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Research and knowledge exchange
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  • Employment policy

Employment policy

The research group focuses on structural change in the labour market, employment policy and diversity and fairness at work at a local, national and international level.

Policies, regulations and legislation have an important influence on the supply of available workers and measures used to recruit, organise and manage employees. We examine whether strategies promote equality and foster a range of employment opportunities for different groups over the lifecycle.

Specific projects have examined:

  • Youth employment
  • Parental employment
  • Older worker employment
  • Employment regulation and worker representation
  • Fairness at work

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Exploring opportunity in the labour market with Professor Jackie O’Reilly and Dr David Lain.

Youth, parental and older worker employment

We conduct comparative research on policies to tackle youth, parental and older worker employment in the EU. We examine labour market flexibility in relation to significant life course transitions related to getting into employment, having children and later life retirement decisions.

Youth employment

Young people have been dramatically hit by the economic recession with disproportionately high levels of unemployment across Europe. Our research indicates that the skills mismatch between what employers need, what they are willing to pay for and who is available for this kind of work is most prominent at the entry point of the labour market. The research team considers the consequences of poor transitions in early working life and examines the quality of internships, traineeships, work placements, recruitment practices and training for labour market entrants.

The Santander Foundation has funded specific research into youth unemployment in Spain and the UK led by Dr David Lain. We have been awarded a large-scale FP7 research project from the European Commission on STYLE (Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe) which will be coordinated by Professor Jackie O'Reilly. For regularly updated information on the project which takes place between 2014 and 2017, visit the Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe website.

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Listen to Edward Badu from North London Citizens explain about the hopes and challenges for the STYLE project. Find out more by reading the STYLE project page.

Parental employment

Scrutinising trends for balancing work and care commitments allows us to gain a greater understanding about what enables both fathers and mothers to retain a foothold in the workplace and maintain longer-term financial security. Professor Jackie O’Reilly’s work on the Work care synergies project, funded by The Leverhulme Trust and the European Commission, focuses on international comparisons of work and welfare. In particular it examines the implications for future policies around flexible working time, pay and leave arrangements.

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Listen to Professor Jackie O'Reilly explain about this research. Find out more by reading the Work care synergies project page.

Growing levels of inequality and economic instability have challenged the basis of stable employment over the life cycle. Traditionally, vulnerable groups included both younger and older workers, those with low skills and those with caring responsibilities. The current crisis has exacerbated the risks for these groups; it also affects employees who previously thought of themselves as being in secure employment.

Older worker employment

There will be an increasing need for people to work into older age. With the abolition of the default retirement age and the rising state pension age, the UK is likely to see an increase in the numbers working beyond 65 years old.

Our research has enabled us to investigate the US experience of introducing similar legislation in the mid-1980s and consider the implications for the UK.

While these policy developments give older workers more rights, and aim to encourage people to take financial responsibility for their own retirement, evidence suggests that the poorest struggle to remain employed due to ill-health or lack of education.

Developing a pension system that does not discourage over-65s from working, but supports those who are unable to, will be one of the core challenges for employment policy in the future.

Other key issues include:

  • enhancing the quality of available jobs for older people
  • exploring the possibilities of gradual retirement as a prelude to full retirement, and
  • developing policies that can keep older people’s skills up-to-date, in a context where employers may be less willing to make investments.

Dr David Lain has worked with Professors Sarah Vickerstaff and Wendy Loretto on the Economic and Social Research Council Rethinking Retirement seminar series exploring this research area in depth. Current research examines the role of grandparents who regularly care for their grandchildren and seeks to improve understanding and explore motivations, support for and attitudes towards this role.

David Wright has also published the findings of his comparative research into employment transitions for older workers in Germany and the UK. He concludes that greater employment protection for older workers in Germany enabled the employment rate for older workers to increase even during the recent recession. Read his article in full in DIW Berlin.

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Listen to Dr David Lain, Senior Research Fellow, explaining about this research area. Find out more by reading project pages for Youth transitions into work and The transformation of retirement.

