Institute for Employment Research » ReWAGE News Archive

Poor job quality costs UK economy billions, University of Warwick research finds

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 10:36:00 GMT

Job-related ill health is costing UK businesses up to £41 billion a year, with 1.77 million workers suffering due to poor job quality, according to new research from The University of Warwick.

Businesses lose an estimated 50 working days per employee annually and 9.5 million people economically inactive. The study highlights how improving job design could enhance worker health, boost productivity, and reduce strain on the public purse.

The Evidence paper, The case for creating healthy jobs: A review of the evidence is supported by a short Policy Brief. The papers were commissioned and funded by Deloitte.

Classify gig workers as workers rather than self-employed and abolish exploitative zero-hour contracts, says new report

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 11:36:00 GMT

Gig workers should be classed as workers rather than self-employed, and exploitative zero-hour contracts should be abolished says new report: Pay and conditions in gig work.

The report, authored by ReWAGE, the independent expert advisory group hosted by Warwick and Leeds Universities, offers a set of recommendations aimed at addressing the challenges faced by gig workers, as well as those in other precarious and insecure working arrangements such as zero-hours contracts.

Gig work is work where an individual uses a digital ‘platform’ provided by a company, accessed via an app or a website, to find and perform short-term jobs, such as Lyft drivers or Deliveroo workers. It is estimated that around half a million people work in the platform economy.

The report, supported by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, proposes greater clarity around the contractual and legal status of gig workers, saying gig workers should be presumed to be workers of platform companies rather than self-employed. This recommendation aligns with a recent EU Directive on Platform Work.

The Evidence paper, Pay and conditions in gig work is supported by a short Policy Brief. The papers were commissioned and funded by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust

Care workers worse off than two years ago

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 09:27:00 GMT

Already having a high rate of in-work poverty, care workers are now worse off in real terms than they were two years ago and should be given pay parity with equivalent NHS roles, according to new research.

The new report comes in the wake of the government’s proposed Fair Pay Agreement for social care, recently announced in the King’s Speech. The agreement proposes ‘fair pay and conditions, including staff benefits, terms and training, underpinned by rights for trade unions to access workplaces’.

This paper shows that care worker pay has declined relative to other low paid occupations over the last 15 years, including positions in retail jobs, which offers higher pay for less responsibility.

These shocking findings come only a few short years since the care sector was thanked and praised by the Government for working with bravery and dignity through the Covid pandemic.

The Evidence paper, Work, Wages and Employment in the Adult Social Care Sector is supported by a short Policy Brief. The papers were commissioned and funded by the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust

Building a business case for good jobs

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 09:39:00 GMT

New research, Building a business case for good jobs: The links between Good Work and innovation, productivity and employee health/wellbeing, 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 Brief and Case Studies 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.

Curtail Zero Hour Contracts and give workers guaranteed work hours, say Warwick researchers

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:47:00 GMT

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.

Spotlight on Peter Elias ( Emeritus Professor, Warwick Institute for Employment Research)

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 12:34:00 GMT

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.

Spotlight on Alan Felstead (Research Professor, Cardiff University)

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:44:00 GMT

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.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Alan Felstead who is Research Professor at Cardiff University.

Background:

Alan has been studying employment-related issues for over 35 years. Since completing his PhD he has held positions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford and the University of Leicester. Since 2006 he has been Research Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University and has additionally been a co-Director of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data since 2022.

He has given written and oral evidence to inquiries on labour market issues carried out, for example, by the Department of Work and Pensions Select Committee, the House of Lords, the Cabinet Office, the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament. In 2018-2019 Alan sat on the Welsh Government's Fair Work Commission as the Independent Expert Advisor and during 2019-2020 he was on part-time secondment to Welsh Government.

Spotlight on Ian Kessler (Professor of Public Policy and Management, King’s Business School)

Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:18:47 GMT

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.

This week we are turning the spotlight onto ReWAGE expert Ian Kessler who is Professor of Public Policy and Management at King’s Business School.

Background:

Ian joined King’s College London in September 2012, after almost 25 years at the University of Oxford.

Ian’s research focus is employment relations in the public sector, exploring themes such as union organisation, industrial action, pay determination and work organisation in the sector. Over the last decade he has been researching nursing support roles in a variety of healthcare settings, and the general re-structuring of the healthcare workforce. In 2005, he was a commissioner on the Local Government Pay Commission. In 2014 he acted as special adviser to the House of Commons Local Government and Communities Select Committee inquiry of senior management pay. In 2018 he was a member of the Health Education England (HEE) scrutiny committee on the nursing associate role. Since 2019 he has been Deputy Director of the NIHR Health and Social Workforce Research Unit within the Policy Institute at King’s (and is currently acting Director).

Spotlight on Jo McBride (Professor of Work and Employment Relations, Durham University Business School)

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 11:04:52 GMT

ReWAGE is fortunate in having some of the UK’s foremost thinkers on its Expert Group, drawn from leading universities and research organisations 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 Jo McBride who is Professor of Work and Employment Relations at Durham University Business School.

Background:

Jo joined Durham University Business School in June 2018 from Newcastle University Business School where she had been Senior Lecturer in Industrial Relations, Work and Employment. Prior to that Jo worked at Bradford University School of Management and Northumbria University.

Her main areas of academic interest are Industrial Relations and the Sociology of Work. She was President of the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (2016-2019) which was founded in 1950 and is one of the largest academic associations in the United Kingdom aimed at promoting the study of employment relations across relevant academic disciplines.

Early resolution and manager training can reduce Northern Ireland’s £851m workplace conflict bill

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 08:00:00 GMT

A recent report Estimating the Costs of Workplace Conflict in Northern Ireland commissioned by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) has revealed that almost 300,000 employees (37% of the workforce) experience conflict in the workplace, costing the local economy of £851m.

The analysis forms the basis of a new report from work and employment expert group, ReWAGE, which focuses on the impact of workplace conflict in Northern Ireland. Managerial Capability - Minimising the Costs of Workplace Conflict in Northern Ireland compares the relative costs of resolving conflict early through informal discussion and mediation, and situations where those discussions either fail or do not take place, resulting in dismissal or resignation.

This policy brief was authored for ReWAGE by Professor Richard Saundry and was based on research undertaken with Professor Peter Urwin at the University of Westminster. The research was funded by the Labour Relations Agency and Acas.