Jeff Mitchell

Where exactly do the working poor work?

Rethinking workplace equity in the face of financial hardship.

I delivered a presentation to the Good Employment Charter-holders in Bristol a year or two ago. We explored what would happen if ‘economic status’ became a protected characteristic. The idea made the employers’ ears prick up. That’s because we know tribunal proceedings can be triggered from the moment a job application is submitted  if we can’t show we’ve treated everyone fairly. 

It didn’t take long before we were chewing over some serious food for thought. What does equity look like in the context of economic status or, more importantly, disadvantage? If we don’t offer travel expenses to an interview that we insist must be in the room, are we prejudiced against people who can’t afford the fare? Does unconscious bias apply to people who dress the way we, the well-employed, can afford to? And is working from home always a perk for people without much space or extended family at home?

It’s a new lens to see the world through. Are we happy excluding candidates just because they’re hard up? It’s no more a reflection of their fit for the job than the colour of their skin, after all.

WORKPLACE WOES

Like all marginalised groups, one of the first issues is visibility. Where exactly do the working poor work?

An office of well-dressed workers will disguise that colleagues there may well be struggling. I’m not talking about a kind of ‘all lives matter’ argument that even people on six figures can get into financial difficulty. I’m talking about part-timers, lone parents or workers in areas where local housing costs means more than forty per cent of their pay goes on accommodation. I’m also talking about the ancillary staff and night-time economy workers – the cleaners, the maintenance crew, security staff, delivery people. All keeping your organisation going, but not necessarily financially stable.

Red flags include increased sick leave. Working age social renters responding to the latest Quids in! Cost of Living survey told us they were struggling: Nine per cent of those who worked full time had taken time off ill on account of money worries, and 18 per cent felt their performance at work had suffered. Among part-time workers, six per cent had gone sick and eight per cent said the quality of their work had declined.

This should not be surprising when 28 per cent of full-time workers, and 37 per cent of part-timers, were skipping meals. Forty per cent (full-time) and 42 per cent (part-time) felt frightened, anxious or depressed because of money worries. One in ten (9%) full-time workers and one in five (21%) part-time fell physically ill due to financial pressures.

So how do we change workplace culture, so people who are struggling financially don’t have to do so in silence?

HELP ON THE WORKFLOOR

Employers don’t always know how to approach the issue. It’s a bit of a perfect storm. Many professionals don’t know how to talk about money with the people they have a duty of care for. At the same, as with protected characteristics, no-one wants to say the wrong thing and upset anyone. It’s also a knotty conversation for employers who fear their staff’s response will be to demand more pay.

We’re at the very start of any conversation about levelling the playing field for people from economic disadvantage. But there are some basics:

  • We can promote access to in-work benefits checks.
  • We can support disabled staff with applications to Access to Work for help with things that come with a cost, for example, travel.
  • We can make clear signals about equity for all by covering costs for interviews and even new staff through their first month.
  • We can consider contributions to childcare.
  • We can grant time out to access debt advice.
  • We might provide snacks.
  • We could consider flexible hours to minimise the costs like peak time travel and hybrid working from the point of view of savings that could easily be as good as a tax-free bonus of £1,000 a year.
  • We can provide staff with opportunities to progress to better paid roles, even helping them with the direct and indirect cost of training. The upshot is it’s not always about pay, although showing that’s always a consideration will help.

STIGMA

In the meantime, stigma in the workplace is about as pernicious as it gets. Around ten years ago, I had an interesting conversation with a manager from a housing association. I’d pitched for them to work with Clean Slate as a kind of temp agency, placing carefully-matched, long-term unemployed people with them. We were even successful in placing two people into paid work experience with them for a few weeks. But after a successful pilot, the manager took me to one side and said: “The brutal truth is, I’ve tried and tried, but staff just don’t want people like them working here.”

With the cost of living routinely making the news, it’s a good time for employers to step up. They can say ‘it’s not us paying poorly, it’s the cost of bills and food,’ or whatever. We can change the narrative on the sense of failure people feel – or endure, thanks to the finger pointing of our peers. (You should have seen the comments posted on our Facebook feed encouraging people to reach out for the help they’re entitled to in London.) We can also make it easier to find help, with helplines on our intranets, staff pages and WhatsApp communities. We can even make the Quids in! Money Health-Check available in the workplace! 

Like with the progress that’s been made with mental health, acknowledging the struggles and saying ‘it’s okay not to be okay’ may pave the way for someone to quietly ask for help. The silence we all maintain around the issue in the workplace only serves to deepen stigma and minimise the likelihood someone will find help. 

Image: 1STunningArt / BigStock