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Listen to Dr David Lain, Senior Research Fellow, explain about current research examining the role of grandparents who regularly care for their grandchildren. Find out more by reading the project page for Grandparents and childcare.

Employers seem to have a preference for older workers in lower level service work. If we are serious about extending the working life then we have to think beyond that.

Dr David Lain

Employment regulation and worker representation

Employment policy and regulation is constantly evolving. It is crucial to track, interpret and predict the impact of changes in the labour market to ensure that employees and employers are willing and able to adapt, but that they are treated fairly and their rights are respected.

Charles Barrow leads our research investigating the legal rights of trade unions to represent workers and take industrial action, in the context of national and European legislation and conventions.

We also examine organisational innovation with the development of niche identities for smaller unions in the context of large-scale mergers. Bob Smale studies the strategies they have implemented to buck the trend of falling membership.

Occupational certification is an emerging field for policy and research. This focuses on how skill attainment is achieved and recognised. These jobs include those in traditionally organised professional activities to those occupied in care, security and health work. Amy Humphris has focused on mapping occupational regulation in Europe and the US by analysing its impact on pay, skills and quality. Some of her research has particularly focused on the impact of licensing for care workers and on the quality of childcare they provide.

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Watch Bob Smale, Senior Lecturer, explaining about niche unions and employability. Find out more by reading the project page for Trade union identities and the role of niche unionism.

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Watch Amy Humphris explain about her research into occupational regulation and its impacts. Find out more by reading the project page for Occupational regulation.  

When rethinking retirement, it is crucial to consider the views of older workers, the impact of welfare policies, the role of employers and how they approach the challenge of extending working lives. Employers will have to consider how to keep older workers in employment beyond the traditional retirement age, which kinds of workers will these be and what kinds of jobs will they be doing.

Fairness at work

Research aims to advance knowledge of ‘fairness’ and related concepts across academic disciplines and in practice. Collaboration and dissemination are key to improving understanding and we have worked with fellow experts to produce seminars and conferences to harness, discuss and further current thinking.

Together with the University of Manchester, Leeds Business School and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), our researchers organised the ESRC-funded Fairness at Work Seminar Series (2010-2012). Topics explored included:

  • The concept of 'fairness' in employment, working conditions and workplaces
  • Intersectionality: from idea to implementation
  • Fairness during fiscal austerity: what does it mean for different groups of worker
  • Health, safety and dignified working conditions
  • Fair pay
  • Fair consultation and 'voice'

The ILO Regulating for Decent Work Conference brought together international researchers from law, economics, industrial relations, development studies, sociology, psychology and geography. Subjects examined included:

  • Fairness at the workplace after the crisis
  • Decent working conditions
  • Wages, inequality and economic growth
  • Enforcing decent work.

In November 2012, What is Fair Pay? ESRC Festival of Social Science Seminar focused on current trends and their implications for HR managers, employees and trade unions and looked specifically at causes and consequences of growing wage inequalities.

Following on from this event, we held a joint symposium with the Cambridge Journal of Economics entitled Equal pay: Fair pay? in June 2013 at Cambridge University. Contributions from this event were published in a special issue of the journal in 2015 to commemorate and reflect on the forty years since the implementation of British and European legislation on equal pay.

We hosted our Equal pay: A moving target seminar in March 2015 to celebrate International Women's Day and launch the publication of the Special Issue of the Cambridge Journal of Economics entitled Equal Pay as a Moving Target: International Perspectives on Forty Years of Addressing the Gender Pay Gap. In addition, we contribute to contemporary debate through our published articles.

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Listen to attendees of the What is Fair Pay? ESRC Festival of Social Science Seminar discuss fair pay and wage inequality.

Please enable targeting cookies in order to view this video content on our website, or you can watch the video on YouTube.

Watch our seminar celebrating International Women's Day and forty years since the implementation of British and European legislation on Equal Pay in 1975. Find out more by visiting our Equal pay: A moving target event page. 

 Conversation-equal

Read the article by Professor Jackie O'Reilly entitled Through the looking glass on gender pay gap transparency in The Conversation.

