Unequal treatment for atypical workers

Citation

(2001), "Unequal treatment for atypical workers", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 25 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2001.00325hab.002

Unequal treatment for atypical workers

Unequal treatment for atypical workers

Keywords: Atypical employment, Inequality, Gender

More women than men are at a disadvantage because they do not work in traditional nine-to-five jobs, according to a report launched today by the equality commission for Northern Ireland.

"Disadvantages include lack of job security, less favourable terms and conditions, including pay, holiday entitlement and other benefits, less access to training and few opportunities for promotion", said Joan McKiernan, director of research, at the Equality Commission. "Given that the majority of atypical workers are women, and this type of work appears to be increasing, this has serious implications for equality of opportunity between women and men."

The report, "Typically atypical: changing patterns of employment – the implications for gender equality", found that over half the workforce here does not work in a traditional nine-to-five, permanent job, and 58 per cent of these atypical workers are women. It also found worrying levels of unequal treatment of atypical workers, including less favourable terms and conditions and little access to training and promotion, compared with people on conventional contracts.

"Employers, workers and trade union representatives all agree that atypical working has disadvantages for the individual, but advantages for the employer", Ms McKiernan said. "What was most worrying, however, was the lack of awareness among employers of the potential for gender inequality. In fact, the majority of employers thought that having a lot of women working 'atypically' was evidence that they were providing equality of opportunity, regardless of the terms and conditions associated with many atypical posts."

Research co-ordinator, Dr Orla Muldoon, from Queen's University, commented: "Although this research was carried out just before the implementation of the Part-time Workers Regulations, which make it unlawful to afford less favourable treatment to part-time workers, both employers and workers were surprisingly unaware of the impending legislation and its implications". "We found clear evidence of employers who had no intention of treating part-time workers equally, and did not see the need to, as these workers were usually not unionised and didn't know their rights", she said.

"Many employers acknowledged that their part-time workers were more productive than their full-time staff. They believed that this was a by-product of working fewer hours and the need for these employees to manage their time more effectively. Despite this, however, employees reported that unless they worked full-time, they were not regarded as committed and were not considered for training and promotion."

The report recommended that employers should be required to draw up policies to protect atypical workers from discrimination. It also recommended training to raise employees' awareness of their rights.

Forms of atypical work examined in this report include: part-time, flexi-time, shift work, temporary, four-and-a-half-day weeks, term-time, and jobshare arrangements.

Of those in employment, 52 per cent are working in some form of atypical work (58 per cent of these are women). Part-time work was the main form of atypical work, and 22 per cent of all employees, 36 per cent of women and 8 per cent of men, are working part-time (Labour Force Survey,’Spring, 1998).