Women's Views on News |
| A close look at current work issues Posted: 17 Mar 2015 07:21 AM PDT
While the last few years have seen higher than expected levels of employment, there has also been a growth in temporary and insecure work. Hundreds of thousands of women are employed on contracts in sectors like social care, retail, catering, cleaning and hospitality that offer little in the way of pay, guaranteed hours or job security. And it is not just women in low paid sectors who are finding it difficult to get permanent contracts with regular hours – job insecurity is increasingly a feature of many skilled professions, such as university lecturers. The TUC issued a report on casual and insecure employment recently called ‘Women and Casualisation: Women’s experiences of job insecurity’. Twelve mothers on casual contracts were interviewed. All 12 were working or had worked on different kinds of casual contracts including temporary and zero- or short-hours contracts and agency work, at different levels of skill and seniority – and a 12 have caring responsibilities. The report did not set out to show that women are significantly more likely to find themselves employed on casual contracts; it wanted to show that casualised and precarious work posed particular problems for women, partly because of the weaker maternity rights associated with some of these types of contracts and partly because of the difficulty reconciling variable hours or job insecurity with caring responsibilities. Poor treatment of women in pregnancy was a strong theme in the interviews and accords with the research findings of the last wide-scale investigation into pregnancy discrimination which found that such discrimination was widespread, and that some 30,000 women in Britain were forced out of work each year because of pregnancy. Particularly concerning was the use of casual contracts to undermine rights, including maternity pay, and the prevention of mothers returning to work. These issues tended to hit at a particularly vulnerable time, often towards the end of the pregnancy. Some of the interviewees also expressed concern about whether their very low hours and earnings would disqualify them from Statutory Maternity Pay. Several of the women interviewed found themselves having to either re-apply for their own jobs after returning from maternity leave or to accept a demotion and a pay cut. The interviews uncovered practical difficulties for all of the women in terms of not having a set pattern of work or having little control over their hours. This lack of control made it harder for women to plan for the care of their children or to take on other work. The women interviewed were sometimes given very little notice of shifts; one interviewee reported being given "as little as half an hour" advance notice of a shift. The variation in working hours and working patterns has caused particular problems for the women organising childcare. Most childcare fits standard patterns of working hours over set days and these patterns must be booked and paid for well in advance, and nurseries and other formal childcare settings tend to be unable to accommodate changing patterns of care as that in turn makes it impossible to for them to plan staffing levels and to budget effectively. The women interviewed who could best manage the flexibility in their working patterns are those who could rely on informal childcare being offered by their wider families or the support of friends and neighbours. Without this support, many reported, they could not hold down their jobs. Although all of the women interviewed earned the National Minimum Wage, the variation in actual hours had a significant impact on the amount of pay they took home each week. Many were frustrated by not being able to secure more hours or a regular work pattern. Some of the women interviewed talked about financial difficulties arising because of the interaction between fluctuating or variable pay and in-work benefits such as tax credits. There is a particular concern about their benefits being too high if they have worked extra shifts and their ability to pay back an overpayment. The women interviewed expressed concern about how their lack of job security affected their ability to progress in the workplace or to access training. Casual contracts were shown to have an impact on the women's ability to get the right experience and to progress in work and have the opportunity to earn more in the future. This was particularly relevant to those women in the higher and further education sector but also included one interviewee who worked as a waitress and was keen to progress with more supervisory role shifts. Most of the women expressed concern that if they were assertive about what they wanted or complained about their treatment they would be offered fewer shifts and less work in the future or they would not get any work at all. Most of the women who were in a union valued the support on offer and some had been able to secure their rights as a result of their union's intervention. However, even where women were made aware of their rights they were fearful of standing up for their rights and the impact that this could have on their work. Several of the women first encountered problems with their contract when either their circumstances changed, such as a pregnancy, or when the contract was altered, such as a reduction of hours. Some of the women said they did not fully understand the terms of their contract and they were uncertain about their employment status and what they are or are not entitled to ask for as a result. This report also sets out a series of policy recommendations which address the themes raised in the interviews. Given the difficulties that the women interviewed faced in organising, retaining, and paying for childcare when their working hours were so unpredictable, the TUC would like to see the role of employers – particularly large employers which depend on a highly flexible and casualised workforce – as providing or subsidising childcare. Currently many zero-hours workers lose out on basic workplace rights due to the transient nature of their employment and the uncertain nature of their employment status. The TUC believes that all economically dependent workers, including zero-hours workers, agency workers, freelancers, and