through engines for harnessing supplementary power sources, to today's complex, regulated systems that automate many steps within
1665-403: A hostile workplace. Particularly intense forms of manual labor often lead workers to develop physical strength necessary for their job. However, this activity does not necessarily improve a worker's overall physical fitness like exercise , due to problems like overwork or a small set of repetitive motions. In these physical jobs, maintaining good posture or movements with proper technique
1776-535: A large role in modern Hinduism. This is because a key concept in Hinduism is liberation ( Moksha ) from the cycle of births and deaths ( Saṃsāra ) , and sadhana is the effort one makes to strive for liberation, highlighting the importance of service to others. In Sikhism , the word seva also means "to worship, to adore, to pay homage through the act of love." In the writings of Sikh gurus , these two meanings of seva (service and worship) have been merged. Seva
1887-533: A military context, a volunteer army is a military body whose soldiers chose to enter service, as opposed to having been conscripted. Such volunteers do not work "for free" and are given regular pay. During this time, America experienced the Great Awakening . People became aware of the disadvantaged and realized the cause for movement against slavery. In 1851, the first YMCA in the United States
1998-512: A narrow range of jobs, inherited from parent to child. In serfdom , a peasant has more rights than a slave but is attached to a specific piece of land and largely under the power of the landholder , even requiring permission to physically travel outside the land-holding. How institutions play out in individual workers' lives can be complex too; in most societies where wage-labor predominates, workers possess equal rights by law and mobility in theory. Without social support or other resources, however,
2109-424: A number of smaller hand-tools, designed to be held and operated by a single person, often without supplementary power . This is especially true when tasks can be handled by one or a few workers, do not require significant physical power, and are somewhat self-paced, like in many services or handicraft manufacturing. For other tasks needing large amounts of power, such as in the construction industry, or involving
2220-435: A particular goal. Because sustained effort is a necessary part of many human activities, what qualifies as work is often a matter of context. Specialization is one common feature that distinguishes work from other activities. For example, a sport is a job for a professional athlete who earns their livelihood from it, but a hobby for someone playing for fun in their community. An element of advance planning or expectation
2331-401: A payment, but payment can be refused in some circumstances, for example, on a Sunday or outside banking hours. A payee is usually obligated to acknowledge payment by producing a receipt to the payer. A receipt may be an endorsement on an account as "paid in full". The giving of a guarantee or other security for a debt does not constitute a payment. The root word "pay" in "payment" comes from
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#17327655751532442-440: A personal level. Despite having similar objectives, tension can arise between volunteers and state-provided services. In order to curtail this tension, most countries develop policies and enact legislation to clarify the roles and relationships among governmental stakeholders and their voluntary counterparts; this regulation identifies and allocates the necessary legal, social, administrative, and financial support of each party. This
2553-474: A powerful means of preparing students to become more caring and responsible parents and citizens and of helping colleges and universities to make good on their pledge to 'serve society.'" When describing service learning, the Medical Education at Harvard says, "Service learning unites academic study and volunteer community service in mutually reinforcing ways. ...service learning is characterized by
2664-483: A range of activities including environmental monitoring , ecological restoration such as re-vegetation and weed removal, protecting endangered animals, and educating others about the natural environment. Volunteering often plays a pivotal role in the recovery effort following natural disasters, such as tsunamis, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and earthquakes. For example, the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake in Japan
2775-444: A reduced mortality risk compared to non-volunteers. Therefore, it is worth noting that the various types of work as a volunteer and psychological effects of such altruistic work may produce enough side-effects to contribute to a longer and more fulfilling life. A systematic review shows that adults over age of 65 years who volunteer may experience improved physical and mental health and potentially reduced mortality. A worldwide survey
2886-412: A relationship of partnership: the student learns from the service agency and from the community and, in return, gives energy, intelligence, commitment, time and skills to address human and community needs." Volunteering in service learning seems to have the result of engaging both mind and heart, thus providing a more powerful learning experience; according to Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, it succeeds by
2997-525: A result of urbanization and industrialization , is unemployment . While the shift from a subsistence economy usually increases the overall productivity of society and lifts many out of poverty , it removes a baseline of material security from those who cannot find employment or other support. Governments have tried a range of strategies to mitigate the problem, such as improving the efficiency of job matching , conditionally providing welfare benefits or unemployment insurance , or even directly overriding
