Events archive
The Work and Equalities Institute has an archive of seminars, lectures and conferences.
Conferences
11 September 2018
TUC 150th Anniversary Congress, Manchester
Work and Equalities: Futures and Challenges
This fringe event took place as part of the TUC's 150th anniversary celebrations in Manchester. Using research undertaken by the Work and Equalities Institute at The University of Manchester, the meeting discussed how equality at work has been challenged and undermined by recent political developments.
Speakers including Professors Jill Rubery, Miguel Martinez Lucio and Debra Howcroft reflected on how the discourse of equality remains central to a labour movement agenda and how its reinvention in the age of Uberisation, Brexit and Trump is both necessary and possible.
10-11 September 2018
Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester
The WEI Fourth Fairness at Work Conference 2018
Justice at work: Challenges and possibilities
2018 FairWRC conference programme
12-13 September 2016
Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester
The Third International Fairness at Work Conference 2016
Fairer futures: Understanding standards and practices at work in a challenging global context
2016 FairWRC conference programme
11-12 September 2014
Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester
The Second International Fairness at Work Conference 2014
Reconstructing fairness: The contested terrain of fairness and decency at work
2014 2nd FairWRC conference programme
6-7 September 2012
Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester
Fairness at Work Research Centre International Conference
Fairness at work in challenging times
2012 FairWRC conference programme
Lectures and policy events
Work and Equalities Institute Fifth Annual Lecture: Why do workers leave the labour force? Pandemic-era work transitions in the US and Germany
Prof Ian Greer, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University
Abstract
Once celebrated as a powerful engine of job creation, the US labour market has performed poorly over the past two decades. Unemployment rates have become increasingly volatile, unemployment durations have become longer, and labour force participation has declined. In this talk I examine some of the reasons for this change, drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study of US and German workers who experienced a spell of unemployment during the pandemic. I argue that some of the US’s more illiberal institutions create severe barriers to workers attempting to make transitions to work, and that supports such as unemployment insurance fail to compensate.
About the speaker
Ian Greer directs the ILR Ithaca Co-Lab and is a Research Professor. He carries out engaged research and teaching in Ithaca and the surrounding region. Before he moved to Ithaca he worked for nearly 10 years based in England, first as a Research Fellow at Leeds University and then as Professor of Comparative Employment Relations and Director of the Work and Employment Research Unit at the University of Greenwich. He has had visiting positions in Aix-en-Provence, Berlin, Cologne, Chemnitz, Jena, Paris, and Sydney.
Ian uses qualitative comparative methods to examine marketization and its effects in industrial relations and welfare states. His early work explored how German and US trade unions were coping with intensified price-based competition, through international solidarity, collective bargaining, coalitions with civil society, and organizing the unorganized. Over the years he has extended this line of questioning to examine the way that managers and policymakers stage competition across Europe, in multinational automakers, welfare-to-work schemes, social work, health care, ports, and music.
Annual Lecture 2022 - Can workers be organised if the state isn't? Digitalisation, work and employment in emerging and developing economies
Prof Fang Lee Cooke, Monash Business School, Monash University.
Abstract
The role of the state in work and employment has traditionally been examined primarily at the macro level, focusing on its role as a regulator and employer in the context of employment relations. The role of the state, directly and indirectly, in shaping work and employment in the digitally-enabled business environment has remained insufficiently understood, particularly in less well-regulated economies. Informed by the recently renewed research interest in the role of the state and governance theory, and drawing on empirical evidence of recent development in the emerging and developing economy context, this presentation explores the role of the state as a key institutional actor in shaping the adoption of digital technology at macro and micro levels, with implications for work, employment and human resource management across different sectors and segments of workforce. It examines the role of the state in promoting the adoption of digital technology in businesses on the one hand, and how its social policy may impact firms’ decision in their automation and labour strategy on the other, with broader and, in some cases, significant social implications in the longer term. While not advocating statism, this presentation calls for more research attention to develop a more nuanced understanding of the diverse roles of the state at various levels and across business sectors in the light of its strategic goals and capability. It also highlights the need for state intervention in regulating new forms of labour strategy, such as that found in the digital platform economy in China.
