Changing Times News * Number 76 * 25 August 2006
Changing Times News is the TUC's fortnightly online bulletin on work-life balance issues. Visit the website at http://www.tuc.org.uk/changingtimes
Edited by Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Jo Morris. To unsubscribe or subscribe to this bulletin, click here. Past issues are available
CONTENTS
Union news : Baby boomers forced out of work *Amicus commends First Direct's equality action * NUJ to train network of equality reps * Hotel worker wins sleepover pay * Overloaded nurse awarded £140,000 payout * Scots staff 'back festival opening ban'
Other news : Commuting time equals four working weeks * Unions refute 'easy girl' lifestyle claim * Alarm sounds on mobile phone tracking * Campaign says 'make child benefit count' *News in brief
Events : Fairness at work for all, TUC fringe, Brighton, 11 September * Close The Pay Gap events
Resources : Childcare services in the European Union
International news : China: Apple admits excessive iPod hours * USA: Part-timers fight for job and family * USA: Families pay the price of production * Global round-up
UNION NEWS
Baby boomers forced out of work
The TUC has dispelled the myth that the post-war baby boom generation is opting for affluent early retirement, suggesting instead that more than a million British workers are struggling to find employment because of their age. Employers will not recruit older workers or provide the necessary training and flexibility to retain those they already have despite their desire to continue working, the TUC said in its report 'Ready, Willing and Able'. The TUC report says over one million 50 - 65 year olds who want to work can't get a job because employers won't recruit older workers or retain the ones they already employ by investing in training or making minor adjustments for disabilities. TUC deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady, said: 'By refusing to retain and recruit older staff, who want to work, employers are accelerating the demographic timebomb the economy is resting on. Companies need to ditch tired stereotypes of fifty and sixty-somethings and develop 'age management' policies which capitalise on the value of experienced staff by offering retraining and flexible working, and making minor changes for people with disabilities.' TUC says 'age audits' should identify and support training needs and offer older staff flexible working to 'downshift' towards retirement. It says to underpin these measures the government should extend to over-fifties the right to request to work flexibly and the right to training with paid time off.
TUC news release. The Guardian.
Amicus commends First Direct's equality action
Trade union Amicus has welcomed First Direct's decision to sign up to the union's charter aimed at improving the pay and opportunities for women in financial services. Under the agreement the company, part of HSBC, will develop a programme of work to improve the pay and opportunities of women employees at two sites at Leeds and Hamilton. Amicus official Justine McCarthy said: 'Amicus has been working hard to ensure that equality issues are at the top of the agenda at First Direct. Local workplace representatives have worked tirelessly in campaigning on all equality themes. The culmination of this hard work is the signing of this Charter.' She added: 'In many ways First Direct is already ahead of many of their competitors in this field. The signing of the Charter is a positive step forward; this commitment by both Amicus and First Direct to work together in driving equality issues forward is very encouraging'. Amicus said the financial services sector has a 43 per cent gender pay gap, and women tend to be clustered in particular roles. The union said it is campaigning to address the historical factors that contribute to gender inequality in the sector. First Direct employs about 3,400 people to provide a 24-hour banking service.
Amicus news release. Personnel Today.
NUJ to train network of equality reps
Journalists' union NUJ is to train a national network of equality reps. Using funds awarded from the government's Union Modernisation scheme, NUJ is to embark on a 'substantial' two-year training project that aims to train at least 80 equality representatives in workplaces and branches in England, Wales and Scotland throughout the latter part of 2006 and early 2007. NUJ says the training courses, to be delivered by TUC tutors, 'will include a review of the role and responsibilities of an equality rep, an exploration of good practice, promotion of equality and how to tackle equality issues in the workplace and union branch.' It adds equality legislation will be reviewed together with interviewing and listening skills so reps can take up members' problems effectively. NUJ says the initiative 'is essentially a first step in creating a network of trained equality reps who can make sure that rights to equality, often affecting those who were once marginalised, are effectively implemented. Once members have done this initial broad course we are sure they will be enthusiastic about taking further more detailed courses on specific aspects of equality.'