3108-491: A result of automation and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence . For some, work may hold a spiritual value in addition to any secular notions. Especially in some monastic or mystical strands of several religions , simple manual labor may be held in high regard as a way to maintain the body, cultivate self-discipline and humility, and focus the mind. The contemporary world economy has brought many changes, overturning some previously widespread labor issues. At
3219-485: A school system. Whether one is a high school or TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) graduate or college student, most schools require just voluntary and selfless effort. Much like the benefits of any type of volunteering there are great rewards for the volunteer, student, and school. In addition to intangible rewards, volunteers can add relevant experience to their resumes. Volunteers who travel to assist may learn foreign culture and language. "Volunteering can give
3330-420: A sense of moral superiority makes it possible that for parties with different values, goals and cultures to work together in promoting the promotion of volunteering. Thus the voluntary service organizations are likely to win the trust and support of the masses as well as the government more easily than will the organizations whose morals are not accepted by mainstream society. In other words, Moral Resource II helps
3441-400: A sense, because of it", because work is something that corresponds to man's dignity and through it, he achieves fulfilment as a human being. The fall also means that a work ethic is needed. As a result of the fall, work has become subject to the abuses of idleness on the one hand, and overwork on the other. Drawing on Aristotle , Ryken suggests that the moral ideal is the golden mean between
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3552-416: A single industry. Some industries may be seen as more prestigious than others overall, even if they include roles with similar functions. At the same time, a wide swathe of roles across all industries may be afforded more status (e.g. managerial roles) or less (like manual labor ) based on characteristics such as a job being low-paid or dirty, dangerous and demeaning . Other social dynamics, like how labor
3663-447: A variety of institutions for group coordination of work, such as government programs , nonprofit organizations , cooperatives , and corporations . Cultures and individuals across history have expressed a wide range of attitudes towards work. Besides objective differences, one culture may organize or attach social status to work roles through formalized professions which may carry specialized job titles and provide people with
3774-788: A way to recognize employees who dedicate significant amounts of time to volunteering in the community. According to the information from VolunteerMatch , a service that provides Employee Volunteering Program solutions, the key drivers for companies that produce and manage EVPs are building brand awareness and affinity, strengthening trust and loyalty among consumers, enhancing corporate image and reputation, improving employee retention , increasing employee productivity and loyalty, and providing an effective vehicle to reach strategic goals. In April 2015, David Cameron pledged to give all UK workers employed by companies with more 250 staff mandatory three days' paid volunteering leave, which if implemented will generate an extra 360 million volunteering hours
3885-534: A wish to reduce or abolish it entirely, for example in Paul Lafargue in his book The Right to Be Lazy , David Graeber 's Bullshit Jobs , or The Abolition of Work by Bob Black. Real world programs to eliminate the economic necessity for lifelong work first emerged through the concept of retirement , and have more recently been extended to all adults through experimentation with universal basic income . Work can take many different forms, as varied as
3996-560: A work process. In the 20th century, the development of electronics and new mathematical insights led to the creation and widespread adoption of fast, general-purpose computers . Just as mechanization can substitute for the physical labor of many human beings, computers allow for the partial automation of mental work previously carried out by human workers, such as calculations , document transcription , and basic customer service requests. Research and development of related technologies like machine learning and robotics continues into
4107-492: A year. Community volunteering, in the US called " community service ", refers globally to those who work to improve their local community. This activity commonly occurs through not for profit organizations, local governments and churches; but also encompasses ad-hoc or informal groups such as recreational sports teams. In some European countries government organisations and non-government organisations provide auxiliary positions for
4218-469: Is a part of medical volunteering which predominantly focused on dental care. In Hinduism , seva means selfless service and is often associated with karma yoga , disciplined action, and bhakti yoga , disciplined devotion. Seva is also connected to other Sanskrit concepts such as dāna (gift giving), karunā (compassion), and preman (kindness). Seva is also performed as a form of ego -transcending spiritual practise known as Sadhana , and plays
4329-469: Is a task performed via an internet-connected device. An individual typically does this task in small, un-paid increments of time. Micro-volunteering is distinct from "virtual volunteering" in that it typically does not require the individual volunteer to go through an application process, screening process, or training period. Environmental volunteering refers to the volunteers who contribute towards environmental management or conservation. Volunteers conduct
