A new survey reveals significant variations in working conditions in Ireland according to economic sector and employment characteristics. The survey looks at employer provision of work-related benefits such as pensions, childcare subsidies and medical cover. It also examines accommodation of employee-friendly working, access to workplace training and access to employment rights according to occupation, gender, sector, age group and nationality.
The range of information available on working conditions in Ireland has been limited. In response to a request from the social partners, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) included questions on working conditions of employees in the Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) – Quarter 1 2008 (1.51MB, PDF). Only a representative sample of people in employment as an employee were asked these questions (self-employed people were excluded). Interviews were conducted face-to-face by visiting the respondent at home.
The questions on working conditions covered various work-related benefits, working arrangements, training and employment rights. These issues are examined in detail both with regard to the characteristics of employees (for example, sex, age and educational level) and the characteristics of employment (for instance, economic sector, occupation and job tenure). The survey reveals significant differences in working conditions according to employee/employment characteristics.
Employer provision of work-related benefits
A quite striking finding highlighted in the table below is that 48% of all employees said their employer provides them with no work-related benefits whatsoever. Just over half (52%) of participants said their employer provides them with at least one benefit such as a pension, crèche/childcare subsidies or medical cover.
Provision of such benefits varies considerably by economic sector. In the hospitality sector, 87% of hotel and catering staff said they did not receive any benefits from their employer. While 90% of those working in public administration benefit from an employer-funded pension scheme, the comparative figure for employees working in hotels and restaurants was just 11%. In total, just over half of those surveyed (51%) benefit from a funded pension. The figure for non-Irish nationals, at 29%, was barely half that of Irish nationals (57%).
Ireland does not have a comprehensive state-funded National Health Service (see irishhealth.com) and the receipt of medical insurance cover is largely a benefit accrued by the highest paid workers. Around 15% of employees indicated that their employer paid for health cover or they had access to a doctor.
The table below provides an overall picture of the inequalities in working conditions by giving the percentage of employees, differentiated by the characteristics of their employment, whose employer provided different types of work benefits (pension, childcare subsidy/crèche, medical plan/insurance).
Employment characteristics and work benefits (% of workers)
| | Pension | Childcare | Medical plan | Employer provides at least one benefit | Employer provides no benefits |
| All employees | 51 | 1 | 15 | 52 | 48 |
| Status | | | | | |
| Full-time | 58 | 2 | 18 | 60 | 40 |
| Part-time | 25 | 1 | 5 | 26 | 74 |
| NACE sector | | | | | |
| Agriculture | 31 | 1 | 3 | 31 | 69 |
| Other production | 56 | 1 | 29 | 59 | 41 |
| Construction | 48 | 0 | 6 | 49 | 51 |
| Wholesale and retail | 29 | 1 | 7 | 30 | 70 |
| Hotels and restaurants | 11 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 87 |
| Transport | 64 | 1 | 27 | 67 | 33 |
| Financial services | 55 | 2 | 25 | 58 | 42 |
| Public administration | 90 | 3 | 27 | 91 | 9 |
| Education | 72 | 2 | 7 | 73 | 27 |
| Health | 58 | 2 | 7 | 59 | 41 |
| Occupational group | | | | | |
| Managers | 65 | 2 | 27 | 68 | 32 |
| Professional | 71 | 2 | 18 | 74 | 26 |
| Associate professional and technical | 69 | 2 | 22 | 72 | 28 |
| Clerical | 57 | 2 | 15 | 59 | 41 |
| Craft | 45 | 1 | 13 | 46 | 54 |
| Personal services | 36 | 1 | 11 | 37 | 63 |
| Sales | 24 | 0 | 7 | 26 | 74 |
| Plant operatives | 49 | 1 | 17 | 50 | 50 |
| Job tenure | | | | | |
| Permanent | 53 | 1 | 16 | 55 | 45 |
| Rollover contract | 30 | 1 | 7 | 34 | 66 |
| Non-permanent | 13 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 86 |
| Gender | | | | | |
| Men | 54 | 1 | 19 | 55 | 45 |
| Women | 47 | 2 | 11 | 49 | 51 |
Accommodating employee-friendly working
The degree to which employers accommodate staff with employee-friendly flexible working arrangements such as paid sick leave, career breaks, flexible working time and paid leave for training also differs greatly by occupation, gender, sector, age group and nationality.
The most common arrangement is paid sick leave, with 64% of survey respondents reporting that this was available. Moreover,; 44% of respondents reported being offered paid leave for training, 36% have access to flexible work arrangements, and 28% can avail of career breaks. More women (31%) have access to career breaks if required or to flexible working arrangements (42%). However, there are no noticeable gender differences when it comes to access to paid sick leave or training leave.
Access to workplace training
A quarter of employees reported that they had participated in training provided by the employer over the previous 12 months. Men were slightly more likely to receive training than women (27% of men compared to 23% of women). Sector comparisons show that employees in financial services and public administration are best served, with 35% of those in financial and business services and 30% in public administration reporting that their employer had provided training for them in the previous year. By contrast, just 14% of those in hospitality and hotels and catering and 16% of those in the wholesale and retail trade reported receiving such training.
Access to employment rights
The survey also considered access to and knowledge of employment rights. Most employees received a regular payslip as provided for under the Payment of Wages Act 1991, but there were distinct differences according to the size of organisation; 93% of staff in larger organisations received a regular payslip compared to 70% of employees in small organisations with 10 employees or less who reported receiving a payslip.
Compliance with the Terms of Employment (Information) Act was less evident in relation to employer provision of a contract of employment; 65% of employees who started their job in the preceding two years reported receiving a contract from their employer. But only 48% of early school leavers received a contract compared with almost 80% of those with a third-level qualification.
In relation to levels of overall understanding of employment rights, 90% of employees stated that they had at least a little understanding and 42% said they understood a lot in relation to their employment rights. Just 8% of employees stated that they had no understanding.
Understanding of employment rights differs both by nationality and age. Whereas 46% of Irish nationals reported having a good understanding, this dropped to 26% for non-Irish nationals. In addition, only 22% of those aged 15–19 years and 34% of those aged 20–24 years reported a good understanding of their employment rights.
Knowledge of employment rights varies by sector, with almost 60% in public administration having good knowledge of their rights compared with 29% of staff in hotels and restaurants.
Tony Dobbins, NUI Galway