Low Paid Work in Ireland

Tom Turner and Michelle O’Sullivan

ICTU Seminaron Low Pay and Decent Work

January 2013

michelle.osullivan@ul.ie

Low pay & decent work

• Links between low pay & precarious work– Income– Quality– Security– Control

Objectives

1. Provide a picture of unionisation, collective agreements & pay

2. Structure of earnings of low paid work– overtime earnings, shift allowances and

bonuses

Data

• 2007 & 2008 National Employment Surveys (NES)

• Matched employer-employee survey

• Grossed up to the employed labour force

Unionisation & CAs

Covered by CA Not covered by CA

Union Members 84% 16%

Non-members 27% 73%

Total 47% 53%

Private Sector Unionisation

Covered by CA Not covered by CA

Union members 68% 32 %

Non-members 19 % 81 %

Total 30 % 70 %

Earnings distribution

All employees Private sector

Low paid 20% 26%

Up to median earnings

30% 34%

Above median earnings

50% 40%

Male/Female

Female Male

Low pay 16% 15%

Up to median 32% 27%

Above median 55% 40%

Low Pay & Union Membership

Membership % Low Paid

All employees

% Low Paid

Private sector

Union members 8.8 16.9

Non-members 25.8 28.6

Pensions

Union Non-union

(%)

Health Insurance

Union Non-union

(%)

Low paid 56 31 22 13

Median 76 55 31 26

Above median

88 75 35 44

Union Members

No CA

Non-members

With CA

Low paid 27% 22%

Company size Smaller Larger

Sector Industry; construction/

transport; health/education

Industry; construction/

transport;

finance

Low pay & Nationality

Irish Asia/Africa East European

EU Developed

All employees

18% 25% 45% 21%

Private sector

24% 31% 45% 25%

Low Pay & Nationality (private sector)

Irish Asia/Africa East European

EU Developed

Union members

16% 23% 36% 13%

Non-members

27% 33% 47% 26%

Number of JLC Workers

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

1926 1953 1962 1976 1984 1989 1998 2007

JLC Workers

1. Who are workers paid at JLC levels?

2. What is the structure of their earnings?– Economic crisis & High Court case– Arguments that JLC pay rates were “costing jobs”

– Particular emphasis on overtime pay

Earnings range

• Median hourly earnings - €16.29

• Low pay work - €10.86 or less

• JLC range - €8.23 to €9.68

Low pay earnings

Low pay in

Private sector

% of private sector

Less than €8.23 10% 2.5%

JLC: €8.23-€9.68 52% 13%

€9.69 – €10.86 38% 9.5%

100% 25%

Who are paid at JLC levels?

Female Manual/routine work

Less educated Non-union

Part-time Low service

Under 25 years Hotels/restaurants;

Wholesale/retail

Non-Irish

Hourly earnings Mean

Hours worked per week JLC range 29.87

Above JLC range 35.86

No. of overtime hours per week

JLC range 0.5

Above JLC range 1.1

Overtime hours as % of hours worked weekly

JLC range 1.6%

Above JLC range 2.6%

Weekly overtime earnings JLC range €6.20

Above JLC range €25.70

Shift allowance per week JLC range €0.70

Above JLC range €10.50

Bonus earned per week JLC range €0.90

Above JLC range €21.3

Work a shift? JLC range 31.4%

Above JLC range 24.2%

Selected characteristics of workers covered by JLC rates

Hours worked per

week

No. of overtime hours per

week

Overtime earnings per

week

Shift allowance per week

Bonus earned per

week

Women 28 0.5 €5.0 €0.8 €1.0 Men 34 0.7 €8.4 €0.6 €0.7 Age Under 25 28 0.6 €6.1 €0.65 €1.0 25 to 35 34 0.7 €8.4 €0.82 €1.4 36 to 45 32 0.43 €5.4 €1.1 €0.54 Over 46 28 0.37 €4.2 €0.4 €0.28 Nationality Non-national 35 0.8 €10.1 €1.2 €1.7 National 28 0.4 €4.9 €0.5 €0.6 Status Part-time 20 0.4 €3.9 €0.5 €0.3 Full-time 37 0.7 €7.9 €0.9 €1.3 Union Non-member 29 0.5 €4.9 €0.7 €0.9 Member 33 1.1 €14.0 €0.8 €0.6 Sector Industry 36 0.7 €9.9 €0.7 €0.7 Wholesale/retail 29 0.8 €9.3 €0.2 €0.5 Hotels-restaurant 28 0.2 €2.7 €0.7 €0.1 Finance/admin 25 0.2 €2.6 €0.6 €0.6 Trans/others 32 0.5 €4.1 €1.8 €3.3

Distribution of overtime hours, earnings and shift allowance

Above the JLC range

%

At the JLC range

%

Hotel/restaurant at the JLC range

Wholesale/ retail at the JLC range

Overtime hours weekly None 79 86 94 78 Up to 2 hours 6 5 3 8 2 to 5 hours 6 5 2 9 5 to 10 hours 6 3 0 4 Over 10 hours 3 1 1 1 Overtime earnings weekly None 79 86 94 78 Up to 10 euro 2 2 1 2 10 to 20 euro 2 2 1 4 20 to 30 euro 1 2 1 4 Over 30 euro 16 7 3 12 Shift allowance per week None 91 97 95 97 Up to 15 euro 1 2 3 2 15 to 30 euro 1 .7 1 0 30 to 60 euro 1 .5 1 0 Over 60 euro 6 .3 0 0 Bonus earned per week None 92 97 98 97 Up to 20 euro 1 1.5 2 2 20 to 40 euro 1 .8 0 1 Over 40 euro 5 .7 0 0

N 1118692 168092 168092 168092

Workers on shift work and

receiving an allowance

%

Workers on shift work and not receiving an allowance

%

N

Above the JLC range

31

69

100%

(270166)

At the JLC range

6

94

100%

(52715) Total N

27

(87230)

73

(235651)

100

(322881)

Results summary• Low levels of Sunday premiums, shift allowance

and over-time payments• Workers who work no overtime and receive no

shift allowance or bonuses more likely to be covered by JLC rates

• Relatively high proportion of low paid workers; lower benefits

• Collective agreement coverage important

Commentary• Similarities internationally regarding low paid

sectors & employees• But differences in shares of low paid work• Influenced by:

– Collective bargaining coverage– Union strategies on low pay– The MW increase formula– Models of ‘avoiding’ or ‘accepting’ low paid work

(Bosch)