Local and international engagement and exchange

Our research frequently starts off with the interaction between academic research interests, policy debates and discussions with those working at the coalface of developing and delivering services. We are interested in identifying new ways in which we can communicate the value of our rigorous academic research that has relevance to those who make decisions about policy and those who have to deliver it.

Through a series of projects we have been developing, since our inception in 2010, we have sought to actively engage with local, national and international organisations to encourage fairer and more effective work places. Disseminating findings to key non-governmental organisations (NGOs), UK, European and global policymakers is an essential part of our work. We are in a process of both sharing and collectively producing research information and recommendations with organisations including Business Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Youth Forum, Working Families, the Age and Employment Network, Brighton and Hove City Council, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the European Foundation, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). We have also worked with the ILO in relation to the Regulating for Decent Work Conference as part of our projects on Fairness At Work.

Our research, to date, has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, The Leverhulme Trust, Santander Universities, and the European Commission.

For the future, the employment policy group places a strong emphasis on supporting the work of early career researchers and those with practitioner experience who are new to research.

We are particularly interested in supporting PhD students interested in engaging in these areas both within and beyond the parameters of debates which have largely been focused on countries in the northern hemisphere. We would welcome doctoral candidates who are interested in examining these questions in Arabic and Asian economies as well as from both BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) countries.

Research projects


STYLE

Grandparents and childcare

Occupational regulation

NEGOTIATE

The transformation of retirement

Trade unions identities and niche unionism

Youth transitions into work

Work care synergies

ITHACA

Effects of unemployment on different ethnic groups

Team

Dr David Lain
Professor Jackie O’Reilly
Dr Ray Bachan
Charles Barrow
Amy Humphris
Vicky Richards
Asher Rospigliosi
Bob Smale
Sue Will

Output

O'Reilly, J (2016) The fault lines unveiled by Brexit. Brexit: understanding the socio-economic origins and consequences, Socio-Economic Review, 14 (4) 807–854.

Selected publications

Refereed journal papers

Lain, D. Hadjivassiliou, K. Corral Alza, A. Isusi, I. Higgins, T. O’Reilly, J. Richards, V. Will, S. (forthcoming) ‘Evaluating Internships in terms of Governance structures: contract, duration and partnership’, European Journal of Training and Development.

Wright, D (2015) How have employment transitions for older workers in Germany and the UK changed? DIW Berlin

Barrow, C. (2013) Trade union rights in the United Kingdom and article 11 of the European Convention: past failures and future possibilities European Human Rights Law Review, 2013 (1).

O'Reilly, J., Roche J. and Nazio, T. (2013) 'Compromising Conventions: Attitudes to Families and Maternal Employment in Denmark, Poland, Spain and the UK' Work, Employment and Society. Published online

Loretto, W. Lain, D and Vickerstaff, V. (2013)‘Rethinking Retirement: Changing Realities for Older Workers and Employee Relations?’, Employee Relations, 35 (3): 248-256.

Lain, D. Loretto, W. and Vickerstaff, V. (2013) ‘Reforming State Pension Provision in ‘Liberal’ Anglo Saxon Countries: Re-commodification, Cost-containment or Recalibration?’, Social Policy and Society, 12 (1): 77-90. [Estimated 3*]

Lain, D. (2012) ‘Working past 65 in the UK and USA: Segregation into ‘Lopaq’ Occupations?’, Work, Employment and Society, 26 (1): 83-91.

O’Reilly, J. Lain, D. Sheehan, M. Smale, B. and Stuart, M. (2011) ‘Managing Uncertainty: The Crisis, its Consequences and the Global Workforce’, Work, Employment and Society 25 (4): 581-595.

Barrow, C. (2011) UK Courts, balloting requirements and the right to strike: recent developments Law Teacher, 45 (1). pp. 132-144.

Lain, D. (2011) ‘Helping the Poorest Help Themselves? Working Past 65 in England and the USA’, Journal of Social Policy, 40(3): 493-512.

