On The Edge: Women and Atypical Work in Northern Ireland

Author(s): Mairead Abraham
Document Type: Report
Year: 1994
Publisher: Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Subject Area(s): Employment
Client Group(s): Women

Abbreviations: NI - Northern Ireland, ICTU - Irish Congress of Trade Unions

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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