4440-494: Is also a crucial skill for avoiding injury . Ironically, white-collar workers who are sedentary throughout the workday may also suffer from long-term health problems due to a lack of physical activity. Learning the necessary skills for work is often a complex process in its own right, requiring intentional training . In traditional societies, know-how for different tasks can be passed to each new generation through oral tradition and working under adult guidance. For work that
4551-428: Is also common, such as when a paramedic provides medical care while on duty and fully equipped rather than performing first aid off-duty as a bystander in an emergency. Self-care and basic habits like personal grooming are also not typically considered work. While a later gift , trade , or payment may retroactively affirm an activity as productive, this can exclude work like volunteering or activities within
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4662-419: Is compensated, can even exclude meaningful tasks from a society's conception of work. For example, in modern market-economies where wage labor or piece work predominates, unpaid work may be omitted from economic analysis or even cultural ideas of what qualifies as work. At a political level, different roles can fall under separate institutions where workers have qualitatively different power or rights. In
4773-467: Is expected to be a labour of love performed without desire and intention, and with humility. Designated days, weeks and years observed by a country or as designated by the United Nations to encourage volunteering / community service Modern societies share a common value of people helping each other; not only do volunteer acts assist others, but they also benefit the volunteering individual on
4884-447: Is expected to double to 18.82 per cent in 2011. There is a fast growth of mobile payments around the world. Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are the three main choices for mobile payments, while some banks also allow NFC Payments. In some countries, mobile wallets have become a dominant way of mobile payments. Historically, cheques have been one of the primary means of payment for purchasing goods and services, though its share in
4995-442: Is more specialized and technically complex, however, a more formal system of education is usually necessary. A complete curriculum ensures that a worker in training has some exposure to all major aspects of their specialty, in both theory and practice . Tool use has been a central aspect of human evolution and is also an essential feature of work. Even in technologically advanced societies, many workers' toolsets still include
5106-400: Is particularly necessary when some voluntary activities are seen as a challenge to the authority of the state (e.g., on 29 January 2001, President Bush cautioned that volunteer groups should supplement—not replace—government agencies' work). Volunteering that benefits the state but challenges paid counterparts angers labor unions that represent those who are paid for their volunteer work; this
5217-752: Is particularly seen in combination departments, such as volunteer fire departments . Difficulties in the cross-national aid model of volunteering can arise when it is applied across national borders. The presence of volunteers who are sent from one state to another can be viewed as a breach of sovereignty and showing a lack of respect towards the national government of the proposed recipients. Thus, motivations are important when states negotiate offers to send aid and when these proposals are accepted, particularly if donors may postpone assistance or stop it altogether. Three types of conditionality have evolved: Some international volunteer organizations define their primary mission as being altruistic: to fight poverty and improve
5328-647: Is pejoratively referred to as "medical voluntourism". Another problem noted with volunteering is that it can be used to replace low paid entry positions. This can act to decrease social mobility, with only those capable of affording to work without payment able to gain the experience. Trade unions in the United Kingdom (UK) have warned that long term volunteering is a form of exploitation, used by charities to avoid minimum wage legislation. Some sectors now expect candidates for paid roles to have undergone significant periods of volunteer experience whether relevant to
5439-432: Is ranking them according to a criterion, such as the amount of skill, experience , or seniority associated with a role. The progression from apprentice through journeyman to master craftsman in the skilled trades is one example with a long history and analogs in many cultures. Societies also commonly rank different work roles by perceived status, but this is more subjective and goes beyond clear progressions within
5550-557: Is referred to as medical volunteering . In general, medical volunteering has been lauded as a "ethical responsibility to aid the needy. The activities are often offered by both for profit and not for profit associations. Medical volunteers typically participate in unpaid medical volunteer programs in hospitals, clinics, and underserved areas. Typically, these regions are in underdeveloped nations or nations battling natural disasters, sickness, or violence. These activities typically involves volunteer physicians and nurses. Dental volunteering