About the speaker
Fang Lee Cooke is Distinguished Professor of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Asia Studies at Monash Business School, Monash University, Australia. She is also a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Fang’s recent research projects include: Chinese firms in Africa and their employment/HRM practices and labour relations; employee resilience, HRM practices and engagement in the finance sector in the Asian region; the evolution of industrial relations and implications for foreign firms in South Asia; organizational practices and management models in the care sector; HRM in the care sector, including healthcare, aged care and disability care; digitalization and implications for skill, employment and HRM; energy transition and future of work; and the role of multinational firms in sustainable development.
Annual Lecture 2021 - The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work
Dr Uma Rani, Research Department, International Labour Office.
The lecture is now available to view via YouTube.
Abstract
Technological innovation is transforming every part of our lives. The ability to quickly and cheaply exchange large amounts of data and information has laid the foundations for the rise of the digital economy and digital labour platforms. Businesses and consumers have embraced this transformation in both developed and developing countries, as services and goods are delivered in ways that are cheaper and more convenient. Digital labour platforms are now part of our everyday lives.
This transformation extends to the world of work. Digital labour platforms offer new markets for businesses and more income-generating opportunities for workers, including those who were previously outside the labour market. Such platforms are leading to changes not just to the organization of enterprises and work processes but also the relationship between workers and businesses.
In this talk, Dr Uma Rani will discuss some of the challenges raised, including the impact of digital platforms on traditional businesses and the working conditions of platform workers.
About the speaker
Uma Rani is Senior Economist at the Research Department of the International Labour Office. She is a Development Economist and has conducted research in informal economy, minimum wages and social policies. Since 2016, her research focuses on transformations in the digital economy, wherein she explores how labour and social institutions interact with public policies and can provide decent working conditions to workers.
She has recently coordinated the publication of the ILO flagship report, World Employment and Social Outlook 2021: The role of digital labour platforms in transforming the world of work.
Annual Lecture 2019 - Young women and men and the future of work and family formation
Professor Marian Baird, University of Sydney
Abstract
Most literature and public debate on the future of work revolves around the impact of technology, potential for job loss, changes in work design and new concepts of organisation and leadership. There is much less analysis of the gendered implications of work and labour market change. Using survey data from the Australian Working Women’s Future project, with a sample of 2,100 women and 500 men, augmented with focus group data from women in high and low skill, secure and precarious jobs, this presentation will focus on the experiences and expectations of young workers (16-40 year-olds) in Australia.
The results highlight the discrepancies between women’s and men’s current experiences at work and some similarities in how they foresee the future of work and family formation. Our survey data show a convergence between men and women who are parents and young women who are not parents stating the importance for their futures of flexibility and work-family leave policies. Our qualitative data suggest having children is considered in similar ways by young women, regardless of skill level and job security, with the opportunity cost of childbearing versus work, and costs associated with child care and housing rating high in their considerations. These results portend a change in gender relations amongst younger working parents and have implications for policy at state and firm levels about work and family formation.
About the speaker
Marian Baird AO became Professor of Gender and Employment Relations in 2009, distinguishing her as the first female professor in industrial relations at the University of Sydney. In 2018 Marian is a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney. She is Head of the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies and Co-Director of the Women, Work and Leadership Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. Marian is one of Australia's leading researchers in the fields of women, work and care. She is CI on a number of significant research grants, including the Centre of Excellence on Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) and The Australian Women’s Work Futures project. Marian is a very engaged researcher, working with many government departments, organisations, unions and not-for-profits to improve the position for women in the workforce and society.
Policy discussion - The reality of wellbeing: beyond a fad and fascination
Friday, 22 November 2019
The labour market, nature of work, businesses and leaders all play a role in protecting or damaging, the health and wellbeing of individuals, and companies increasingly recognise the value of paying attention to employee health and wellbeing. More than ever before we see open recognition of the value of positive mental health. However, changes in the nature of work (e.g. the gig economy), and workforce demographics (e.g. an ageing workforce), raise new challenges in terms of how to protect the health and wellbeing of the UK workforce. Furthermore, there is considerable uncertainty in the current political climate, and potential threats to employment and worker rights in the future which mean the progress made to date in terms of protecting health and wellbeing at work might be hindered.
What does this mean in terms of how health and wellbeing is viewed? What are current approaches to workplace health and wellbeing? What is the future of health and wellbeing?