O'Reilly, J., Lain, D., Sheehan, M., Smale, B. and Stuart, M. (2011) 'Managing Uncertainty: The crisis, its consequences and the global workforce', Work, Employment and Society 25(4): 581-595.

Barrow, C. (2010) The Employment Relations Act 1999 (blacklists) regulations 2010: SI 2010 No 493 Industrial Law Journal, 39 (3). pp. 300-311.

Books

Lain, D (forthcoming) Reconstructing retirement? Work and welfare past age 65 in the UK and USA. Bristol: Policy Press

O'Reilly, J. (forthcoming) Challenging the gender contract: Reforming work and welfare in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Smale, Bob and Fowlie, Julie (2009) How to Succeed at University An Essential Guide to Academic Skills and Personal Development Sage Study Skills Series. Sage, London, UK.

Recent conference presentations

Bryson, A., Forth, J., Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Koumenta, M. (2012) 'The Effects of Occupational Licensing on Wages' Paper presented at the Labor and Employment Relations Association, Chicago, January

Humphris, A. (2011) 'The Past, Present and Future of Occupational Regulation in the UK', Paper presented at the European Doctoral Workshop, London, September

Bryson, A., Forth, J., Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Koumenta, M. (2011) 'The Product and Labour Market Outcomes of Occupational Regulation in the UK', Paper presented at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics Conference, Madrid, June

Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Koumenta, M. (2010) 'The Wage Effects of Occupational Licensing: Evidence from the UK', Paper presented at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Philadelphia, June

Humphris, A. (2013), Regulated Occupations in the EU: Current Incidence and Future Prospects, Presentation at the European Commission, Directorate General Internal Market and Services, September 2013

Lain, D. (2013) “Extending the working life: Employment beyond typical retirement age”, Presentation at the European Economic and Social Committee of the European Parliament, Brussels Belgium, June, 2013.

Smale, B. (2013) ‘Beyond Homogeneity: exploring the heterogeneous identities of UK trade unions and the role of niche unionism’, Paper presented at the British Universities Industrial Relations conference, University of Strathclyde, June 2013.

Smale, B. (2013) ‘Beyond Homogeneity: exploring the heterogeneous identities of UK trade unions and the role of niche unionism’, Paper presented at the British Universities Industrial Relations conference, University of Strathclyde, June 2013.

Smale, B. (2012) ‘Five Case Studies Exploring Trade Union Identities and the Role of Niche Unions’. Paper presented at the British Universities Industrial Relations conference, University of Bradford, June 2012.

Smale, B. (2011) ‘Trade union identities & the role of niche unions’. Paper presented at the British Universities Industrial Relations conference, University of Greenwich, June 2013

Academic papers

Zuccotti, C (2015) Shaping ethnic inequalities. The production and reproduction of social and spatial inequalities among ethnic minorities in England and Wales. PhD paper.

Smale, B (2015) Trade union identities and the role of niche unionism: Exploring contemporary United Kingdom trade unions. PhD paper.

Bussi, M (2015) Straitjackets or stepping-stones? L'action institutionnelle dans le développement de l'employabilité des jeunes défavorisés. Doctoral thesis.

 

Sources/links

Please visit our Events page for an overview of our activity.

Prospects for Youth Employment in the UK An event to discuss findings from an EU-funded project (2014-2016)

STYLE: Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe An EU FP7 research project (2014-2017)

David Lain interviewed about state pension age on Voice of Russia radio (April 2012)

Rethinking retirement website An ESRC seminar series (2011–2012)

Workcare synergies An EU FP6 research project (2010–2011)

Collaborations

Institute for Employment Studies
University of Manchester Business School
Leeds Business School
University of Edinburgh Business School
University of Kent School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
London School of Economics

Funding

Economic and Social Research Council seminar series (£22,000)

The Leverhulme Trust (£192,000) Two Research Fellowships

Santander Foundation (£10,000) Youth Placements

The European Commission (€5,125,056): STYLE FP7 and Workcare synergies FP6

Awards, recognition, impact

June 2013 - 'Equal pay: fair pay? A forty-year perspective'

Jacqueline O'Reilly is one of the guest editors of the Cambridge Journal of Economics organising the Symposium 'Equal Pay: Fair Pay? A forty-year perspective'. This international symposium examined the forty years since the implementation of British and European legislation on Equal Pay with a view to publishing a Special Issue on the question of Equal Pay: Fair Pay?