5661-646: Is required for any effort outside of individual subsistence to succeed. At the level of a small team working on a single task, only cooperation and good communication may be necessary. As the complexity of a work process increases though, requiring more planning or more workers focused on specific tasks, a reliable organization becomes more critical. Economic organizations often reflect social thought common to their time and place, such as ideas about human nature or hierarchy . These unique organizations can also be historically significant, even forming major pillars of an economic system . In European history, for instance,
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#17327655751535772-451: Is that development assistance guides many Third World governments to pursue development policies that have been wasteful, ill-conceived, or unproductive; some of these policies have been so destructive that the economies could not have been sustained without outside support. Indeed, some offers of aid have distorted the general spirit of volunteering, treating local voluntary action as contributions in kind, i.e., existing conditions requiring
5883-493: Is the three-sector model or variations of it. In this view, an economy can be separated into three broad categories: In complex economies with high specialization, these categories are further subdivided into industries that produce a focused subset of products or services. Some economists also propose additional sectors such as a "knowledge-based" quaternary sector , but this division is neither standardized nor universally accepted. Another common way of contrasting work roles
5994-405: Is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life". Leland Ryken said out that, because of the fall, "many of the tasks we perform in a fallen world are inherently distasteful and wearisome." Christian theologians interpret that through the fall, work has become toil, but John Paul II says that work is a good thing for man in spite of this toil, and that "perhaps, in
6105-587: Is valued by the Independent Sector at between $ 18–20 an hour. Skills-based volunteering is valued at $ 40–500 an hour, depending on the market value of the time. Also called e-volunteering or online volunteering , virtual volunteering is a volunteer who completes tasks, in whole or in part, offsite from the organization being assisted. They use the Internet and a home, school, telecenter or work computer, or other Internet-connected device, such as
6216-421: Is wrong since this encourages illiteracy, inhumane work and lower investment in human capital. In other words, there are moral and economic reasons that justify a blanket ban on labour from children aged 18 years or less, everywhere in the world. On the other hand, some scholars like Christiaan Grootaert and Kameel Ahmady believe that child labour is the symptom of poverty. If laws ban most lawful work that enables
6327-511: The Johnstown Flood in 1889. The Salvation Army is one of the oldest and largest organizations working for disadvantaged people. Though it is a charity organization , it has organized a number of volunteering programs since its inception. Prior to the 19th century, few formal charitable organizations existed to assist people in need. In the first few decades of the 20th century, several volunteer organizations were founded, including
6438-552: The Rotary International , Kiwanis International , Association of Junior Leagues International , and Lions Clubs International . The Great Depression saw one of the first large-scale efforts to coordinate volunteering for a specific need in the US. During World War II, thousands of volunteer offices supervised the volunteers who helped with the many needs of the military and the home front , including collecting supplies, entertaining soldiers on leave, and caring for
6549-529: The World Wide Web through organizations like JustServe and AmeriCorps . According to the Corporation for National and Community Service (in 2012), about 64.5 million Americans, or 26.5 percent of the adult population, gave 7.9 billion hours of volunteer service worth $ 175 billion. This calculates at about 125–150 hours per year or 3 hours per week at a rate of $ 22 per hour. Volunteer hours in
6660-404: The construction of buildings or other assets. Instalment payments were planned for in the case of Cadogan Petroleum Holdings Ltd v Global Process Systems LLC , where the latter would pay in instalments for the acquisition of two gas plants. Their contract stated that ownership would not pass until the payments were complete and that any failure to pay an instalment would allow Cadogan to rescind
6771-419: The free markets of modern capitalist societies rely fundamentally on trade , while command economies , such as in many communist states during the 20th century, rely on a highly bureaucratic and hierarchical form of redistribution . Other institutions can affect workers even more directly by delimiting practical day-to-day life or basic legal rights. For example, a caste system may restrict families to
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#17327655751536882-451: The 21st century. Beyond tools and machines used to actively perform tasks, workers benefit when other passive elements of their work and environment are designed properly. This includes everything from personal items like workwear and safety gear to features of the workspace itself like furniture , lighting , air quality , and even the underlying architecture . Even if workers are personally ready to perform their jobs, coordination
6993-543: The European Union under the Late Payment directives of 2000 and 2011. Volunteering Volunteering is an elective and free-choice act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor, often for community service . Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine , education , or emergency rescue . Others serve on an as-needed basis, such as in response to