The session will reflect on these questions and discuss the possibilities and risks related to health and wellbeing given the changes described above. There will be discussion of a number of health and wellbeing initiatives and developments in terms of both research and policy.
Speakers include:
- Dr Sheena Johnson (presenter) Work and Equalities Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School
- Prof Miguel Martinez Lucio (chair and discussant) Work and Equalities Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School
- Steve Craig (panel member) Unite the Union
- Prof David Holman (panel member) Professor of Organisational Psychology, Alliance Manchester Business School
Policy discussion - Developing decent work: issues and challenges in the case of Greater Manchester
Wednesday, 22 May 2019
The labour market and nature of work are changing at an alarming rate due to factors such as globalisation, the impact of de-regulation and the complexity of new technologies. We are seeing greater dualism and fragmentation in terms of employment, and the reach of the state and public policy is being challenged within such a context. However, public institutions at the local level are increasingly being seen as important platforms for re-regulating employment relations and standards. There is growing interest in the role that city and regional level public institutions can play in re-engineering a return to ‘decent’ labour standards: this is an emerging view being generated within the nation state, the European level and even the ILO.
Yet what does this mean in terms of establishing positive labour standards and reversing the shift to poor or bad employment practices? What are the challenges of utilising the local tiers of the state as a vehicle for decent work in terms of its organisational capacity, political diversities, and changing links to the European Union?
The session will reflect on these questions and discuss the possibilities and risks related to this new direction in establishing labour and employment standards. There will be specific discussion of a number of emerging initiatives and developments both in Greater Manchester and further afield, including local employment charters, the role of local councils in providing decent work, the use of public procurement for setting minimum standards in supply chains, and the changing nature of social dialogue with city-based organisations.
Speakers and discussants include:
- Dr Sheena Johnson (also chairing) Work and Equalities Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School
- Ian MacArthur Head of Strategic Relationships, GM Business Growth Hub
- Dr Mat Johnson Work and Equalities Institute, Alliance Manchester Business School
- Lynn Collins North West TUC
- Stephen Overell Greater Manchester Combined Authority
2018 WEI Annual Lecture
Thursday 24 May 2018
Seminars and events 2022-23
Regulating low wages: A comparison of policy patterns and outcomes
Georg Picot, Professor in Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, Norway
Abstract
The paper provides a comparative analysis of three central policies to regulate low wages: statutory minimum wages, state support for collective bargaining, and topping up low wages with public transfers (in-work benefits). We map the variation of these policies across 33 OECD countries and analyze how they affect the incidence of low-wage employment. We find three configurations of low-wage policy. In the first type, “wage scale protection”, governments put most emphasis on supporting collective bargaining. In the second, “bare minimum”, there is not much else than the statutory minimum wage. In the third, “state pay”, the statutory minimum wage is supplemented by sizeable public financial support for low earners. When analyzing policy outcomes, it is clear that “wage scale protection” is the best model in containing low-wage employment. In “bare minimum” models much depends on the level of the statutory minimum wage. Although “state pay” models help with disposable income they exacerbate the incidence of low pay.
Siri Hansen Pedersen, University of Bergen.
Georg Picot, University of Bergen.
About the speaker
Georg Picot is Professor in Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is specialized in comparative political economy and comparative welfare state research. In his current research project, he analyses how states regulate wages, in particular the politics of regulating low-wage employment (funded by a FRIPRO Young Research Talents Grant from the Research Council of Norway). His research appeared in several disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals, including British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, Journal of European Social Policy, Socio-Economic Review, and Industrial Relations Journal. In 2012 he published the monograph Politics of Segmentation: Party Competition and Social Protection in Europe (Routledge). Before Bergen, Georg held positions at the University of Manchester, University of Oxford, and University of Heidelberg.
Full details can be downloaded here.
