Participant Information Leaflet - Understanding the Employer Delivery of Good Work in the UK before, during and after the Coronavirus pandemic
Study Title: Understanding the Employer Delivery of Good Work in the UK before, during and after the Coronavirus pandemic
Investigator(s): Jon Winfield (Lead Investigator) j.winfield@warwick.ac.uk; Professor Chris Warhurst (Academic Supervisor) c.warhurst@warwick.ac.uk; Dr Sally Wright (Academic Supervisor) s.a.wright@warwick.ac.uk
Introduction
You are invited to contribute to a research study. Before you decide, you need to understand why the research is being done and what it would involve for you. Please take the time to read the following information carefully. Talk to others about the study if you wish.
Please ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information. Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.
Who is organising and funding the study?
This study is being conducted by Jon Winfield from the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Living Wage Foundation. The study will form the basis for a PhD thesis.
What is the study about?
The study investigates the business case for employers in providing ‘Good Work’ in the UK over the period of the Coronavirus pandemic. Although paying the real living wage will be used as an indicator of ‘Good Work’, other working conditions may be discussed.
What would taking part involve?
If you take part in the study, it will involve one interview of approximately 45 minutes. This will be either over the telephone or via MS Teams, the choice will be yours. The interview will be recorded but if carried out over Teams you will be under no obligation to turn on your camera.
This interview will be an informal discussion where I will ask some questions, but you will be free to add anything that you feel is important. You will also be free not to answer questions. The questions will be about your working conditions such as rates of pay, hours worked, hours contracted and why you chose to work for your employer. I will also ask you what would be on your ‘wish list’ for a perfect job. The recordings will be transcribed and securely stored using a unique reference number so that you cannot be identified by anyone other than the investigators or accredited employees at the university.
Do I have to take part?
No. Participation in this study is voluntary and will not impact your employment in any way. You can also choose to withdraw your participation in this research up to one month after completion of the interview contacting me. Further details about withdrawing from the study are provided later on in this document.
What are the possible benefits of taking part in this study?
The aim of the study is to explore the business case to employers in providing ‘Good Work’. That means is it good for them to provide ‘Good Work’. Information from the study will help employers, government and the Living Wage Foundation understand this business case.
What are the possible disadvantages, side effects or risks, of taking part in this study?
No disadvantages are anticipated other than giving your time in taking part. If you have any questions about the research, please ask the researcher.
Expenses and payments
There will be no payment to you for participation.
Will my taking part be kept confidential?
Your participation will be kept confidential. Interviews will be arranged at a time that is convenient to you.
The interviews will initially be recorded and then transcribed. Although a record of your name will be kept, each interview will be given a unique reference number. Organisations and individual participants engaged in this research will be kept confidential and all data will be anonymised.
Transcription will be completed either by the researcher or an approved transcription service, however there will be no reference to your name.
The responses to the interviews will be analysed for the purposes of the research. With your consent, it maybe that your words will be quoted within the thesis. If this happens your pseudonym will be used so that you have anonymity, and the quote cannot be linked back to you.
Any stored data can only be accessed by the research team (the researcher and supervisors) who are all based at the University of Warwick. Signed consent forms can be seen by the IER departmental administrator and written notes will be scanned onto the University drive (files.warwick.ac.uk) where they will be stored securely, and the ‘hard’ copies destroyed. Other digital records will also be securely stored on the same university networked drive until they can be deleted. This is detailed below.
Your information will not be shared with your employer, the Living Wage Foundation or any other body apart from those already listed above. However, if you disclose anything that causes me concern, I have a duty of care to disclose this to the relevant authorities. Usually, but not always, in the first instance, this will be the academic Supervisors.
What will happen to the data collected about me?
As a publicly-funded organisation, the University of Warwick have to ensure that it is in the public interest when we use personally-identifiable information from people who have agreed to take part in research. This means that when you agree to take part in a research study, such as this, we will use your data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the research study.
We will only use your data in the ways needed to conduct the research study. We act as the data controller for this study.
Warwick University is committed to protecting the rights of individuals in line with data protection legislation. Research data will be pseudonymised as quickly as possible after data collection. This means all direct and indirect identifiers will be removed from the research data and will be replaced with a participant number. The key to identification will be stored separately and securely to the research data to safeguard your identity. This will only be accessed by the PhD administrator should you wish to have your data deleted. The University of Warwick will keep data from the study for 10 years after the study has finished. After 10 years the data will be reviewed and if no longer needed, it will be securely destroyed.
Data Sharing
Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the research to be reliable and accurate. The University of Warwick has in place policies and procedures to keep your data safe.
This data may also be used for future research, including impact activities following review and approval by an independent Research Ethics Committee and subject to your consent at the outset of this research project.
For further information, please refer to the University of Warwick Research Privacy Notice which is available here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/idc/dataprotection/privacynotices/researchprivacynotice or by contacting the Legal and Compliance Team at infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk.
What will happen if I don’t want to carry on being part of the study?
Participation in this study is voluntary and you may withdraw your data without reason or consequence up to one calendar month after any interview. You may also withdraw from future research at any time in which case, once this research is completed your stored identifiable information will be deleted.
In order to withdraw, you can email or write to myself or the departmental PhD administrator (ierphd@warwick.ac.uk) using the details provided.
To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally identifiable information possible and keep the data secure in line with the University’s Information and Data Compliance policies.
What will happen to the results of the study?
The results of this study will become a part of my PhD thesis. They may also be published in academic journals or other articles. The Living Wage Foundation may use extracts of the thesis to promote their work.
Who has reviewed the study?
This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by the University of Warwick’s Humanities and Social Science Research Ethics Committee (HSSREC).
Who should I contact if I want further information?
If you have any further questions, you can contact myself (j.winfield@warwick.ac.uk) or the Institute for Employment Research (ierphd@warwick.ac.uk ). If any part of this form is unclear, please ask for clarification.
Who should I contact if I wish to make a complaint?
Any complaint about the way you have been dealt with during the study or any possible harm you might have suffered will be addressed. Please address your complaint to the person below, who is a senior University of Warwick official entirely independent of this study:
Head of Research Governance
Research & Impact Services
University House
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 8UW
Email infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk
Tel: 02476 575733
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter: infocompliance@warwick.ac.uk
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).