7104-656: The Latin "pacare" (to pacify), from "pax", meaning "peace". In the Middle Ages, the term began to be used more broadly, to mean "to pacify one's creditors". As the Latin word was made part of Old French "paier", it retained the meaning "appease" but gained the meaning "to pay" (as in paying a debt). The Middle English word "payen", which came from the French, was also used in both ways. There are two types of payment methods; exchanging and provisioning . Exchanging involves
7215-521: The U.S. Current Population Survey included a volunteering supplement which produced statistics on volunteering. In the 1960s, Ivan Illich offered an analysis of the role of American volunteers in Mexico in his speech entitled "To Hell With Good Intentions". His concerns, along with those of critics such as Paulo Freire and Edward Said , revolve around the notion of altruism as an extension of Christian missionary ideology . In addition, he mentions
7326-644: The UK are similar; the data for other countries is unavailable. Many schools on all education levels offer service-learning programs, which allow students to serve the community through volunteering while earning educational credit. According to Alexander Astin in the foreword to Where's the Learning in Service-Learning? by Janet Eyler and Dwight E. Giles, Jr., "...we promote more wide-spread adoption of service-learning in higher education because we see it as
7437-409: The benefits of receiving help. This is true across age groups. Observational evidence indicates that volunteering helps improve the mental health of adolescents. Moreover, on the subject of service-learning, undergraduate students who volunteered 1 to 9 hours per week were less likely to feel depressed than students who did not volunteer. Among people aged 65 years old or above, volunteering may reduce
7548-613: The biggest manpower in Europe are the Voluntary social year (German: Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr ), with more than 50.000 volunteers per year, and the Federal volunteers service (German: Bundesfreiwilligendienst ), with about 30.000 to 40.000 volunteers per year. 25,000 volunteers worked at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics . They supported the organisers in more than 20 functional areas: meeting guests, assisting navigation, organising
7659-472: The cheque is not presented to the bank until the next taxable year, even though the payer could stop payment on the cheque, in the meantime. Postdated cheques , however, are not considered payment when delivered. Generally, payments by credit card take effect at the point of the sale and not when a payer is billed by the credit card company or when the payer pays the credit card company's bill. A business that reports on an accrual basis, would report income in
7770-442: The contract , "without prejudice to any accrued rights". The High Court ruled that the wording allowed Cadogan to retain the instalments which had been paid even though they did not acquire the assets in exchange. The court referred to a text written by Jack Beatson , later a Lord Justice of Appeal , on Discharge For Breach: The Position of Instalments, Deposits and other Payments due before Completion , which Eder J described as
7881-494: The creativity and adaptability of humans in their pursuit of livelihood. Individual workers require sufficient health and resources to succeed in their tasks. As living beings, humans require a baseline of good health, nutrition , rest, and other physical needs in order to reliably exert themselves. This is particularly true of physical labor that places direct demands on the body, but even largely mental work can cause stress from problems like long hours, excessive demands, or
7992-440: The day, but some occupations require night shift work. Hunter-gatherer societies vary their "work" intensity according to the seasonal availability of plants and the periodic migration of prey animals . The development of agriculture led to more sustained work practices, but work still changed with the seasons, with intense sustained effort during harvests (for example) alternating with less focused periods such as winters. In
8103-426: The decline of guilds and rise of joint-stock companies goes hand-in-hand with other changes, like the growth of centralized states and capitalism . In industrialized economies, labor unions are another significant organization. In isolation, a worker that is easily replaceable in the labor market has little power to demand better wages or conditions. By banding together and interacting with business owners as
8214-748: The deprived classes, the weakness of laws and legal supervision, the migration existence of child labour is very much observed in different parts of the world. According to the World Bank Globally rate of child labour have decreased from 25% to 10% between 60s to the early years of the 21st century. Nevertheless, giving the population of the world also increased the total number of child labourers remains high, with UNICEF and ILO acknowledging an estimated 168 million children aged 5–17 worldwide were involved in some sort of child labour in 2013. Some scholars like Jean-Marie Baland and James A. Robinson suggests any labour by children aged 18 years or less
8325-606: The development of civil society in the developing countries. The researchers developed a "Moral Resources and Political Capital" approach to examine the contributions of volunteerism in promoting the civil society. Moral resource means the available morals could be chosen by NGOs. Political capital means the capital that will improve or enhance the NGOs' status, possession or access in the existing political system. Moreover, Xu and Ngai (2011) distinguished two types of Moral Resources: Moral Resource-I and Moral Resource-II (ibid). Thanks to