home workers should be entitled to the same floor of rights. This should include all family friendly rights, including the right to request to work flexibly, and protection from unfair dismissal. There needs to be improved enforcement of statutory rights for all vulnerable workers. For example, increased resources should be devoted to ensuring that zero-hours contract workers are paid at least the National Minimum Wage for travel time. The abolition of employment tribunal fees is vital if women are to have access to justice, for example, in the cases of pregnancy discrimination outlined in the interviews. Vulnerable workers are best protected in the workplace if they are represented by a trade union. The TUC calls for an extension of collective bargaining and steps should be taken to ensure that all vulnerable workers have easy access to trade union representation. There is a need for a revitalised role for trade union collective bargaining. Under current welfare legislation a jobseeker is able to turn down a job with a zero-hours contract. Under Universal Credit a jobseeker who turns down a job with zero-hours contract can be sanctioned. The TUC calls upon the Department for Work and Pensions to amend guidance so that job seekers are no longer obliged to take an offer of work on a zero-hours contract. The TUC also calls upon the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure that Universal Credit addresses the practical difficulties faced by those combining casual work with caring responsibilities. The government should play a more active role in developing flexible working in the public sector and contracted out work. The Civil Service has led on this change, but this must be an urgent priority across the public sector including in education. The TUC believes that the right to request flexible working should be a day one right. To read the full report and the 12 interviews, click here.  |
| Welsh LGB survey findings released Posted: 17 Mar 2015 06:23 AM PDT
‘Where we are now’ presents the findings of Stonewall Cymru and YouGov polling of almost 1000 lesbian, gay and bisexual adults living in Wales on their experiences and expectations of discrimination across a range of areas including public life, family, work, public services and sport. Its key findings? Public life: If they wanted to stand for election as an openly lesbian, gay or bisexual candidate, seven in ten (71 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people believe that they would face barriers to selection as a Conservative Party candidate, 37 per cent believe they would face barriers from Plaid Cymru, a third (33 per cent) from the Labour Party and three in ten (30 per cent) from the Liberal Democrat. More than three quarters (77 per cent) of lesbian, gay and bisexual people believe that lesbian, gay and bisexual politicians are subject to a greater level of scrutiny (by the media, for example) than heterosexual politicians. Family: More than three quarters (77 per cent) of lesbian, gay and bisexual people believe that society's attitudes towards same-sex parents would be a barrier to becoming a parent. More than seven in ten (72 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people expect that they would face barriers to selection as a foster carer if they were open about their sexual orientation. Two thirds (66 per cent) of lesbian, gay and bisexual people would expect to face barriers to selection as a school governor as an openly lesbian, gay or bisexual candidate. Work: One in six (17 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people have experienced bullying at work because of their sexual orientation in the last five years. One per cent experienced physical bullying. One in six (17 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual employees are not open to their colleagues about their sexual orientation. Public Services: Just one in ten (9 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people have ever been asked by public bodies for their views on their local services as a lesbian, gay or bisexual person. More than eight in ten (82 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people say that, if they were asked, they would take the opportunity to feed their views and experiences to local services. Sport: Almost one in five (18 per cent) lesbian, gay and bisexual people have not taken part in any sport in the past twelve months. More than half (55 per cent) of lesbian, gay and bisexual people would be more likely to consider joining a sports team if they knew it was LGB-friendly. To read the report, click here. The good news? Writing on the Women in Public Life site’s blog Mabli Jones said that the positive news is that there are clear steps that can be taken to improve the experiences of LGBT women and in turn increase representation. She suggested that: All political parties should commit to increasing the number of openly LGBT women selected to run in winnable seats. They should ensure that candidates do not face inappropriate questions from selection panels, and that there is a clear, zero tolerance commitment from the party executive and managers against campaigning tactics which draw attention to the sexual orientation or gender identity of candidates. Public bodies should be proactive in promoting public appointments and other roles to LGBT women. They should consider if the way in which they present that information, manage the appointments process and the make up of the selection panels ensures an equal opportunity for LGBT women. The media also have a responsibility to ensure that that their output includes sensitive and realistic portrayals of LGBT women, and avoid a disproportionate focus on the sexual orientation or gender identity of public figures. And those of us, she concluded, who want to see better representation of women in public life should promote diverse role models, support the careers of LGBT women, and remain sensitive to the impact that multiple identities can have on the experiences of different women. We need women who represent the full diversity of Welsh society, and their unique perspectives and experiences can only strengthen any work for a fairer, more representative, and ultimately better public life in Wales.  |
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