Fairness begins at recruitment: a multilevel analysis of procedural selection fairness, union participation, reward fairness, and job satisfaction

Purpose Grounded in Applicant Attribution-Reaction Theory (AART), this research investigates the psychological mechanisms by which procedural fairness during hiring influences post-entry employee attitudes. By extending AART to the context of upward mobility, this study offers a more nuanced understanding of how fairness cues during recruitment shape employee attitudes. Furthermore, the findings emphasize the value of union involvement in fostering fair and inclusive organizational environments and provide insights into developing recruitment practices that enhance employee experiences from the outset. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from public organizations in South Korea that had hired former non-regular workers into regular positions. Organizational-level questions were answered by human resources managers, while individual-level questions were completed by employees who had personally undergone the regular employment hiring process. Employing a multilevel research design, the study analyzes data from 966 individuals nested within 116 organizations. Hierarchical linear modeling is used to assess cross-level mediation and moderation effects. Findings The results are consistent with all three expectations: procedural selection fairness is positively and significantly related to job satisfaction; perceived reward fairness partially mediates this relationship; and the procedural fairness–job satisfaction association is stronger when employees report higher union participation in the regularization process. Originality/value This study makes three key theoretical contributions. First, it extends AART by applying it to temporary agency workers undergoing internal conversion to regular employment, rather than to external applicants in initial hiring contexts. Second, this study expands the selection fairness literature by examining procedural fairness effects in Asian cultural contexts characterized by strong collectivist orientations. Finally, this study contributes to union scholarship by demonstrating that union participation can complement procedural selection fairness to enhance perceptions of compensation fairness.