Not Just For Good Times

My article in the latest document arguing that a living wage is the way forward, my article talks about now is precisely the right time to tackle the culture of vulnerable and low-paid employment, and to put the economy on a surer footing.

NUS – Creating a fair pay culture

It remains unclear what will happen to employment opportunities for students as the recession bites and as overall unemployment figures grow. However, our experience at NUS tells us that, even before the credit crunch, students very often found themselves in insecure and vulnerable employment in which they were unfairly treated.

It seems paradoxical but now is precisely the right time to tackle the culture of vulnerable and low-paid employment, and to put the economy on a surer footing to ensure that employment practices and pay are both fair and sustainable as we look, in hope, towards recovery. Students at work today are engaged in a three way balancing act between work, study andlife. Part time work is widespread amongst fulltime students in both further education and higher education.

Joint NUS and HSBC research on the student experience from 2008 shows 75 per cent of students undertake paid employment while at university1. 46 per cent of those who work rely on paid employment to fund their basic living expenses2. As the costs of accommodation, the costs of living, and the costs of education itself have risen, more and more students have come to rely on part-time employment in order to make ends meet.

Joint NUS and TUC research from 2006 showed nearly two thirds of employed higher education students were employed in, retail, hotels, bars and restaurants3.

These are employment sectors which offer employment conditions that often fit in with student study patterns: flexible shift based work, evening and weekend hours and a low skills threshold for recruitment.

For those full-time students employed in other sectors such as health and social care, administration and construction, the majority are employed through employment agencies, many of whom who specifically target student workers for low-paid roles with limited employment rights. Student employment is principally in sectors that have already been hit hard by the recession, and with few rights to speak of, there is a danger that students are both easily dispensable and vulnerable to exploitation.

Employment while studying is also a necessity for those who study part-time in higher education, which stands at more than 40 per cent of total student numbers; indeed this is often the very reason for individuals opting to pursue this type of study. The rising costs of education have inevitably been a factor in the steady expansion of part-time study, which often leaves students juggling part or full-time jobs and caring responsibilities alongside their studies.

Those studying in further and higher education have also inevitably become rich pickings for employers seeking to expand their range of insecure and low-paid work. For instance, through the exploitation of the current structure of the national minimum wage, employers can employ young people to do the same work for less pay. Those aged between 18 and 21 are eligible only for the development rate of the minimum wage, which at £4.77 per hour is nearly a full pound less than the standard rate. Meanwhile, those aged under-18 are eligible for just £3.53 an hour and those under 18 who are part of the Government’s flagship apprenticeship programme do not qualify for the minimum wage. These are the facts but behind them lie many stories of young people trapped in vulnerable employment, struggling to make ends meet.

This unequal minimum wages compounds workplace age discrimination and, in effect, legitimises it. It also provides a disincentive to those more enlightened employers who take a long-term view, cultivating and properly rewarding their employees. Those employees will often reciprocate with loyalty, motivation and career development. In short, the recruitment and retention problems associated with high staff turnover can be tackled by the adoption of a different approach that puts employees on a new footing.

NUS believes that the national minimum wage has made a significant difference to the lives of many thousand low-paid workers. But it is now, during this recession, that we should be looking optimistically about rebuilding a stronger, more sustainable labour market where workers are supported and developed. This would not only be a positive development for those students and graduates who currently face an uncertain future, but would have benefits for employers to develop and motivate their workforce and sew the seeds of economic recovery.

There are other reasons why cultivating employees who are also students is of benefit to employers. When those students complete their courses they are more employable. If their part time employer has treated them well, that individual is more likely to look to further opportunities with that employer. Not only do these enlightened practices benefit the relationship between employer and individual, but they also improve the standing of the employer within their communities and among a wider range of potential future employees. The personal views transmitted from parent to student, graduate to student, and student to fellow student are significant factors in future choices for those leaving education, not to mention in their future consumer behaviour. Those companies who treat employees well benefit from the associated esteem and find a queue of talented people willing to use their services or to work for them. There is a strong argument that these changes must begin with and in education. The ages between 16 and 21 are for most the bridge between school education and full-time employment. It is during these stages were good practices should sprout and grow, offering a new deal for the employees of the future rather than a cynical and short-term attitude to employment.

Yet too many current employment practices take a narrow perspective, cultivating an attitude of cynicism and low aspiration among students and young people. Jobs that were once full-time and reasonably paid have increasingly been replaced by casual, temporary posts, working for contractors or agencies, and without union representation. As graduate recruiters slash the number of places on their schemes, there is a danger that a generation of graduates, saddled with debt, will become alienated once they have left education and surveyed the opportunities they are presented with. If employers are not more enlightened about the way in which they treat those in education, it will be those students and graduates who will work together to create the fair and sustainable employment opportunities they have been denied.

It will be the cynical and short-termist employers who will lose out in the end. But those employers who remain ahead of the curve and realise the huge benefits that motivating and developing their workforce will benefit in the long term.

1. NUS/HSBC, Student Experience Report 2008
2. NUS/HSBC, Student Experience Report 2008
3. NUS/TUC, All Work Low Pay, 2006

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