8436-674: The early modern era, Protestantism and proto-capitalism emphasized the moral and personal advantages of hard work. The periodic re-invention of slavery encouraged more consistent work activity in the working class , and capitalist industrialization intensified demands on workers to keep up with the pace of machines. Restrictions on the hours of work and the ages of workers followed, with worker demands for time off increasing, but modern office work retains traces of expectations of sustained, concentrated work, even in affluent societies. There are several ways to categorize and compare different kinds of work. In economics, one popular approach
8547-529: The end, service-learning must follow other principles of effective volunteer management such as screening, training, and supervising. Skills-based volunteering is leveraging the specialized skills and the talents of individuals to strengthen the infrastructure of nonprofits, helping them build and sustain their capacity to successfully achieve their missions. This is in contrast to traditional volunteering, where volunteers do something other than their professional work. The average hour of traditional volunteering
8658-406: The environments, tools, skills, goals, and institutions around a worker. This term refers to the general activity of performing tasks, whether they are paid or unpaid, formal or informal. Work encompasses all types of productive activities, including employment , household chores, volunteering, and creative pursuits. It is a broad term that encompasses any effort or activity directed towards achieving
8769-509: The extreme, the least powerful members of society may be stigmatized (as in untouchability ) or even violently forced (via slavery ) into performing the least desirable work. Complementary to this, elites may have exclusive access to the most prestigious work, largely symbolic sinecures , or even a "life of leisure ". Unusual Occupations In the diverse world of work, there exist some truly bizarre and unusual occupations that often defy conventional expectations. These unique jobs showcase
8880-474: The fact that it "...fosters student development by capturing student interest..." More recent scholarship has found shortcomings in the early assumptions of mutual benefit, since early studies were interested in educational benefits rather than community outcomes. An Indiana study found that the nonprofit agencies hosting student service-learners do not report a positive impact on service capacity, although service-learners do help to increase agency visibility. In
8991-591: The grassroots organizations with little Political Capital I to win Political Capital-II, which is a crucial factor for their survival and growth in developing countries such as China. Therefore, the voluntary service realm could be an enclave of the development of civil society in the developing nations. Volunteering for community service as part of a college curriculum ( service-learning ) provides opportunities for students to surround themselves with new people which helps them learn how to work together as
9102-600: The impact of neoliberalism on international aid volunteering. The field of the medical tourism (referring to volunteers who travel overseas to deliver medical care ) has recently attracted negative criticism when compared to the alternative notion of sustainable capacities, i.e., work done in the context of long-term, locally-run, and foreign-supported infrastructures. A preponderance of this criticism appears largely in scientific and peer-reviewed literature. Recently, media outlets with more general readerships have published such criticisms as well. This type of volunteering
9213-587: The injured. After World War II , people shifted the focus of their altruistic passions to other areas, including helping the poor and volunteering overseas. A major development was the Peace Corps in the United States in 1960. When President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty in 1964, volunteer opportunities started to expand and continued into the next few decades. The process for finding volunteer work became more formalized, with more volunteer centers forming and new ways to find work appearing on
9324-462: The intellectual heritage of Blau and Duncan (1967), two types of political capital were identified: Obviously, "Moral resource-I itself contains the self-determination that gives participants confidence in the ethical beliefs they have chosen", almost any organizations may have Moral Resource-I, while not all of them have the societal recognized Moral Resource-II. However, the voluntary service organizations predominantly occupy Moral Resource-II because
9435-443: The labor market through work-relief programs or a job guarantee . Since a job forms a major part of many workers' self-identity , unemployment can have severe psychological and social consequences beyond the financial insecurity it causes. One more issue, which may not directly interfere with the functioning of an economy but can have significant indirect effects, is when governments fail to account for work occurring out-of-view from
9546-437: The living standards of people in the developing world, (e.g. Voluntary Services Overseas has almost 2,000 skilled professionals working as volunteers to pass on their expertise to local people so that the volunteers' skills remain long after they return home). When these organizations work in partnership with governments, the results can be impressive. However, when other organizations or individual First World governments support
9657-504: The modification of local people's behavior in order for them to earn the right to donors' charity . This can be seen as patronizing and offensive to the recipients because the aid expressly serves the policy aims of the donors rather than the needs of the recipients. Based on a case study in China, Xu and Ngai (2011) revealed that the developing grassroots volunteerism can be an enclave among various organizations and may be able to work toward
