Fairness at Work Research Group Fair treatment, diversity and well-beingDr Helge Hoel

Manchester Business SchoolThe University of ManchesterBooth Street WestM15 6PB

tel +44 (0)161 275 6333helge.hoel@mbs.ac.ukfairnessatwork@mbs.ac.ukwww.mbs.ac.uk/research/fairness-at-work.aspx

The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PLRoyal Charter Number RC000797J2576 10.09

Forthcoming researchBelow are some projects being pursued by members of the Group:

l disability and experience of sexual harassmentl sexual orientation and workplace bullyingl managing HRM across organisational boundariesl migrant workers in the labour marketl care workers in the NHSl older workers in service industriesl dignity at work in the transport sector.

The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester has a 180 year record ofexcellence. It is the largest single site university in the UKand one of the largest in Europe with over 35,000students. The University has an exceptional record ofgenerating and sharing new ideas and innovations and canlay claim to 23 Nobel Prize winners. The Fairness at WorkResearch Group involves academics from variousdepartments and schools such as Manchester BusinessSchool, the School of Law, the School of Social Sciences,the School of Environment and Development and others.

60% of people think balancing work and family life isharder for women now than it was 30 years ago andmost people think it will be harder in 10 years time (EOC, 2007).

Those with a disability or long-term illness; gay, lesbian orbisexual employees; and members of ethnic minorities aremore likely to have experienced unfair treatment at work(Fair Treatment at Work Survey, DTI, 2005).

Engaged workers perform better, are more likely torecommend their organisation to others, take less sickleave and are less likely to quit than non-engagedworkers. However, just 35% of employees are engagedwith their work (CIPD, 2006).

This new research group at the University of Manchesterhas been established to develop cross-disciplinary researchon fair treatment, diversity and wellbeing at work. Fairnessat work concerns not only employees and trade unions butalso policy makers and the business community. Changes inwork and employment are being introduced at a timewhen traditional collective safeguards against unfairtreatment are in decline and even though new forms ofregulation are emerging at both national and Europeanlevel, there is a need for a rethink of policy and practice toaddress new challenges. These include, amongst others;the changing nature of stress at work in a service economy,the increasing need to reconcile work and family life, therising problem of working poverty, new forms of socialdisadvantage such as migrant labour, the spread of bullyingand harassment to an increasing range of occupations andthe problems of developing employee voice amongstgroups excluded from traditional collective organisation.

The Fairness at Work Research Group draws on a strongtrack record in internationally-recognised publicationscovering issues such as gender and diversity; workplacehealth, stress and well-being; dignity at work, bullyingand harassment; voice and representation; pay, workingtime and human resource management (HRM).

This research is disseminated not only in high quality academicjournals and books but also in practitioner reports throughtraining and consultancy for a range of organisations andprofessional bodies in both private and public sectors.Examples of the organisations we have worked with include:

l The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Developmentl The Institute of Occupational Safety and Healthl The Department for Business, Innovation and Skillsl The Trades Union Congressl The European Trade Union Institutel The International Labour Organisationl The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Servicel The Equality and Human Rights Commissionl The European Social Fundl The European Commissionl The Council of Europe.

We are developing an active seminar series addressing keystrategic issues and developments in relation to fairness atwork. We have an active PhD programme, with studentsdirectly engaged with the Group.

Current and recent research

Our work covers a variety of research themes, including:

l dignity at work/bullying and harassment: the roleof the legal system in addressing bullying; effectiveness of bullying intervention; bullying, power and control;global perspectives of bullying; abuse by customers;dignity at work and emotional labour

l gender and diversity: the impact of a mentoringprogramme on nursing careers; the issue of olderworkers; female black and minority ethnic workers’experience of sexual harassment; e-coaching andskills/training

l pay, working time, HRM: HRM in the health sector;HRM across organisational boundaries; recruitment and retention of care workers; decent work; andminimum wages

l voice and representation: embedding employeeinvolvement in the workplace; trade union learningrepresentatives

l workplace health, stress and well-being: health and safety cultures; stress and call centre workers; the impact of emotions and stress; commitment atwork; and workplace stress.

In 2007, nearly one in three adult workers aged 22 or overwere low paid, a figure that was even worse for womenand for workers from ethnic minorities (ILO, 2008).

Bullying and harassment cost the NHS more than £325million a year (The Department of Health, 2008).

Full-time female employees earn on average 83% ofaverage hourly earnings of male full-time employees,female part-timers earn on average 62% of averagehourly earnings of male part-timers (EOC, 2007).