The rise in lone working and the insecurity of accelerating numbers of jobs are “making tens of millions of us poorer and in poor health,” says a latest report from Christian-based think tank, Theos.
In ‘The Ties That Bind’ Theos looks at how higher work might be created “by taking note of the social dynamics – the love, even – in our workplaces.”
The report, written by ethical entrepreneur Tim Thorlby, looks at evidence across the social and health impacts of the rise in lone working and the expansion of insecure work. It argues that a lack of ‘mutuality’ between the employed and their employers is making tens of millions of individuals poorer and in poor health.
Taking inspiration from key principles of Christian economic considering, Theos suggest that our workplaces might be made happier and healthier.
Director of Theos Chine McDonald writes in her foreword to the report: “It is a forthright critique of labor which treats people as means slightly than ends, nevertheless it is just not merely moralising. It points to tangible examples of higher practice. Tim Thorlby has himself led a business – Clean for Good – which demonstrates that, even in sectors which appear to be engaged in a race to the underside, things might be done in another way.
“Even as work changes rapidly around us we at all times have the chance to form workplaces that value people and operate justly.”
Theos estimates that before the pandemic, 27 per cent of staff worked alone for a considerable proportion of the time. Now, 59 per cent of the workforce works alone for a minimum of a few of the week.
While admitting that “lone working can provide real advantages to staff who enjoy a flexibility premium,” the Theos report points out that it carries risks. “These risks are highest where little attention is paid to the standard and dignity of working relationships, and where employees are treated as ‘out of sight, out of mind’.”
The report calls for motion to stop the lack of connection between staff and protect the health of those working in these environments. Employers, say Theos, must be intentional about constructing strong employee relationships and robust management processes.
The UK has one of the crucial flexible labour markets within the developed world, explains the report, and this could deliver advantages, each to individual staff and to the broader economy through higher rates of employment and economic growth.
But there are downsides here too. In the UK today, the Living Wage Foundation estimate that just about one in five staff – 6.1 million people (19 per cent of all staff) – are in insecure work. Within this, they calculate that greater than half (3.4 million, 11 per cent of all staff) are in work that’s each insecure and low paid.
Theos points out that just about one in three (31 per cent) of the UK’s self-employed report ‘moderate’ to ‘severe’ mental health issues, with younger staff more more likely to be affected. This is twice as high because the national average.
A study by the International Labour Organisation found that zero hours contracts were often highly damaging to work-life balance and undermined family life. These contracts were most prevalent amongst the young (under 25), including students, and likewise older adults with few qualifications.
The Theos report calls for fair hourly pay at or above an actual living wage; predictable hours and income that are modified only with fair notice; connection for staff, who ought to be well managed and supported and feel ‘a part of the team’; and healthy work, where working supports good physical and mental health.
Theos, a part of the British and Foreign Bible Society, believes “that faith, and Christianity specifically, is a force for good in society.”
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK and a former communications director with the CofE.
