Search
Close this search box.

Long-hours culture tops list of workers’ concerns

Long-hours culture tops list of workers’ concerns

When it comes to concerns about fairness on the job, the majority of British workers are unhappy with late working and management pay, but are open minded on flexible working arrangements for parents and support bosses who ban social media access at work, according to a poll commissioned by Middlesex University London.

Nearly seven out of ten workers (66 percent) believe working late when necessary without extra pay is unfair and around half believe management level wages and positive discrimination – such as quotas for employing a certain number of women and ethnic minorities – are unfair by 53 percent and 48 percent respectively. Of the respondents, Londoners were most concerned about positive discrimination, with 58 percent suggesting it was unfair in comparison to 41 percent in Scotland. The poll also found that only one in three people (31 percent) believe that closing final salary pension schemes are fair.

Workers are far more open minded about flexible working opportunities for parents, with over seven out of ten (74 percent) seeing it as a fair working practice. The YouGov Poll was commissioned to coincide with Middlesex University’s Fairness Conference from 21-23 May, where speakers including economics commentator Will Hutton will discuss the issue of fairness in society. His speech on fairness in capitalism opens the event, which also features keynote speeches from human rights champion Bianca Jagger, Lib Dem peer Baroness Sharp of Guildford and Conservative MP John Redwood.

Unfair working practices according to the survey: Working late without extra pay – 66 percent of workers feel this is unfair; Management-level staff being paid much higher wages – 53 percent of workers feel this is unfair; Positive discrimination (i.e. quotas for employing a certain number of, for example, women and ethnic minorities), 48 percent of workers feel this is unfair; Closing final salary pension schemes, 45 percent of workers feel these are unfair. Fair working practices: Flexible working arrangements allowed for parents, only 16 percent feel this is unfair; Not being able to access social networking websites at work, only 12 percent feel this is unfair.

Read more

Latest News

Read More

Rise in recruitment fraud must urgently be checked

28 March 2024

Newsletter

Receive the latest HR news and strategic content

Please note, as per the GDPR Legislation, we need to ensure you are ‘Opted In’ to receive updates from ‘theHRDIRECTOR’. We will NEVER sell, rent, share or give away your data to third parties. We only use it to send information about our products and updates within the HR space To see our Privacy Policy – click here

Latest HR Jobs

University of Cambridge – Judge Business SchoolSalary: £32,332 to £38,205 pa, pro rata

University of Cambridge – Judge Business SchoolSalary: £29,605 to £33,966 pa, pro rata

University of Oxford – Blavatnik School of GovernmentSalary: Grade 5: £28,759 – £33,966 per annum (with a discretionary range to £37,099)

Software Development Director (Exec Team Seat). Remote Working with Ellesmere Port Office-Based Minimum 1 Day Per Week. + Contribution towards membership fees. £120,000 – £140,000

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE

Read the latest digital issue of theHRDIRECTOR for FREE