A sustainable workforce and the Fair Work Convention

Transcription

1 A sustainable workforce and the Fair Work Convention Professor Patricia Findlay Member and Academic Adviser, Fair Work Convention

2 Underemployment Career progression Labour Employee Business Economic Society Market Health Well-being Performance Equity Demographic change Employee engagement Poverty Insecurity Skills utilisation Equality Uncertainty Talent Productivity Work intensification Competitiveness Valued job features Access Public services Social mobility Fragmentation Growth Automation Innovation Digitalisation Autonomy Scottish Centre for Employment Research

3 What is Fair Work? Fair work is work that offers effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect. Fair work balances the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. Fair work can generate benefits for individuals, organisations and for society.

4 The Fair Work Framework Our vision is that, by 2025, people in Scotland will have a world-leading working life where fair work drives success, wellbeing and prosperity for individuals, businesses, organisations and society.

5 5 dimensions of fair work Effective voice Opportunity Security Fulfilment Respect

6 For each dimension: Existing evidence Stakeholder views Practical actions not prescription Examples

7 Effective Voice Benefits: identifying opportunity, resolving conflict and reinforcing consensus; improving quality of information and decision making; aiding implementation and adherence to decisions; addressing injustice, unfairness or inequality. Evidence: wealth of evidence on desire for voice and on union role in effective collective voice; limited evidence on alternative channels of collective voice; growth of individual voice mechanisms. Consultation: largely polarised perspectives on the presence and absence of voice mechanisms

8 Effective Voice - actions Embed a culture (attitudes, behaviours and practices) that supports effective voice at all levels Establish structures to support effective voice Union recognition and collective bargaining can address voice deficit Support voice as a key competence Demonstrate the effectiveness of voice

9 Opportunity Benefits: improved life chances and social mobility; broader and richer pool of talent; positive impact on recruitment, retention and reputation; more efficient resource allocation; more equitable and inclusive society. Evidence: systematic variation in opportunity in accessing work and in progressing in work according to gender, age, race, disability and class. Consultation: identified barriers to opportunity prior to recruitment, during recruitment and once in work.

10 Opportunity - actions Investigate and interrogate workforce profile Adopt a life stage approach Engage with diverse and local communities Use buddying and mentoring to support workers with distinctive needs Equality profile training, development and career progression Invest in specialist union workplace reps to support opportunity

11 Security Benefits: building a stable life and planning for the future; improved flexibility, adaptability, commitment and resilience; impact on tax revenues, welfare spending, child poverty and attainment, health and well being. Evidence: concerns over low pay, pay disparities/ inequality; employment insecurity and growing work precariousness. Consultation: decent pay and stable work are fundamentally important; employers in some sectors struggle to provide both.

12 Security - actions Support knowledge and understanding of workplace rights Contractual stability should be a core employer objective forms of flexible working where risk falls disproportionately on workers are not fair work. Pay at least the Living Wage Support agreement making / collective bargaining Pay transparency and defensibility should be a core organisational objective.

13 Fulfilment Benefits: deriving meaning and self-worth; fosters commitment; unleashes creativity and innovation; levers returns from public investment in education and skills. Evidence: concerns over skills under-utilisation, narrow job design, work intensification, unreasonable targets, unequal access to training, learning and progression. Consultation: fulfilment is highly valued across the occupational spectrum; requires attention to workforce and organisational development, and adaptation to changes in workers, work, technology and workplaces.

14 Fulfilment - actions Build fulfilment into job design Create an authorising culture where workers can make a difference Invest in training, learning and skills development for current and future jobs Invest in the capabilities and capacities of union learning reps where these exist Design performance expectations to be realistic and achievable. Offer clear and transparent criteria for personal and career development

15 Respect Benefits: enhances health, safety and well-being; facilitates reciprocity; reduces risk; improves standards of behaviour, trust and involvement; improves conflict resolution and reduces stress and associated costs. Evidence: concerns over rise in stress related illness and absence; rise in reported bullying and unfair treatment; impact on turnover costs and productivity; competence in conflict resolution; benefits of good work-life alignment. Consultation: policy and practice gap; important role of management and leadership, and of customers.

16 Respect - actions Importance of a culture of respect that drives respectful behaviours, attitudes and practices Respect as a key organisational value Engage and involve everyone in developing respectful behaviours and standards Adopt practices that signal respect for personal/family life Re-frame conflict respectfully as potentially productive and creative

17 One recommendation: that organisations deliver fair work that provides effective voice, opportunity, security, fulfilment and respect

18 Fair work is good for employers in supporting employees discretionary effort/behaviours Ability (skills and talent) Opportunity (scope to make a difference workplace innovation practices) Motivation (desire/willingness to make a difference - fair work practices)

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20 FWC: current priorities Engaging with business, public bodies and others to advocate adoption of the FW Framework and support delivery Focus on the Social Care sector, Local Government, employment rights support and issues relating to older people Identifying and monitoring measurement of fair work and self-assessment tools

21 A challenging context for social care employers and employees A skilled, motivated and experienced workforce But problems of recruitment and retention The need to build a younger and more diverse workforce and encourage people to see social care as a potential career Funding pressures and implications of Living Wage Could exploring fair work be valuable as both a recruitment tool and a challenge to existing funding models?

22 A consensus on the need to support social care employees SSSC Codes of Practice for Employers require: development opportunities to enable social service workers to strengthen and develop their skills and knowledge procedures to deal with exploitative behaviour and practice Under Core Health and Social Care Integration Indicators, sought outcomes include: People who work in health and social care services feel engaged with the work they do and are supported to continuously improve the information, support, care and treatment they provide

23 The potential of fair work in social care Helping to promote the sector as a good place to work Supporting the potential for employees to work more collaboratively and innovatively, adding value to services Driving and supporting the sector s innovative capacity Challenging policy makers and commissioning bodies to give the sector the tools and resources it needs What can facilitate fair work in the social care sector? What barriers and obstacles are their to fair work in the social care sector?

24 Civil European Public Society Agencies Union Scottish Local UK Government Professional Business & Educational Bodies Industry & Associations Institutions organisations Workplace Co-operation Fair Work Regulatory Fair Work & Consumers Convention Accreditation bodies Judicial, Quasi- Judicial Campaigning & Dispute Organisations Resolution STUC & Trade Unions