9768-416: The necessity of earning a livelihood may force a worker to cede some rights and freedoms in fact. Societies and subcultures may value work in general, or specific kinds of it, very differently. When social status or virtue is strongly associated with leisure and opposed to tedium, then work itself can become indicative of low social rank and be devalued. In the opposite case, a society may hold strongly to
9879-414: The next. For U.S. tax purposes, cash payments generally are taken to occur at the time of payment. Payment may also occur when a person transfers property or performs a service to the payee in satisfaction of an obligation. A payment by cheque is normally deemed to occur when the cheque is delivered, as long as the cheque is honoured on the presentation by the payee. This rule also generally applies where
9990-426: The opening and closing ceremonies, organising food outlets, etc. Volunteer applications were open to any nationals of Russia and other countries. The Sochi 2014 Organising Committee received about 200,000 applications, 8 applicants per place. Volunteers received training over the course of more than a year at 26 volunteer centres in 17 cities across Russia. The majority of participants were between 17 and 22 years old. At
10101-405: The other hand, the payee may impose a surcharge , for example, as a late payment fee, or for use of a certain credit card, etc. Payments are frequently preceded by an invoice or bill, which follows the supply of goods or services, but in some industries (such as travel and hotels) it is not uncommon for pre-payments to be required before the service is performed or provided. In some industries,
10212-453: The payer to accept the country's legal tender up to a prescribed limit. Payment is most commonly affected in the local currency of the payee unless the parties agree otherwise. Payment in another currency involves an additional transaction for the conversion. The payee may compromise on a debt, i.e., accept part payment in full settlement of a debtor's obligation, or may offer a discount, E.G: For payment in cash, or for prompt payment, etc. On
10323-409: The payment mix is falling worldwide. In 2001, in the United States, cheques accounted for 25% of the U.S.-based payment mix; and in 2006, this was projected to fall to 17%. The timing of payment has legal implications in some situations. For tax purposes, for example, the timing of payment may determine whether it qualifies as a deduction in a taxpayer's calculation of taxable income in one year or
10434-401: The poor to survive, informal economy, illicit operations and underground businesses will thrive. In modern market-economies: Labor issues: Related concepts: Payment A payment is the tender of something of value , such as money or its equivalent, by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods or services provided by them, or to fulfill
10545-421: The public sphere. This may be important, uncompensated work occurring everyday in private life; or it may be criminal activity that involves clear but furtive economic exchanges. By ignoring or failing to understand these activities, economic policies can have counter-intuitive effects and cause strains on the community and society. Due to various reasons such as the cheap labour , the poor economic situation of
10656-477: The risk of depression. Volunteering in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake was found to build social capital , increasing the social connectedness of individuals as well as community wellbeing. The researchers suggested healthcare professionals could prescribe volunteering to improve the health of individuals. In the United States, statistics on volunteering have historically been limited, according to volunteerism expert Susan J. Ellis . In 2013,
10767-523: The same time, 3000 applications were submitted from people over 55 years old. Some of them worked as volunteers during the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. It was the first experience with such a large-scale volunteer program in the contemporary Russia. The FIFA World Cup in 2018 was supported by 17,040 volunteers of the Russia 2018 Local Organising Committee. Volunteering in the context of delivering medical care
10878-473: The same time, some longstanding issues remain relevant, and other new ones have emerged. One issue that continues despite many improvements is slave labor and human trafficking . Though ideas about universal rights and the economic benefits of free labor have significantly diminished the prevalence of outright slavery, it continues in lawless areas, or in attenuated forms on the margins of many economies. Another difficulty, which has emerged in most societies as
10989-798: The seller, the issuing bank and the acquiring bank . A cash payment requires at least three parties: the seller, the purchaser and the issuer of the currency. A barter payment requires a minimum of two parties: the purchaser and the seller. The infrastructure and electronic clearing methods are formed by the payment provider . Global credit card payment providers are Diners Club , Visa , American Express and MasterCard . Maestro and Cirrus are international debit card payment providers. Blockchain also provides an infrastructure for payments using digital currency and potentially better security, fewer intermediaries, and lower transaction costs. In 2005, an estimated $ 40 trillion globally passed through some type of payment system. Roughly $ 12 trillion of that
