Projects

This is the fifth employee engagement that IES has managed on behalf of the OIAHE, previous surveys being in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2020.

This project seeks to build evidence to create systemic change that mainstreams the provision of fair flexible work in the tight margin, frontline sectors. This evidence will demonstrate the health benefits of improving work practices for low-income, essential workers.The two-year programme has two core components: 1) A longitudinal study on the implementation of fair flexible work in three frontline sectors e.g. construction, retail and health. 2) Influencing policy and practice.

The question Timewise would like to answer is ‘to what extent have part time workers been disproportionately negatively impacted by covid?’ We will use two-quarter longitudinal Labour Force Survey data to explain the impact of covid on part time workers and those who work in a more flexible manner, compared to full time workers. This data source looks at flows from one quarter to the next. The analysis will be similar in manner to the longitudinal LFS analysis IES undertook in December on the impacts of coronavirus on the labour market. We will benchmark to 2019 quarters to assess the difference between usual seasonal trends and the effect of the pandemic.

This project, on behalf of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, is focused on identifying labour market interventions aimed at combating labour market segmentation (including those addressing differences in employment protection) in a selection of European countries (France, Germany, Spain and the UK). IES has been contracted by the Public Policy Management Institute to provide expert input on the situation in the UK. Key findings will feed into a comparative overview report providing evidence and policy pointers on labour market interventions that are effective in overcoming labour market segmentation.

In partnership with BMG Research, IES will deliver the next Maternity and Paternity Rights Survey (2018). The survey will be crucial in enabling the government to monitor the take-up of maternity and paternity benefits, and how this has changed, as well as key legislative changes in parental rights, including the introduction of Shared Parental Leave and Pay. IES will provide expert advice to the questionnaire development and analysis and reporting.

IES undertook research with employers exploring their views and practices in providing employees support from mid-life, through to retirement. The project engaged 25 employers, a mix of those offering employees at mid-life and beyond specific or targeted support and those who don’t, and involved their HR directors and managers in qualitative in-depth interviews about their motivations for engagement and approaches in this area.

The project was a rapid evidence assessment (REA) to systematically identify and critically review evidence on how parents make decisions about returning to work and childcare responsibilities in the UK. Outputs included a research report and typology of factors influencing decisions.

IES was commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to conduct qualitative research to gather views from individuals who have found work in the gig economy. There has been a policy focus on the gig economy, as a growing area of the labour market and as it is made up largely of self-employed people, working very flexibly. While this type of work has many advantages in terms of flexibility for both individuals and employers, there are concerns about whether adequate protections are in place to safeguard the rights of individuals in precarious positions. The aim of the project was to gain an understanding of the motivations and experiences of people working in the gig economy in order to inform policy development. We carried out 150 telephone and face-to-face interviews, making it one of the largest qualitative research projects on the gig economy to date. The project ran alongside the Taylor Review.

IES carried out a review of how organisations elicit and consider requests for flexible working from those returning to work, and how they then manage the careers of those that work flexibly.

This project comprised a literature review and synthesis on what older workers consider to be ‘fulfilling work’, including what they value, why those factors are important, how (if at all) views differ from the rest of the working age population and how different work/workplace factors link to positive or negative outcomes for older workers.