November 2012 - ESRC festival of social science

What is Fair Pay? 9th November 2012
What is fair pay? Concern with equal pay has had a long and turbulent history. The financial crisis of 2008 has made these concerns even more apparent. This seminar brought together leading practitioners and researchers in the field of fair pay, reward and performance discussing current trends and their implications for HR managers and employers. The speakers were:

  • Professor Steve Machin, Research Director of the Centre for Economic Performance and member of the Low Pay Commission
  • Duncan Brown, Aon Hewitt HR Consultants for Reward and Engagement
  • Wendy Hirsh and Peter Reilly, Institute for Employment Studies
  • Professors Jill Rubery and Damian Grimshaw, Manchester Business School
  • Professor Simon Deakin, University of Cambridge and Colm McLaughlin University College Dublin
  • Professor Jacqueline O'Reilly (CROME)

April 2012 - David Lain interviewed about state pension age

David Lain from Brighton Business school was interviewed by the Voice of Russia Radio (London) on the possibility of increases to the UK state pension age. Also interviewed as part of a broader panel discussion were Ros Altmann (Pensions expert and Head of Saga), Kamaljeet Jandu (National Officer for the GMB union) and Mike Morrisson (Head of Pensions Development, AXA).

February 2012 - Activity, unpaid work and active ageing seminar

Rethinking Retirement Incomes: Inequality and Policy Change in the UK and Anglo Saxon CountriesThe issue of Social Policy and Society has a themed section on "Rethinking Retirement Incomes: Inequality and Policy Change in the UK and Anglo Saxon Countries". This stems from the ESRC Rethinking Retirement Seminar Series organised by Sarah Vickerstaff, Wendy Loretto and David Lain.

February 2011 - 3rd ESRC ‘fairness at work’ seminar

The third ESRC Fairness At Work Seminar was run in conjunction with EU Workcare synergies and focused upon Fairness During Fiscal Austerity: What Does It Mean for Different Groups? The seminar took place on the 4th February at The Work Foundation, London.

December 2010 – 2nd ESRC ‘fairness at work’ seminar

'Intersectionality: from Idea to Implementation'
The ESRC 'Fairness At Work' Seminar Series was hosted by the University of Brighton Business School with the Institute for Employment Studies and the University of Manchester, together with the EU FP6 workcare synergies project (http://workcaresynergies.eu/). The aim the seminar was to examine the concept of intersectionality in the management of equality and diversity, to understand how this concept has been institutionalised and translated into legislation and policy, and to explore the consequences of these recent legislative changes. The seminar took place on 10 December at the University of Brighton.

September 2010 - Work, Employment and Society conference

This British Sociological Association's conference for the journal Work, Employment and Society took place at the Brighton Dome and the University of Brighton. The conference theme of 'Managing Uncertainty: A New Deal?' examined the impact of the current economic turbulence on employment across the globe. Hosted by the Centre for Research on Management and Employment (CROME) at the Brighton Business School (BBS), the conference attracted over 370 delegates.

July 2010 – 1st ESRC 'Fairness at work' seminar series

The seminar series hosted by Brighton Business School together with the University of Manchester and the Institute for Employment Studies commenced on the 9 July at the University of Manchester with the concept of ‘fairness’ in the employment contract and working conditions. Speakers include:

  • Professor Simon Deakin (University of Cambridge) The Capability Approach and Fairness at Work
  • Dr Sangheon Lee (International Labour Office) Decent Work as a Policy Research Framework: potentials, achievements and challenges
  • Professor Andrew Sayer (University of Lancaster) Contributive Justice, Capabilities and Equal Opportunity in Employment
  • Dr Anne-Marie Greene (Warwick Business School) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity
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