The Social organization of ideas in employment relations
Marco Hauptmeier, Professor of International Human Resource Management, Cardiff Business School, University of Cardiff
Abstract
This seminar compares how the United States and Germany deregulated labour markets between the 1980s and 2010s in response to the rise of neoliberalism. Building on literature with a focus on ideas and national knowledge regimes, the authors argue that the trajectories of labour market deregulation across the two countries are explained by the distinct social organization of ideas. The latter refers to the actors and institutions involved in the production and dissemination of ideas (including think tanks and public research institutes), their access and ways of communicating to political elites and electorates, levels of shared academic standards across the political divide, and related degrees of competition or cooperation in the production of new knowledge and policy ideas. Moving beyond previous employment relations literature with a focus on institutions and power, the article breaks new theoretical ground by demonstrating how the social organization of ideas is a key intermediary in explaining employment relations change and continuity.
About the speaker
Marco’s research in the area of international and comparative employment relations focuses on collective actors, including labour unions, European Works Councils and employer organisations, inquiring how collective action is possible and results in collaborative advantages. He won an ESRC Future Research Leader grant for a study on UK employer organisations and his current project, funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation, extends this research to the European level, focusing on European employer organisations.
Full details can be downloaded here.
Resolving the creative paradox: A mixed methods study on labour in the creative industries
Petar Marceta AIAS-HSI Institute, University of Amsterdam
Abstract
One of the key contradictions in the contemporary world of work can be found between the rising expectations from and values ascribed to work (such as self-expression and autonomy) and the flexibilization and de-standardization of work, which are exposing a growing number of workers to precarity, making these expectations and values less attainable. This study investigates these contradictions in the Creative Industries, which are often thought to be at the forefront of such developments. Here we consider the “creative paradox”, a situation where creative work is at once a source of satisfaction and desirability and insecurity and adverse working conditions.
The first part of the mixed methods study is concerned with the question what are the preferences of creative workers in terms of their working conditions, and it is comprised of a vignette survey of (self)employed designers and architects in Netherlands (n=129). The study finds a clear preferences among creative workers for non-material values of work such as autonomy and self-expression, compared to material rewards such as pay and benefits, even when controlled for levels of precarity experienced by respondents.
The second part of study explores the question of how creative workers seek to fulfil their preferences in spite of the precarious conditions they are exposed to, by using semi-structured interviews with designers and architects in the Netherlands and UK. The study discusses three key mechanisms, their potential as well as obstacles: entrepreneurial labour, boundary work and collective action, arguing that while creative workers are oriented towards individualistic responses, a potential for collective action remains.
About the speaker
Petar Marceta is a PhD candidate at the AIAS-HSI Institute at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His main research interests are the contemporary transformations and crises of capitalism and its implications for labour and collective action. He has previously written on the platform economy and trade unions, and his current research focuses on labour issues in the creative industries, in particular in the architecture and design sectors.
Work-related violence and aggression - Violence and harassment against domestic workers in Mexico
Fernanda Teixeira, WEI, Alliance Manchester Business School
Domestic workers – the vast majority are women – are among the workers most vulnerable to verbal, physical and sexual violence and harassment at work. The lack of co-workers and labour inspection not only make domestic workers’ workplaces (private homes) unique but also contribute to making them particularly vulnerable to violent conduct by employers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, with many workers being forced to spend more time with their employers and some workers being prevented from leaving their workplaces, cases of work-related abuse, aggression, humiliation, discrimination, deprivation, and intimidation multiplied and gained greater media attention. Based on interviews with domestic workers and newspaper content analysis, I discuss how the pandemic resulted in the deterioration of domestic workers’ labour experiences in Mexico. I argue that more than a problem of individual “bad” employers, violence and harassment against domestic workers are deeply rooted in the social devaluation that plagues this occupation.
Fernanda Teixeira is a PhD researcher at WEI. Her research examines the changes and continuities in the work and employment conditions of domestic workers in Mexico during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of digital labour platforms. She is particularly interested in issues related to labour exploitation, violence and harassment in the domestic work sector.
Third-party work-related violence and aggression
Sheena Johnson, Kara Ng
Third-party work-related violence and aggression (WVA) describes mistreatment from non-colleague contacts such as clients, customers, or members of the public. Workers subject to WVA often experience mental and physical health problems; these effects can go on to harm the organisation, e.g. many affected workers report higher turnover intention. The problem is particularly prevalent in sectors where employees regularly interact with the public (e.g. retail, healthcare). Worryingly, there is evidence that WVA has risen with the advent of COVID-19.
