Workers without an employment contract

Decent work, resources and demands

Bibliographic Data

ID21627417
AuthorsJeanine Ângela Vieira Zagheto (0000-0003-2223-4628, Universidade de Brasília, corresponding author), Nuno Rebelo Dos Santos (0000-0002-1564-8120, University of Évora), Juliana Barreiros Porto (0000-0001-9164-2719, Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education), Lara Pais (0000-0002-2087-5950, University of Coimbra)
Year2026
Volume45
Issue8
Publication date2026-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCurrent Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1046-1310 • E-ISSN: 1936-4733
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s12144-026-09341-w
OpenAlexW7155190113
LanguageEN
References cited31

Decent work encompasses productive, high-quality employment under conditions prioritizing freedom, equity, security, and human dignity. However, the nature of informal work (without employment or service contracts) varies by country, and it is a vital source of employment for many. In Brazil, informal workers make up 37% of the active workforce. The primary objective of this study is to characterize the perceptions of decent work among workers without employment contracts while mapping the resources, demands, and social-structural elements that influence their work. A qualitative content analysis of 30 interviews with informal and self-employed workers was performed. The analysis was conducted in four rounds, generating 3,127 references. The coding framework comprised four overarching themes, 9 dimensions, 38 categories, and 79 subcategories. Cluster analyses were conducted using hierarchical clustering based on coding similarity among participants, operationalized through the Jaccard coefficient, to evaluate relationships within the data from all participants. The five resulting clusters are represented in a dendrogram and were interpreted as follows: the first cluster, “Moderate Work Autonomy”; the second, “End of Career”; the third, “Work-Family Balance”; the fourth, “Social Contribution of Work”; and the fifth, “High Employability and Low Meaningful Work”. The findings of this study highlight the diversity of workers’ experiences in the informal market and provide valuable insights for guiding interventions designed to cultivate decent work for the five types of workers without employment contracts

Content analysis · Employability · Informal sector · Operationalization · Psychological intervention · Service worker · Typology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · International Labor and Employment Law

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Open DOIOpen Access