Working, surveilling, translating. The employment relationship: between good faith and intercultural misunderstandings

Abstract

This article develops an interdisciplinary analysis of the employment contract, focusing on the principles of good faith, diligence and punctuality on the part of the employee.  These concepts are examined through the lens of intercultural translation applied to an ethnographic case study that analyses the communicative asymmetry between the contracting parties in the relationship between native employers and migrant workers.As the case in question demonstrates, differences in value systems, linguistic repertoires and “tacit” cognitive frameworks can produce structural imbalances in employment relationships, which often and unfairly result in disciplinary measures or dismissals.This is partly due to the genesis of the employment contract which, being a legal-cultural artefact, remains largely difficult to decipher for non-native workers who do not share its cultural implications. The aim of this work is to show how intercultural translation can serve as a tool to rebalance the relationship between the parties, resolving conflicts before resorting to legal action.