Last Word: Decent Work – a Job to be Done
| Author | Francis Stuart,Hartwig Pautz |
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/2041905816680421 |
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
40 POLITICAL INSIGHT • DECEMBER 2016
Last Word
The level of take-home pay is
not the only aspect of work
that is important to people. The
quality of paid employment
matters, too. A monotonous job, hostile
managers and careless colleagues turn
work into something that causes illness and
alienation. In particular low-paid work is
likely to feature characteristics that make it
hard to speak of it as ‘decent work’.
Research undertaken by the University of
the West of Scotland and Oxfam Scotland,
in cooperation with Warwick Institute for
Employment Research, has looked at what
low-paid workers in Scotland think is most
and least important for work to be ‘decent’.
The ndings are relevant not only for
Scotland but for policy-makers across the
United Kingdom.
To some observers, declining rates of UK
unemployment – 4.9 per cent in late 2016,
down from 8.4 per cent ve years ago – show
that the worst economic troubles are over.
What such data does not show, however,
is that an increasing number of people
experience work which is insecure, does not
provide enough regular hours and is paid at
levels which do not allow them to live above
the poverty line.
The Oce for National Statistics estimated
that the number of people employed on
‘zero-hours contracts’ in their main job during
April to June 2016 stood at 903,000. This was
an increase of 156,000 on the previous year
and represents 2.9 per cent of all people
in employment. At the same time, in-work
poverty is growing across the UK. Two thirds
of children growing up in poverty now live in
a household where at least one parent works,
while more than half of working age adults in
poverty live in a working household.
This is the empirical reality from which
our ‘decent work’ research project started.
The concept of ‘decent work’ was developed
by the International Labour Organisation
in the 1990s and promoted as one of the
United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals in 2016, but had not been applied in
the UK before. We wanted to understand
better what those who are in low-paid jobs
think ‘makes for decent work’. So we asked
people with experience in low-wage sectors
– for example, social care, hospitality, retail,
and cleaning – and specically included
demographic groups facing additional
disadvantages in the labour market such as
disabled people. Throughout the project,
we engaged with more than 1500 people
through individual interviews, focus groups,
‘street stalls’ and an opinion poll.
The ndings indicate a signicant degree
of consensus as to what matters to low-paid
workers. The top ve factors considered
important for ‘decent work’ by research
participants were, in order of importance:
sucient pay to cover basic needs; job
security; paid holidays and sick leave; a safe
working environment; and a supportive
line manager. Yet too many people do not
have these basic expectations met. Our
assessment of the latest available labour
market data shows that 444,000 workers in
Scotland, a fth of all employees, are paid
less than the living wage as dened by the
Living Wage Foundation; 138,000 workers
in Scotland, 6 per cent of all employees, are
on temporary contracts; 118,000 workers in
Scotland, 5 per cent of all employees, do not
receive the statutory minimum paid leave
they are entitled to; 88,000 or 3 per cent of
workers, report illness caused or made worse
by work over a 12 month period; and 13 per
cent feel their line manager does not support
them. The picture is similar, and in some cases
worse, for the UK as a whole.
Governments and businesses can make
Decent Work –
a Job to be Done
Hartwig Pautz and Francis Stuart report on innovative research into
the quality of work in the UK today.
a dierence in facilitating ‘decent work’
for all. Among the key recommendations
were: governments should enforce existing
basic employment conditions and improve
them; governments should create a ‘decent
work index’ to assess the real health of the
labour market and establish a Decent Work
Ombudsman tasked with investigating poor
working practices and driving up standards.
Employers should pay the voluntary living
wage as dened by the Living Wage
Foundation, ensure written contracts are
in place with all employees given a copy,
and report annually on the number and
percentage of temporary and irregular
contracts in their business and seek to
minimise their use.
While the demand for ‘more decent work’
is based on the widely-shared desire to live
in a more socially just society, an increasing
body of evidence also shows that employers
that invest in their sta benet from increases
in productivity and innovation, enhanced
reputation, improved employee morale,
lower sta turnover and lower sick leave. It
is in the interests of everyone that we meet
basic standards in the workplace and the
‘decent work agenda’ can promote this.
Hartwig Pautz is Lecturer in Social
Sciences at the University of the West of
Scotland. Francis Stuart is Research and
Policy Advisor for Oxfam's UK Poverty
Programme in Scotland.
The full report can be found under
www.uws-oxfampartnership.org.uk
Political Insight December 2016.indd 40 31/10/2016 14:28
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