NUJ news release. NUJ training. Union Modernisation Fund.
Hotel worker wins sleepover pay
A hotel manager who was required to stay at the premises overnight to deal with emergencies has won his fight to be paid while sleeping on the job. William Anderson, guest care manager at the Learmonth Hotel in Edinburgh, was awarded £1,584 compensation from his employer, Jarvis Hotels. In a TGWU backed case, he won on appeal after initially losing his employment tribunal case. The hotel argued 'on-call' time, where he slept at the premises, should not be regarded as working time. But the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Edinburgh ruled he should be paid as he was contractually obliged to be present, which meant that it was working time. Mr Anderson was required to sleep over in the hotel several nights a week to deal with emergencies such as fire or flood. EAT judge Lady Smith said: 'It was plainly wrong to say that the claimant was not at the respondents' disposal during sleep-overs given that the respondents required him to be in their premises during those periods for a stated purpose. He was, clearly, working.' Mr Anderson was normally asleep during his sleepover period but his presence in the hotel was not a voluntary matter. In the EAT judgment, Lady Smith said: 'Being present in the premises was, primarily, what he was employed to do during sleep-over periods. That was, accordingly, his work. I am readily satisfied that the tribunal were in error in taking the view, as they did, that he could only be regarded as working if he was carrying out some specific activity during a sleep-over period. That approach simply misses the point.'
BBC News Online. Edinburgh News.
Anderson v Jarvis Hotels, Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment.
Overloaded nurse awarded £140,000 payout
A member of health visitors' union Amicus has been awarded £140,000 compensation after being exposed to an excessive workload covering for absent colleagues. The High Court award was made after Melanie Garrod, 53, said she suffered two breakdowns when North Devon Primary Care Trust failed to bring in temporary staff to cover for colleagues on sickness or maternity leave. She was supposed to do a 30-hour week but often had to work many more hours unpaid to cope with the workload. She said her case should send a message to other NHS Trusts that 'they can't get away with overloading their nursing staff.' Ms Garrod added: 'Trust managers have to be aware of the extra pressure they put on staff by giving them extra work. They need to support nurses - even if it's just a phone call to say, 'Are you all right?'' Mother-of-three Ms Garrod told how it took three years for her to decide to sue the NHS. 'It was an extremely difficult thing to do," she said. 'I was brought up to believe in the NHS and I supported its principles and wanted to do my best for my patients. But I was a health visitor looking after young children. My own caseload was 250 families but when a colleague was off it would rise to 500 or more cases.' She added: 'I was travelling hundreds of miles a week trying to do my best but little realising how vulnerable I had become.'
Scots staff 'back festive opening ban'
The majority of shopworkers in Scotland support a new bill which aims to ban large stores from opening on Christmas and New Year's Day, retail union Usdaw has said. The Christmas Day and New Year's Day (Scotland) Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament's Justice 2 Committee. If passed, stores exceeding 280 square metres would be prohibited from opening on the two holidays. Usdaw said its research shows members are 'overwhelmingly' opposed to stores opening on Christmas and New Year's Day. 'Our members in Scotland already work extremely long hours over the holiday period,' general secretary John Hannett said. 'They have made it crystal clear to us that Christmas Day and New Year's Day are long established family days and they want to spend precious time with their families on those holidays.' He refuted claims by the Scottish CBI that there was a demand from staff to work on New Year's Day for financial reasons. 'We have found absolutely no evidence that they are desperate to sacrifice that for extra income,' he said. Mr Hannett said the bill would create a 'level playing field' for retailers as they would not feel forced to open on Christmas Day to keep up with competitors. 'Shop staff in the rest of the UK have always enjoyed two statutory days when large shops have to close on Christmas Day and Easter Day,' he said, adding there 'was no compelling evidence that stores closing on those days will have a negative impact on the Scottish economy or on tourism.' The consultation period for written responses to the draft bill ended on 11 August. The Justice 2 Committee will be hearing oral evidence in September.
Usdaw news release. BBC News Online.
Scottish Parliament Justice 2 Committee.