To address a lack of understanding of third-party WVA, we developed a collaborative research project with the Health and Safety Executive to investigate the extent of third-party WVA in Great Britain and find ways to improve reporting. Three workshops, and interviews with sector representatives have been completed. Findings suggest a rise in third-party WVA even prior to COVID-19, which has exacerbated the severity of incidents. Many representatives reported that workers fail to report incidents for several reasons, including: confusion over complex reporting systems; a lack of time at work to report; and beliefs that WVA is ‘part of the job’ and nothing will be done. Representatives shared organisational barriers and offered solutions to overcome them.
Dr Sheena Johnson is Professor of Work Psychology and Wellbeing at Alliance Manchester Business School, and an Occupational and Chartered Psychologist registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. Her research focusses on health and wellbeing at work, and the ageing workforce.
Dr Kara Ng is a Presidential Fellow in Organisational Psychology at Alliance Manchester Business School. Her research focuses on understanding workplace mistreatment, particularly workplace bullying. She is especially interested how bystanders can influence the progression of mistreatment.
Seminars and events 2021-22
Does work still pay? Unpaid labour regimes, precarious work and strategies of reputation in the platform economy
Valeria Pulignano, Professor of Sociology, Center for Sociological Research (CESO), KU Leuven
Abstract
How does unpaid labour account for precarious work within labour platforms? This paper answers this question by focusing on the platforms’ market strategies of reputation and examines how they are deployed through digital technologies within platforms. By drawing on a comparison of on-location (food delivery) and online (freelancing) platforms in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, which relies on a multi-method research design consisting of work-focused narrative interviews and working diaries with workers and freelancers in labour platforms, the paper explains how precarious work unfolds from the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ regimes of unpaid, which re-commodify or de-commodify labour by affecting the autonomy of the employees in the conduct of their work. We illustrate this is due to these regimes relying on platforms’ strategies of reputation, which shape employees’ access to work, and which result from different forms of embeddedness of the digital technologies within the ‘triadic’ employees, customers and platforms relationships.
About the speaker
Valeria Pulignano is Professor of Sociology at the Center for Sociological Research (CESO) at KU Leuven. Her research lies in employment (industrial) relations and labour markets, their changing nature and implications for voice at work, precarious work and inequality as differences in wages, working conditions, job quality and wellbeing at a comparative level in Europe. She is currently coordinating an ERC AdG ResPecTMe research project on “Resolving Precariousness: Advancing the Theory and Measurement of Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Continuum” see https://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/wo/erlm/respectme and she is also Partner in the EU WorkYP “Working and Yet Poor”. Her recent books include Shifting Solidarities. (2020, Palgrave-MacMillan) with I. Van Hoyweghen and G. Meyers and Reconstructing Solidarity (2018, Oxford University Press) with Doellgast V. and Lillie N.
Impact and engagement internal seminar - How to translate research work into something that will engage the wider public
Session led by Debra Howcroft, Aristea Koukiadaki, Sheena Johnson and and Mat Johnson - Wednesday, 26 January 2022.
Seminars and events 2017-21
WEI seminar series 2020-21
Thursday, 4 February 2021
Society of Occupational Medicine and Public Health England webinar series 3
Managing job insecurity and creating better quality work
What is poor quality work? We know that poor quality work that is precarious, and insecure can be more damaging to health than unemployment. This section of the working population is likely to increase during the pandemic and its aftermath. These workers are also often left out of wellbeing initiatives and any initiative of support is often hard to access. There is no sick pay for these workers so the risk of presenteeism and associated health risks is greater.
Speakers included Jill Rubery.
20 May 2020
Original thinking webinar
AMBS webinar and podcast
With more than six million UK workers now having their wages paid by the state and 800,000 employers using the government's job retention scheme, just how viable is the scheme in the long-run? Is it feasible to extend the scheme beyond its current cut-off date of the end of June, and if so how should the government be looking to adapt and extend the scheme further? Likewise, what future shape should other employment protection measures taken in the wake of COVID-19, such as help for the self-employed, now take as we come out of lockdown?
Jill Rubery took part in an original thinking webinar debating the viability of the government's job retention scheme in the long-run, and related questions.
WEI seminar series 2019-20
Wednesday, 15 June 2020
Engaging with employers to reduce workplace inequalities for parents and carers: the case of the flexible working toolkit
Liz Atkinson, senior project officer, and Rebecca Harris, employer engagement officer, Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations.
