Background
to the Research
- This
report is based on research carried out by the NI Women's Committee
of the ICTU. The purpose of the research was to examine the current
position of women employed in the 'atypical' workforce in Northern
Ireland. The aims of the research were to:
- Examine
a number of areas of atypical work, e.g. home, contract, temporary
and casual work.
- Establish
a base line of information about women employed in these areas.
- Make
recommendations on the findings to assist in the planning of a
trade union strategy and policy on atypical work in Northern Ireland.
Research
Approach
- The
survey was based on structured questionnaires and personal interviews.
Two different questionnaires were used - one to collect data on homeworkers
and the other for temporary, contract and on-call or seasonal workers.
Main
Findings
- The
research shows that there has been an increase in forms of atypical
work in NI.
- There
has been a decline in the manufacturing related out-worker system
and an increase in the retail service sector home-based provision.
- Three
groups of women responded to the questionnaires. There were 107 responses
from non-professional women, the vast majority of whom worked in the
private sector; 51 responses from professional women who worked mainly
in the public sector; and 12 responses from homeworkers most of whom
described themselves as 'self-employed.'
- All
of the professional women either had a degree, diploma or nursing
qualification, while only 4 of the non-professional women had a third
level degree and had a nursing qualification.
- The
wages and conditions of employment of these two classifications of
workers were often quite different albeit some of the problems and
concerns were common to both categories.
- Amongst
the non-professional women there was an overall lack of clarity about
the terms and conditions under which they were employed and consequently
their entitlement to various work related benefits. In contrast, 84%
of professional women had a written contract which specified their
terms of employment. None of the homeworkers had written contracts
or specified terms and conditions.
- 60%
of both the professional and non-professional respondents had been
employed for less than two years and therefore fell outside the threshold
necessary to entitle them to a range of employment benefits and legal
protection.
- While
80% of the professional women worked a regular week (over 35 hours),
66% of the non-professional women worked on average less than 30 hours
per week.
- Of
the non-professional women, 50% had a weekly income of £60 or
less with slightly over 20% earning between £30 and £90
per week. Most of the homeworkers found it difficult to calculate
their average weekly rate of pay being both on piece rates and dependent
on availability of work. Of the professional women, 66% had a weekly
income in excess of £181 per week. The difference in hours worked
by the professional and non-professional women accounted in part for
the wide discrepancy in earnings. While the majority of the homeworkers
saw themselves as 'self-employed' their responses showed that they
had no control over rates of pay for which they worked.
- The
majority of the non-professional women who worked overtime received
only basic rate of pay for additional hours. None of the professional
women who worked overtime received additional payment.
- As
a result of the unstructured nature of their working day, homeworkers
often worked very long hours. This aspect of the job further highlighted
the lack of health and safety regulations governing homeworkers.
- For
both the non-professional and professional women the flexibility afforded
them by atypical working was a major advantage. This ability to fit
in with domestic responsibilities in the absence of accessible, affordable
childcare, was also cited by the homeworkers. 70% of the non-professional
women had at least one dependent child while only 44% of the professional
women had.
- Both
groups expressed concern about the temporary nature of their contracts
and the professional women also worried about the pressure in maintaining
their occupational expertise. In addition, homeworkers cited the isolating
nature of their work as a major disadvantage.
- 59%
of professional women were members of a trade union in contrast to
only 32% of non-professional women. None of the homeworkers was a
member of a trade union.
- 44%
of non-professional and 37% of professional women thought that women
and men were treated unequally in their workplace.
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