OTHER NEWS
Commuting time equals four working weeks
The average commuter is spending about four working weeks each year trekking between work and home. Researchers from the University of the West of England this month reported the average commuter spends 139 hours a year travelling to and from work, while the distances they cover are increasing. Report authors Professor Glenn Lyons and Dr Kiron Chatterjee questioned 2,955 rail commuters and found that one in four considered it wasted time. The report found between 1991 and 2001 the percentage of people commuting more than 50km had increased by 30 per cent. It said: 'The average commuter is spending more than 139 hours per year commuting, increasing substantially for Londoners who spend the equivalent of one whole month per year (225 hours a year) travelling to and from work.' It found stress and fatigue were common complaints among commuters. The RAC Foundation this month called for a change in work patterns to reduce traffic congestion. It predicted that smarter working could cut commuter traffic by up to 10 per cent within five years. Edmund King, executive director, said: 'Even if people only worked from home one day a week, the impact would be significant: just look at what happens during the school holidays.' Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: 'The working week figures do not take into account travel time, which in some areas of the country is very significant. Simply reducing that element, or enabling the staggering of the rush hour, will have a fundamental impact on people's lives both in terms of time and stress.' Studies show British workers have by far the longest commute time in Europe.
BBC News Online. Work Wise UK news release.
Unions refute 'easy girl' lifestyle claim
Unions have criticised a magazine survey which claimed to show that young women wanted an easier life than their mothers. New Woman said its 'Young Woman and Work Survey 2006' of 3,000 women with an average age of 28 revealed they would take short cuts to an easier life and would use their femininity to get what they wanted. The report said women wanted to work fewer hours than their mothers did or even not work at all. TUC assistant general secretary Kay Carberry said the survey did not reflect the evidence from the real world. 'Many young women have seen their mothers battle to balance life and work, often in low-paid jobs beneath their ability, and they are not prepared to do the same,' she said. 'Girls are out-performing boys in school. Women make up half of all graduates and are leaving university more, not less, ambitious. Also, women with children who had previously been unable to work are taking advantage of hugely successful schemes to support them getting back into employment.' GMB general secretary Paul Kenny said: 'Young women today are better educated, better paid and a larger percentage of the workforce than ever before. Demanding higher pay and more fulfilling jobs is one of the old demands of the trade union movement and GMB backs it completely. Undermining the desires for self-improvement may sell magazines but it will not change the fact that today's young women workers are taking control of all aspects of their lives and hopefully will continue to demand more satisfaction and reward from their work.' New Woman editor Helen Johnston described today's young women as the 'easy girl' generation, adding: 'If pole-dancing will earn them £1,000 a night instead of 160 hours slogging away in an office, then they'll choose the former.'
The Daily Mail. Life Style Extra. Yorkshire Post. Glasgow Evening Times. The Scotsman. The New Statesman.
Alarm sounds on mobile phone tracking
Campaigners have expressed concern about the possible introduction of new technology that could allow employees to be tracked by their bosses at any time and place. Scottish company Trisent has developed a tracking device which can be installed in a standard mobile phone. The firm said a code of practice would protect workers' privacy, as the person with the phone would be 'fully aware' that their location could be tracked. However, public sector union UNISON said the devices could damage trust and confidence between employers and staff. A spokesperson for UNISON Scotland said: 'There are a large range of adverse impacts of this sort of technology, including damage to staff privacy and to the trust and confidence between staff and employer, whether proposals are demeaning to staff, and who has access to the information.' Civil rights group Liberty said as technology becomes more advanced, it is also opened up to greater abuses. 'Just because you give up eight hours a day to an employer does not mean that they own you,' said Liberty spokesperson Doug Jewell. 'There is no reason for an employer to know where you are 24/7.' Trisent said a test launch had been successful and that it had many applications for the new technology. 'Until now, tracking the location of people and vehicles has been an expensive, slow and inaccurate business,' said Dr Gordon Povey, Trisent's founder and managing director. He said the technology had safety applications, and could help keep track of lone workers. Studies have linked excessive workplace scrutiny to lower performance and higher rates of stress and strain injuries. Some firms already use electronic devices that track workers' locations, and allocate jobs direct to an employee's home ahead of the start of a shift.