Liz Atkinson and Rebecca Harris discussed the approach of the GMCVO to promoting flexible working for parents and carers returning to the workforce in Greater Manchester. The session introduced the flexible working toolkit that GMCVO co-produced with a range of employers and returners in the Greater Manchester region. The toolkit can be found here.
- Read more about the webinar and speakers
- Download the presentation slides
- View the webinar recording
Wednesday, 27 November 2019
Fungibility and social difference: (re)producing migrant labour's differential 'disposability' in the Czech Republic's export manufacturing sector.
Dr Hannah Schling, Lecturer in Human Geography, Queen Mary University of London
Wednesday, 13 November 2019
Law and legalities in everyday working life: towards a co-constitutive theory
Dr Eleanor Kirk, Research Associate, University of Glasgow School of Law
Wednesday, 30 October 2019
Worker power is a relationship, not a resource: Evidence and implications for practice on and beyond the docks
Dr Katy Fox-Hodess, Lecturer in Employment Relations, Sheffield University Management School
Organisational Psychology Group with the Work and Equalities Institute
Tuesday, 22 October 2019
The impact of work on (un)healthy ageing: How to reduce social inequalities?
Professor Yohannes Siegrist, University of Düsseldorf, Germany
ManReg with the Work and Equalities Institute
Thursday, 10 October 2019
A poverty of labour law? Minimum wage erosion in care work
Professor Lydia Hayes, Kent Law School, University of Kent
Wednesday, 9 October 2019
Levelling the playing field: Towards a critical-social perspective on digital entrepreneurship
Dr Angela Martinez Dy, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Loughborough University London
WEI seminar series 2018-19
Wednesday, 26 September 2018
‘Digital Taylorism’: What scope for collective bargaining at company level? Evidence from the logistics sector?
Dr Karen Jaehrling, Institute for Work, Skills and Training, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
‘It’s a Big Brother type thing’: Technology and the labour process in parcel delivery in the UK
Professor Kirsty Newsome
Wednesday, 7 November 2018, 3.30-5pm (coffee/tea at 4.15pm)
Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B4
Bridge over troubled waters: A sociological investigation into the use of housecleaning services in a South African context
David Du Doit, University of Johannesburg
Wednesday, 5 December 2018, 3.30-5pm (coffee/tea at 4.15pm)
Alliance Manchester Business School East, Room B4
Methodological possibilities and challenges in studying diversity and intersectionality in the retail sector
Professor Catherine Cassell, University of Birmingham
Date: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School East B7
‘An unequal opportunity? Female academics’ experiences of research evaluation in the UK'
Dr Emily Yarrow, University of Edinburgh Business School
Date: Wednesday, 6 February 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School 3.008
Young workers and local economic development strategies in Greater Manchester
Dr Edward Yates, Sheffield University Management School
Date: Monday, 11 March 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School 2.065 Pod A
Understanding the gender gap in multiple job holding
Professor Alison Preston, University of Western Australia
Date: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School 3.008
The struggle for remedy and rights
Dr Jean Jenkins, Cardiff Business School
Date: Wednesday, 3 April
Time: 15:00 - 16:00 Hrs
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School 4.020
In conjunction with the Organisational Psychology Group
What shapes the design of jobs?
Dr Anja Van den Broeck, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven
Date: Wednesday, 8 May 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School 3.008
Psychic income: Working for nothing in the creative industries
Prof Irena Grugulis, Leeds University Business School
Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2019
Time: 15:30 - 17:00 Hrs (coffee/tea at 15:15)
Venue: Alliance Manchester Business School G.013
Financialization, work, and inequalities: the case of Italy
Dr Angelo Salento, Universita del Salento, Lecce
WEI seminar series 2017-18
Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Disclosing versus concealing a mental health problem at work: what do we know and where do we go from here?
