{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.work-q42213","code":"thing-q42213","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q42213/","name":"work","alternateNames":["stamp edition","definitive stamp edition","occupation stamp edition","virtual work","mechanical work","labour through muscle power","non-mechanical work"],"kind":"thing","status":"research-draft","version":"0.1.0-research.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.ACT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"In official labour statistics, work is any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for own use, whether or not the activity is paid.","purpose":"Enable an AI agent to recognise an instance of work, assess its progress and conditions, and decide whether and how it may be started, supported, changed, paused or concluded.","scope":{"in":["The outcome sought and the boundary of the effort undertaken","Who performs the work and how their contributions connect","The effort, capabilities, resources and conditions needed to proceed","Actual execution, interruptions, dependencies and remaining effort","Evidence of results, acceptance and continuing maintenance obligations"],"out":["Employment relationships, compensation and labour contracts","The full identity and capabilities of workers or organisations","Project and programme governance across multiple bodies of work","The independent identity and lifecycle of products or creative works","Physics concepts of work and energy transfer","Detailed operating models of tools, facilities and materials"],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Distinguish work from its output: identify the effort undertaken separately from the document, service, repair or other result it produces.","Distinguish work from a goal: identify an undertaking or enacted effort toward an outcome, beyond merely stating a desired condition.","Distinguish work from employment: establish what is being done without requiring a wage, employer or formal job.","Distinguish work from a task description: separate the requested unit of activity from whether, how and by whom effort is actually undertaken.","Recognise maintenance work by the condition it sustains or restores, even when no new object is produced."],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"purpose-and-work-boundary","name":"Purpose and work boundary","description":"What the effort is meant to accomplish and which contributions belong to this undertaking.","layers":[{"id":"intended-effect","name":"Intended effect","description":"The change or sustained condition that motivates the effort.","findings":[{"id":"outcome-and-beneficiary","name":"Outcome and beneficiary","description":"Record the intended effect, who needs it and whether that purpose is stated, inferred or disputed.","questions":[{"text":"What should this work produce, change, restore, discover or keep in an acceptable condition?","id":"outcome-and-beneficiary-q01","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Who supplied or confirmed that purpose, and whose need does it address?","id":"outcome-and-beneficiary-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"undertaking-boundary","name":"Undertaking boundary","description":"The limits separating this body of effort from adjacent or recurring work.","findings":[{"id":"included-effort-and-recurrence","name":"Included effort and recurrence","description":"Record which contributions count toward this undertaking and how preparation, rework and repeated service are treated.","questions":[{"text":"Do preparation, coordination, waiting and rework belong to this undertaking or to separately tracked work?","id":"included-effort-and-recurrence-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What event or observation period separates this instance from the next recurrence?","id":"included-effort-and-recurrence-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"contributions-and-coordination","name":"Contributions and coordination","description":"How performers combine their effort and transfer responsibility.","layers":[{"id":"performing-contributions","name":"Performing contributions","description":"Who undertakes each contribution and what they are equipped and permitted to do.","findings":[{"id":"contributor-fit-and-authority","name":"Contributor fit and authority","description":"Record actual and intended performers, required capabilities and the authority to execute or alter their contribution.","questions":[{"text":"Who is expected to perform each contribution, and who has actually performed it?","id":"contributor-fit-and-authority-q01","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"What capability, permission or supervision must be established before a contributor proceeds?","id":"contributor-fit-and-authority-q02","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"coordination-and-handoffs","name":"Coordination and handoffs","description":"How contributions depend on one another and become usable by the next performer.","findings":[{"id":"usable-handoff","name":"Usable handoff","description":"Record the input expected at each handoff, its readiness and who accepts responsibility for the next contribution.","questions":[{"text":"Which contribution cannot proceed until another supplies a usable input or decision?","id":"usable-handoff-q01","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"What evidence and acknowledgement make the handoff sufficient to continue?","id":"usable-handoff-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"effort-and-execution-conditions","name":"Effort and execution conditions","description":"The effort being applied, the conditions it requires and the constraints on continuation.","layers":[{"id":"effort-and-progress","name":"Effort and progress","description":"Observed expenditure of effort and evidence that it advances the intended outcome.","findings":[{"id":"expenditure-versus-advancement","name":"Expenditure versus advancement","description":"Record effort separately from elapsed time, waiting and demonstrable progress, with uncertainty in remaining estimates.","questions":[{"text":"How much effort has been expended, using what unit and evidence, and how does it differ from elapsed time?","id":"expenditure-versus-advancement-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"What observable result supports the current progress assessment and remaining effort estimate?","id":"expenditure-versus-advancement-q02","kind":"measurement"}]}]},{"id":"readiness-and-capacity","name":"Readiness and capacity","description":"Whether inputs, working conditions and contributor capacity support the next action.","findings":[{"id":"continuation-constraints","name":"Continuation constraints","description":"Record missing prerequisites, competing demands and conditions that require assistance, changed pacing or a stop.","questions":[{"text":"Which missing input, unavailable resource or capacity constraint currently limits the next contribution?","id":"continuation-constraints-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Under what observed conditions should an agent continue, seek assistance, reassign or pause the work?","id":"continuation-constraints-q02","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"results-and-continuation-decisions","name":"Results and continuation decisions","description":"How results are assessed and how further effort is justified or ended.","layers":[{"id":"result-and-acceptance","name":"Result and acceptance","description":"The evidence and judgement connecting performed effort to the intended effect.","findings":[{"id":"outcome-evidence","name":"Outcome evidence","description":"Record acceptance criteria, observed results, unresolved defects and who can judge whether the outcome is sufficient.","questions":[{"text":"What inspection, observation or test establishes that the intended effect has been achieved or sustained?","id":"outcome-evidence-q01","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Who established the acceptance criteria, and who has accepted or disputed the result?","id":"outcome-evidence-q02","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"closure-and-further-effort","name":"Closure and further effort","description":"The decision to conclude, repeat, repair, redirect or abandon the undertaking.","findings":[{"id":"disposition-and-residual-obligations","name":"Disposition and residual