BBC News Online. Personnel Today.
Workers' privacy and workplace surveillance guide.
Campaign says 'make child benefit count'
A coalition of union, family, work-life balance and children's organisations is calling for child benefit to be increased and paid at the same rate for all children. The 'Make Child Benefit Count' campaign, launched by the Child Poverty Action Group in August to mark the sixtieth anniversary of child benefit and its predecessor family allowances, is urging the government to increase child benefit and ensure that younger children get the same rate as the oldest child. At the moment, child benefit is worth £17.45 per week for the first child, but just £11.70 per week for second and subsequent children. The campaign is backed by a coalition of organisations including End Child Poverty, the TUC, Save the Children, Citizens Advice, One Parent Families, Barnardo's, Family Welfare Association and Daycare Trust. CPAG chief executive Kate Green said: 'Child benefit is popular, effective and reaches more children living in poverty than any other benefit or tax credit. That's why we're calling on the Chancellor to increase child benefit and ensure that younger children get the same rate as the oldest child.' The campaigners are urging people to use a new campaign website to send an electronic postcard to the Chancellor Gordon Brown, calling for the benefit changes.
CPAG news release and background documents. Make Child Benefit Count campaign. The Guardian. BBC News Online. Daily Mirror.
Send a message to the Chancellor Gordon Brown.
NEWS IN BRIEF
Tax credits : Families receiving tax credits are being urged to return their renewal forms by a 31 August deadline or risk losing their payments. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) chief executive Kate Green said: 'This year's deadline is a month earlier than it used to be, so we're concerned that families may have forgotten or not yet got round to filling in their renewal form.' CPAG website . Tax credits helpline: 0845 300 3900.
Pope idle : For those frantically trying to manage a superhuman workload, the Pope has a message: don't work too hard, it's bad for the spirit. Pope Benedict XVI, citing St Bernard of Clairvaux, the medieval saint, said: 'We have to guard ourselves, as St Bernard observed, against the dangers of excessive activity, regardless of the office one holds, because too many concerns can often lead to hardness of heart and suffering of the spirit.' The Times.
Bolder women : A survey of 3,000 staff for telecoms giant BT has found managers aged 18-29 are the most suspicious management age group when it comes to flexible working, and discovered female bosses are far less likely to be suspicious of colleagues who work flexibly. Caroline Waters, director of people and policy at BT, said: 'The emphasis put on trust and strength of relationship between employers and employees points to the fact that women, and in particular women over 50, are the ideal management role model in this increasingly flexible business world.' Personnel Today.
Tribunals up : Claims heard at employment tribunals over working time abuses have surged 10-fold, figures released in July show. The data, compiled by the Employment Tribunals Service, shows that 35,474 working time regulations claims were made during the 2005/06 financial year, up from 3,223 in the previous year, with equal pay cases also up, more than doubling year-on-year to 17,268. The Independent.
Changing workplaces : Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show there has been a dramatic change in the British workplace over the last two decades, with 4.5m more people now in work. Women have gained about two thirds of the new jobs, men around a third, with 16 million men now in work and 14 million women. The Guardian.
Biased boardrooms : The number of female directors is slowly rising, according to the research company Experian, which says women now make up 23 per cent of all UK directors. The figure represents a small (0.25 per cent) increase on last year, however most of these women are working in companies employing no more than 50 people, with 98 per cent of female directors involved in firms with a turnover of less than £5.6m each year. The Guardian.
Paternity problems : More than half of the UK's new fathers do not take the full paternity leave to which they are legally entitled, according to a survey by YouGov for savings firm ING Direct. Out of the 1,078 fathers polled, 48 per cent said financial considerations were a key reason for staying at work - new fathers are entitled up to two weeks paid paternity leave at a rate of £108.85 a week. Personnel Today.
Volunteer lunch : Volunteers on benefits will not have to bear the cost of their lunchtime meal following a government u-turn. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had said that the lunches could no longer be claimed as an expense, however the department has withdrawn the guidance which was contained in a booklet outlining the rules. DWP news release. BBC News Online.