11100-467: The sense of responsibility / obligation as a factor, which drives the concept of noblesse oblige —first developed by the French aristocracy as a moral duty derived from their wealth. Simply stated, these apprehensions propose the extension of power and authority over indigenous cultures around the world. Recent critiques of volunteering come from Westmier and Kahn (1996) and bell hooks (née Gloria Watkins) (2004). Also, Georgeou (2012) has critiqued
11211-546: The storm, from food to shelter to reconstruction. It is an example of mutualism at work, pooling resources and assistance and leveraging social media. Resource poor schools around the world rely on government support or on efforts from volunteers and private donations, in order to run effectively. In some countries, whenever the economy is down, the need for volunteers and resources increases greatly. There are many opportunities available in school systems for volunteers. Yet, there are not many requirements in order to volunteer in
11322-558: The students the sufficient experience in order to support and strengthen their CVs and resumes." Volunteering in schools can be an additional teaching guide for the students and help to fill the gap of local teachers. Cultural and language exchange during teaching and other school activities can be the most essential learning experience for both students and volunteers. Benefacto, a volunteering brokerage, describe corporate volunteering as "Companies giving their employees an allowance of paid time off annually, which they use to volunteer at
11433-608: The two extremes of being lazy and being a workaholic. Some Christian theologians also draw on the doctrine of redemption to discuss the concept of work. Oliver O'Donovan said that although work is a gift of creation, it is "ennobled into mutual service in the fellowship of Christ." Pope Francis is critical of the hope that technological progress might eliminate or diminish the need for work: "the goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replace human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity", and McKinsey consultants suggest that work will change, but not end, as
11544-530: The use of money , comprising banknotes and coins . Provisioning involves the transfer of money from one account to another, and involves a third party. Credit card , debit card , cheque , money transfers , and recurring cash or ACH ( Automated Clearing House ) disbursements are all electronic payments methods. Electronic payment technologies include magnetic stripe cards , smartcards , contactless cards , and mobile payment . Progress payments or instalment payments are often used to allow payment in stages for
11655-417: The work of volunteer groups, there can be questions as to whether the organizations' or governments' real motives are poverty alleviation. Instead, a focus on creating wealth for some of the poor or developing policies intended to benefit the donor states is sometimes reported. Many low-income countries' economies suffer from industrialization without prosperity and investment without growth. One reason for this
11766-580: The year of sale though payment may be received in a subsequent year. Payment of most fees to government agencies by cheque, if permitted, usually takes effect after a set number of days for clearance or until the cheque is actually cleared. Payments by credit card, if permitted, and cash payments take immediate effect. Normally, no other forms of payment are permitted or accepted. Commercial late payments and consequent interest entitlements are regulated in some countries, for example in Member States of
11877-451: Was a watershed moment, bringing in many first-time volunteers for earthquake response . The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami attracted a large number of volunteers worldwide, deployed by non-governmental organizations , government agencies, and the United Nations . During the 2012 hurricane Sandy emergency, Occupy Sandy volunteers formed a laterally organized rapid-response team that provided much needed help during and after
11988-453: Was conducted in a study, suggesting that people who experience the highest levels of happiness are the most successful in terms of close relationships and volunteer work. In comparison, charity in the form of monetary donations , which is another form of altruism (volunteering being one of them) is also known to have a similar effect. Another study finds that helping others is associated with higher levels of mental health, above and beyond
12099-549: Was placed in the Garden of Eden to "work it and keep it". Dorothy L. Sayers has argued that "work is the natural exercise and function of man – the creature who is made in the image of his Creator." Likewise, John Paul II said in Laborem exercens that by his work, man shares in the image of his creator. Christian theologians see the fall of man as profoundly affecting human work. In Genesis 3 :17, God said to Adam, "cursed
12210-606: Was started, followed seven years later by the first YWCA . During the American Civil War , women volunteered their time to sew supplies for the soldiers and the "Angel of the Battlefield" Clara Barton and a team of volunteers began providing aid to servicemen. Barton founded the American Red Cross in 1881 and began mobilizing volunteers for disaster relief operations, including relief for victims of
12321-510: Was transacted through various credit cards, mostly the 21,000 member banks of Visa and MasterCard . Processing payments, including the extending of credit, produced close to $ 500 billion in revenue. In 2012, roughly $ 377 trillion passed through noncash payment systems. This led to total account and transaction revenues of nearly $ 524 billion. In the U.S., debit cards are the fastest growing payment technology. In 2001, debit cards accounted for 9 percent of all purchase transactions, and this
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