Professor Laurent Lapierre (University of Ottowa)
Wednesday, 2 May 2018
Gender equality in the Australian public service: examining mechanisms for change
Dr Sue Williamson (University of NSW, Canberra)
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Revisiting the ‘Japanization of British Industry: The contemporary state of shop-steward organisation in the UK car industry
Dr Niall Cullinane (Queen’s University Belfast)
Wednesday, 22 March 2018
National approaches to innovation: Robotics and the implications for work
Professor Caroline Lloyd (Cardiff)
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Strategies for flexibility in a disconnected world
Professor Stephen Procter (Newcastle)
Discussants: Professor Jill Rubery (MCR) and Dr Andrew Smith (Bradford)
Wednesday, 8 November 2017
Work, health and stress: some observations
Professor Tarani Chandola (The University of Manchester)
Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Honoured in the breach: unpaid wages as a business model
Nick Clark (Middlesex University Business School)
Wednesday, 11 October 2017
Women in the workplace: the difference a generation makes
Sally Brett (Middlesex University Business School)
Policy discussion 2021
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on working women
Date: Tuesday 27 April 2021
Time: 13:00 - 14:30
Registration: Eventbrite
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on work and working lives, and there is a recognised need to consider the issue of differential impacts across demographic groups. This event hosted by the Work and Equalities Institute will consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working women looking at issues such as equality at work, flexible work, parental support, and pregnant workers.
Women, employment and parental support in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This presentation is based on comparative research undertaken during the first wave of COVID-19 that reviewed the potential impact of the pandemic from a gender perspective. In particular, the presentation focuses on the special arrangements that were put in place by European governments to assist parents who were unable to work due to school and nursery closures. These arrangements are examined in terms of the extent to which they support gender equality.
Isabel Tavora, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Manchester Alliance Business School and a member of the Work and Equalities Institute. Her research focuses on comparative employment policy, collective bargaining, gender equality and work-family reconciliation. Isabel chairs the School’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Rubery, J. and Távora, I. (2021)‘The COVID-19 crisis and gender equality: risks and opportunities’ in Vanhercke B., Spasova S. and Fronteddu B. (eds.) Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2020. Facing the pandemic, Brussels, European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) and European Social Observatory (OSE).
Unsafe and unsupported: pregnant workers in the pandemic.
Pregnant women were identified as a vulnerable group early in the pandemic, however, measures to protect and support this group of women at work were slow to materialise and inadequate. This includes health and safety protection, the operation of the furlough scheme and support for the self-employed, and protection against discrimination in the economic downturn
Ros Bragg is Director of Maternity Action, the UK charity campaigning to promote, protect and strengthen maternity rights in the areas of employment, social security and healthcare. Ros has led the organisation since its inception in 2008, pursuing campaigns to challenge maternity discrimination in the workplace, to end charging vulnerable migrants for NHS maternity care and to reduce maternal health inequalities. She has worked in the voluntary sector and civil service in the UK and Australia.
Work after lockdown: Will the future of work be fair, inclusive and flexible?
This presentation presents the learnings about working-from-home under the first UK national lockdown from research undertaken by the ESRC funded Work After Lockdown project. Work After Lockdown is a longitudinal project exploring whether working-from-home under COVID-19 lockdown is changing how people want to work in the future, and how organisations respond. Individual experiences of the period of rapid adjustment from office-based to entirely home-based working is examined using employee interviews and data from a new national worker well-being survey; and organisational case studies in commercial Law firms and Local Authorities offer insight into how effectively organisations managed the transition and supported diverse workforce needs. The implications for people-management skills, diversity and inclusion policy and practices, and flexible working are highlighted.
Zoe Young, Director of Half the Sky and Co-investigator, Work After Lockdown, culminating in the report Working from home under COVID-19 lockdown: Transitions and tensions. Zoe combines academic work with consultancy and advises large, complex organisations on inclusive and flexible work design.
Discussant: Sian Elliott, Women’s Equality Policy Officer at the TUC.
Sian Elliott is an experienced policy officer specialising in women's rights & equality at work. In her role at TUC, Sian leads on all matters relating to women’s rights and equality in the workplace, including issues of discrimination, equal pay, sexual harassment and violence at work, childcare and maternity rights. Formerly, Sian lead on policy and campaigning at 4in10: London's Child Poverty Network, research and policy at the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading race equality think tank, and in local government. Sian has also worked in academia, lecturing at the University of Roehampton on social inequalities and intersectional theory.
Work and Equalities Institute launch event
Watch a video of our launch event which took place at a reception in the Fossils Gallery, Manchester Museum on 14 November 2018.