Scots segregation : The Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland has renewed its call for swift action to eradicate sex segregation in Scotland's Modern Apprenticeship (MA) programme. The call comes after a report revealed that 18 months after EOC Scotland first reported on sex stereotyping and segregation in the MA programme little or no change has occurred and in most cases the percentage of participants following non-traditional apprenticeships has actually dropped. EOC Scotland news release.
Robot walkout : Civil service union PCS has said the 'magnificent' support for a 31 July 24 hour strike should prove to management that workers will not accept a work reorganisation that would reduce them to 'robots'. The union said the work of tax offices was severely disrupted as nearly 8,000 members of PCS working across ten large processing offices in Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) took part the action over new 'LEAN' working practices. PCS news release. Accountancy Age. BBC News Online.
Digging it : Unions aren't all about work. Prospect members were among those given the chance this summer to discover Roman bones and sift for treasures at a remarkable excavation in Silchester, part of a unique partnership with the Reading University Town-Life Project, enabling members to investigate this real-life archaeological site. Prospect news release and Dig for knowledge leaflet.
Bullied reverend : The Church of England has paid compensation running into tens of thousands of pounds to an evangelical clergyman who said he was abandoned by his bishop over a dispute with parishioners in the Algarve expatriate retirement belt. Clergy union Amicus said the Reverend Eric Britt faced a campaign of abuse and intimidation by one of his congregations in the Algarve and rather than supporting him, his bishop withdrew his licence. Amicus news release. The Guardian.
Cyber-bullying : Teaching union NASUWT says new government guidelines to help schools, parents and pupils tackle the issue of 'cyber-bullying' should also protect teaching staff. The union said the Department for Education and Skills' (DfES) cyber-bullying guidance should be incorporated into school discipline policies to protect the health and careers of staff. NASUWT news release. DfES news release and anti-bullying webpages. Anti-Bullying Alliance news release and report. BBC News Online.
Bullied banker : A City of London bank administrator who was subjected to what a judge described as 'a deliberate and concerted campaign of bullying' by four women colleagues has been awarded £817,000 damages over the treatment she endured, which led to two nervous breakdowns. Helen Green, 36, sued Deutsche Bank Group Services (UK) Ltd claiming harassment by colleagues and a lack of support from bosses. BBC News Online. The Guardian.
EVENTS
Fairness at work for all, TUC fringe, Brighton, 11 September
A TUC and National Group on Homeworking (NGH) fringe meeting at September's TUC Congress in Brighton will be on the theme of 'Fairness at work for all: Organising, representing and supporting vulnerable workers.' Speakers include TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, TGWU and UCATT general secretaries Tony Woodley and Alan Ritchie and Pamela James, a homeworker. Congress 2006 will see the launch of a major new initiative aimed at helping unions to better organise, support and represent vulnerable workers. This new initiative will focus on the need for: Government to extend employment rights protection to all workers regardless of their employment status; better enforcement of existing employment rights; and unions to step up efforts to reach out to vulnerable groups of workers and to work with organisations and groups already supporting these workers.
Fairness at work for all, 12.45pm-2.00pm, Monday 11 September, Room 1, Brighton Centre. IMPORTANT NOTE: Only those with the necessary Congress accreditisation will be allowed access to the building. Further details, Paul Nowak, TUC National Organiser, telephone 020 7467 1218.
Close The Pay Gap events, September, Wales
Wales TUC is running two free 'Close The Pay Gap' events in September 'in order to convey the benefits of conducting an equal pay review and provide practical advice and assistance on equal pay matters.' It says these events will: Raise awareness of the pay gap in Wales; emphasise why equal pay matters; highlight current initiatives for tackling pay inequalities; consider how we can put things right and identify action points relating to delegates' own organisations; find out how other organisations are tackling pay inequalities; and launch the Wales TUC equal pay distance learning cd-rom.
