AI-MEDIATED CONTROL AND EMPLOYEE VOICE: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, ORGANISATIONAL JUSTICE AND ALGORITHMIC CONTESTABILITY IN THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
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Authors: Onyeka Ruth Fidelis
Affiliations: Department of Business Administration, Federal University Otuoke, Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria
Corresponding Author: fidelisro@fuotuoke.edu.ng
Published in: ESUI Business and Management Journal, Volume 3, Issue 3 (2026)
Pages: 69-79
ISSN: 1595-5656
Views: 7 | Downloads: 1
Status: Approved
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Abstract
This study examines how AI-mediated control reshapes employee voice within contemporary employment relationships.
It focuses on how AI-enabled monitoring, performance evaluation, work allocation and decision support influence
employees’ perceptions of fairness, psychological safety and willingness to speak up. A qualitative multiple-case study
was conducted across six organisations using AI-mediated management systems. Semi-structured interviews were
undertaken with 42 participants, comprising 32 employees and 10 line managers. Data were analysed thematically using
an abductive approach informed by organisational justice, psychological safety and employee voice, while allowing
themes to emerge inductively across cases. The findings indicate that AI-mediated control does not simply replace human
managerial authority; rather, it redistributes authority between managers and technological systems. Where algorithmic
processes were perceived as opaque, incomplete or difficult to challenge, employees reported greater uncertainty about
procedural fairness and reduced psychological safety. Voice was not eliminated but became more cautious, selective
and procedural, with employees increasingly choosing when, how and through which channels to challenge decisions.
Human oversight and meaningful opportunities to question, correct and obtain review of AI-informed decisions helped
preserve voice. The study identifies algorithmic contestability as a critical relational safeguard beyond transparency
alone. The study extends employee-relations research by conceptualising AI-mediated control as a transformation of
managerial authority and the relational conditions underpinning employee voice. It shows that the central issue is not
whether AI controls employees, but whether technologically mediated authority remains fair, explainable, humanly
accountable and genuinely contestable within the employment relationship.
Keywords
AI-mediated control, employee voice, algorithmic management, psychological safety, organisational justice, algorithmic contestability.
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Onyeka Ruth Fidelis. (2026). "AI-MEDIATED CONTROL AND EMPLOYEE VOICE: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, ORGANISATIONAL JUSTICE AND ALGORITHMIC CONTESTABILITY IN THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP." ESUI Business and Management Journal, 3(3), 69-79.
Publication Timeline
- Received: October 31, 2026
- Accepted: October 31, 2026
- Published: October 31, 2026
- Last Updated: October 31, 2026
DC.Title: AI-MEDIATED CONTROL AND EMPLOYEE VOICE: PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY, ORGANISATIONAL JUSTICE AND ALGORITHMIC CONTESTABILITY IN THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP DC.Creator: Onyeka Ruth Fidelis DC.Date.issued: 2026-10-31 DC.Source: ESUI Business and Management Journal DC.Source.Volume: 3 DC.Source.Issue: 3 DC.Identifier: 113 DC.Language: en DC.Type: Text.Serial.Journal DC.Rights: Copyright (c) 2026 Onyeka Ruth Fidelis DC.Rights.License: CC BY 4.0 DC.Identifier.PDF: https://esuibusinessjournal.com/uploads/manuscripts/6ae5e46fa6c23_AI_MEDIATED_CONTROL_AND_EMPLOYEE_VOICE__PSYCHOLOGICAL_SAFETY__ORGANISATIONAL_JUSTICE_AND_ALGORITHMIC_CONTESTABILITY_IN_THE_EMPLOYMENT_RELATIONSHIP.pdf