New research, Building a business case for good jobs: The links between Good Work and innovation, productivity and employee health/wellbeingLink opens in a new window, from the University of Warwick commissioned by the Labour Relations Agency of Northern Ireland has found that employee ownership of businesses can increase staff wellbeing, productivity and innovation. The report is supported with a Policy BriefLink opens in a new window and Case StudiesLink opens in a new window report.

A new paper examines how high-quality jobs can increase innovation and productivity. It found that higher pay does motivate workers, alongside other metrics, but that after a certain tipping point more money does not help job satisfaction.

An evidence review led by the University of Warwick has concluded that the increase of zero hours contracts over the last 20 years has created significant risk for workers as unreliable work can result in a sudden loss of hours and earnings, and an inability to access legal advice for unfair or potentially unlawful employment practices.

Along with colleagues from the ReWAGE expert advisory group, academics at the Institute of Employment Research at the University of Warwick examined the legal and workplace practices associated with zero hours contracts (ZHCs), along with data covering flexibility, pay insecurity, worker ability to assert their rights and worker health and wellbeing.

The ReWAGE Zero Hours Contracts Policy Brief including full recommendations can be read online.

ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations from across the UK. Between them they have a huge breadth of knowledge, covering such subjects as the labour market, job quality, employment relations and the changing nature of work.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Peter Elias, Emeritus Professor in the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick.

Background:

Peter studied in the sciences before undertaking his doctoral studies in applied labour economics at the University of California at Berkeley. Peter has worked at the Institute for Employment Research for over 40 years across a wide variety of research areas.

From October 2004 until 2016 Peter acted as the Strategic Advisor for Data Resources to the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), assisting the ESRC and other research funding councils and agencies with plans to develop data resources for research across the social sciences and at the boundaries between the social sciences and other disciplines.

Peter was awarded a CBE for services to social science in the Queen's birthday honours list in June 2011, and conferred as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2019.