Close The Pay Gap events : 13 September Bridgend College, Bridgend, 9.30am to 2.30pm; 20 September, Deeside College, Deeside 9.30am to 2.30pm. Wales TUC briefing and online booking form. For further information, contact Vivienne Thorngate, telephone 029 20347010.
RESOURCES
Childcare services in the European Union
The Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has published the findings of its research into the European Union (EU) childcare sector, focusing on out-of-school care for children aged five to 12 years. The Foundation says its research 'aims to fuel the current debate on modernising childcare systems across the EU, and to encourage policymakers to review existing childcare information, pinpoint gaps in services and identify support measures to develop childcare jobs.' The report, 'Employment developments in childcare services for school-age children', covered a broad range of topics and: identified gaps in current research and policy development for this sector; documented good practice in employment developments in affordable, high-quality childcare; explored how developments in childcare services support the promotion of equal opportunities in employment; highlighted the need for special attention to be paid to recognised socially excluded groups such as Travellers and minority language groups; identified gaps and shortages in childcare supply for school-age children across the EU and how this differs between Member States; established a need for resources for networking and exchange of good practice; and highlighted policy issues for future research.
European Foundation publication notice. Employment developments in childcare services for school-age children, European Foundation, 2006. ISBN 92-897-0945-6 [pdf].
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
China: Apple admits excessive iPod hours
Apple Computer has said a report of labour conditions at its iPod plant in China found workers did more than 60 hours a week a third of the time. Staff making the high priced, massively popular mp3 players also worked more than six consecutive days 25 per cent of the time. Apple said the hours were 'excessive' and said its supplier would now be enforcing a 'normal' 60-hour week. The California-based firm said its report found 'no evidence of enforced labour' or use of child workers. The computer firm sent an audit team to an unnamed plant in China after the Mail on Sunday published a story in June alleging poor working practices at the company's Foxconn contractor in China. The Apple report has been criticised by a global trade union group for not being independently verified. Janek Kuczkiewicz, director of human and trade union rights at the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), said he was not impressed by the report. 'Apple interviewed just 100 people out of the estimated 30,000 iPod workers,' he said. 'We do not know the conditions in which the interviews were held. We have serious reservations about the report.' Mr Kuczkiewicz said Apple had not asked workers what they preferred - a decent wage or minimum wage and overtime. 'We believe it is the workers' role to monitor standards. That has not happened at the Apple plant in China.' Apple discovered two instances of staff being made to stand to attention as a form of disciplinary punishment. A statement from the company said: 'We are dedicated to ensuring that working conditions are safe and employees are treated with respect and dignity wherever Apple products are made.'
Apple ipod report and supplier code of conduct [pdf]. The Inquirer. People's Daily. BBC News Online. Computeractive.
USA: Part-timers fight for job and family
A study has discovered a new category of discrimination suit being brought in the United States - and being won. Report author Mary Still, a faculty fellow at the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, has named the subgroup 'family responsibilities discrimination,' or FDR. The plaintiffs are mostly parents and mostly women, but about 10 per cent are men, and some are caring for spouses or parents, not children. All are claiming discrimination at work because they are giving care at home. Family responsibilities discrimination does not exist in any US statute. 'Discrimination based on caregiving is not an expressed category,' said Joan Williams, executive director of the center. 'It's a reflection of the creativity of lawyers who have set up a new subcategory of litigation within existing workplace discrimination laws.' They are doing so with increasing frequency. The first case that could be considered FDR was brought in 1971. There were eight such cases in the 1970s. From 1996 to 2005, in contrast, there were 481, which was a 400 per cent increase over the total brought during the decade before. Strikingly, all this came at a time when anti-discrimination cases in general decreased 23 per cent. The trend has 'confounded observers,' Williams said, because these decisions are being upheld by both liberal and conservative judges. Recently the US Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favour of a man fired for taking time off to care for his extremely ill wife and, also unanimously, confirmed a lower court ruling in favour of a woman whose hours were changed, preventing her from caring for her son, who has Down's syndrome. 'The notion that children need and deserve time with their parents and that family members need to care for ill children, spouses and parents is widely shared from right to left,' Williams said.