obligations","description":"Record why effort ends or continues, distinguishing accepted completion from abandonment and identifying remaining commitments.","questions":[{"text":"What evidence or changed need justifies concluding, repeating, redirecting or abandoning this work?","id":"disposition-and-residual-obligations-q01","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which defects, maintenance duties or unfinished contributions remain, and where will responsibility for them be recorded?","id":"disposition-and-residual-obligations-q02","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"evidence-and-external-alignment","name":"Evidence and external alignment","description":"What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.","layers":[{"id":"reported-evidence","name":"Reported evidence","description":"Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.","findings":[{"id":"evidence-kinds","name":"Kinds and varieties","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-kinds-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-identifiers","name":"Identifiers and schemes","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-identifiers-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation","name":"Standards and regulation","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-real-world-use","name":"Real-world use","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-real-world-use-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-measurements","name":"Typical measurements","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-measurements-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards","name":"Failure modes and hazards","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-regional-variation","name":"Regional variation","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-regional-variation-q01","kind":"provenance"}]},{"id":"evidence-neighbours","name":"Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart","description":"Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.","questions":[{"text":"Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of work this model covers, and on what evidence?","id":"evidence-neighbours-q01","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Report labour statistics with their source, definition and period.","Help people plan and record their own work on request."],"mustNot":["Count only paid work in a way that hides unpaid care and household work without saying so.","Assign work to people in conditions of forced or child labour.","Monitor workers covertly or beyond what law and agreement allow.","Misreport hours worked so that pay or rest is lost."],"requiresHuman":["Decisions that change a person's work, pay or employment status."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Work brings income and dignity but can be exploitative or dangerous.","Unpaid work, often by women, is easily overlooked."],"affectedParties":["Workers","Unpaid carers","Child workers"]},"owners":{"steward":"The person who does it; statistics offices measure it and labour inspectorates enforce rules.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["National labour force surveys"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q107715","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q141187343","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q141256417","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q15211908","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.work-q42213","Wikidata: Q42213 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42213)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Intended effect: Produce; transform; maintain; restore; investigate; mixed; unresolved","Execution state: Proposed; ready; underway; blocked; paused; concluded; abandoned; unknown","Performing contributors: People, teams or systems linked to their contributions","Effort expended: Contributor-hours or another explicitly defined effort measure, with method and observation period","Remaining effort estimate: Range in a stated effort unit, with assumptions and estimate date; unknown permitted","Blocking dependencies: Required inputs, decisions, permissions or predecessor contributions linked to readiness evidence","Outcome assessment: Not assessed; unmet; partly met; met; disputed; no longer applicable","Demand and capacity fit: Adequate; constrained; exceeded; unknown, for a stated contributor and period"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["Clarify the intended outcome and divide the undertaking into contributions with explicit interfaces.","Match contributions to available capabilities and authorised performers.","Begin or resume work when required inputs, permissions and capacity are available.","Record effort and outcome evidence, then revise the approach or estimate.","Pause, redirect or abandon work when conditions or expected value change.","Assess results against agreed criteria and close the undertaking or establish its next maintenance interval."]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Unsafe work causes injury, illness and death.","Narrow definitions can make whole groups of workers invisible in policy."]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, International Conference of Labour Statisticians."]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Mechanical work is used in physics and engineering to describe energy transferred when a force acts through a displacement.","It supports calculations involving lifting, acceleration, friction and machine performance by accounting for the force component along the displacement."]}},"sources":[{"title":"Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization - International Labour Organization, 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (2013)","url":"https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---stat/documents/normativeinstrument/wcms_230304.pdf","note":"The specialist definition of work, the five statistical forms of work, and the distinction between work and employment."},{"title":"Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time - European Parliament and Council","url":"https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32003L0088","note":"Working-time limits, rest, and the EU legal sense of working time as a regulated quantity."},{"title":"System of National Accounts 2008 - United Nations, European Commission, IMF, OECD and World Bank","url":"https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/docs/SNA2008.pdf","note":"The production boundary that includes goods for own use but generally excludes unpaid domestic and care services, which is why much work is invisible in GDP."},{"title":"ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems - Requirements with guidance for use - International Organization for Standardization","url":"","note":"Work as an activity that organisations must manage for injury, disease and other occupational harm."},{"title":"Wikidata item Q42213: work","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42213","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Work (physics)","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_%28physics%29","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Does vr.tr.work-q42213 denote purposeful effort broadly, human labour specifically, or another sense of work?","Which existing Vercy world model, if any, already owns this concept and should be linked instead of creating a separate model?","Where should the registry draw the boundary between work, activity, task, process and project, especially before execution begins?","Should fully automated execution count as work in its own right, and how should mixed human and machine effort be represented?","How should continuous care, availability and maintenance be bounded and assessed when neither discrete outputs nor a final completion event are appropriate?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q42213/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q42213/spec.json"],"providers":["Codex","Grok"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-07T11:32:06Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"not-applicable","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties.","interaction.recognition":"Mechanical work is a calculated physical quantity that cannot be identified by visual appearance alone."},"score":1.0}}