International Herald Tribune. Litigating the maternal wall: US lawsuits charging discrimination against workers with family responsibilities, Mary Still, Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of Law, 2006 [pdf]. Related briefing [pdf].
USA: Families pay the price of production
Many US workers are fighting a losing battle trying to balance work and home. National union federation AFL-CIO says 'most often, work is winning out, pushing up productivity while making families pay the price.' It points to statistics culled by the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and presented in a new report, 'Getting punched: The job and family clock'. A study for the Gates Foundation this year found over one in five (22 per cent) school dropouts said they left school because their parents were working and they had to take care of younger siblings or other tasks at home. A Harvard University study found for each hour their parents work between 6pm and 9pm, children are 16 per cent more likely to score at the bottom on standardised math tests. The same Harvard study found children are three times more likely to be suspended from school if their parents work at night. The CLASP report says public policy and employer attitudes are stuck in the past, and notes that businesses that do recognise and address work-life tension through responsive scheduling and paid time off benefit from cost savings as a result. This is because such businesses are more likely to retain workers - which saves them money in the long run. But because so few employers do get it, CLASP urges a strong role for government in setting standards and rules for flexible schedules and more paid leave. Instead, far from being an exemplar, the US government at all levels lags behind many nations in providing paid leave for workers or support for flexible work arrangements. The report calls for the introduction of minimum standards for paid leave, model flexible scheduling programmes in federal agencies, recognition for those businesses that already support workers' dual responsibilities to family and work and tax breaks as incentives for employers to reorganise jobs in a family-friendly fashion.
AFL-CIO Now. CLASP website and work-life balance webpages.
Getting punched: The job and family clock... It's time for flexible work for workers of all wages, Jodie Levin-Epstein, CLASP, 2006 [pdf].
GLOBAL ROUND-UP
China crisis : A new phenomenon - death from overwork or 'guolaosi' - is becoming increasingly common in China, according to China Labour Bulletin. It says the epidemic is hitting industrial and white collar workers alike, with a recent study of the life expectancy of intellectuals showing it had dropped dramatically in just a decade. China Labour Bulletin.
Europe's hours : A European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) review of the length of working time in 2004 and 2005 has found average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union as a whole remained at around 38.6 hours - 0.6 hours shorter in the old EU15 (plus Norway), and 0.9 hours longer in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averages around 1,750 hours - some 1,700 in the old EU15 (plus Norway) and 1,800 in the new Member States. Working time developments - 2005, EIRO report, 2006.
Unpaid overtime : Finnish service industry union PAM and finance and insurance union Suora are campaigning against uncompensated overtime work, which they say in the private service sector is the equivalent of over 5,000 full-time jobs. Instead of agreeing to unpaid overtime, the unions are asking workers to think of those who are unemployed or short of work. PAM news release. Trade Union News from Finland.
No vacation : The already endangered American vacation is rapidly vanishing, to the extent that 40 per cent of workers questioned at the start of the summer said they had no plans to take any holiday at all for the next six months, more than at any time since the late 1970s. The survey by the Conference Board research group, along with other recent statistics, suggests an epidemic of overwork among ordinary Americans, with a quarter of people employed in the private sector in the US getting no paid vacation at all, according to government figures. The Guardian.
Child labour : The International Labour Office (ILO) has launched a new online movie on the plight of more than 200 million child labourers worldwide. ILO says improvements are achievable, with a recent ILO report saying the number of child labourers worldwide fell by 11 per cent between 2000 and 2004, from 246 million to 218 million, an improvement it attributes to increased political will and awareness and concrete action, particularly in the field of poverty reduction and mass education. ILO news release. Web movie (in 12 languages). International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
Job satisfaction : Better jobs with more family support and autonomy lead to lower stress and an increase in job satisfaction. The US study using data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce suggested other factors, including family support, could have a more marked impact. Aequus Partners' Diversity and Flexibility e-newsletter, August 2006. Relationships among organisational family support, job autonomy, perceived control and employee well-being, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, volume 11(1), pages 100-118, 2006 [abstract].
Newsletter (6,000 words) issued 25 Aug 2006
