Good work, wellbeing and employment

Commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Previous UK research found that small employers had the lowest awareness of the rights of pregnant employees and new mothers. They were also least likely to offer flexible working options.

SMEs account for:

• 99.9% of the UK business population
• three-fifths of private sector employment
• around half of private sector turnover.

Earlier research identified widespread pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination. However, it did not provide specific recommendations for improving support within SMEs or adequately examine the experiences of new fathers.

SMEs often manage new parenthood differently from large organisations. They may have limited resources, no dedicated Human Resources department, and no written maternity or paternity policies. Owners and managers may also be concerned about the costs and time involved in meeting regulatory requirements.

Our three-year ESRC-funded study addresses this evidence gap. It examines the transition to parenthood in UK SMEs and aims to influence policy, professional practice, and academic understanding.

The study contributes to policy debates about:

• parental leave
• flexible working
• support for fathers in the workplace.

Although the research focuses on the UK, it addresses a global issue. SMEs employ most working parents worldwide but remain under-researched.

Working with stakeholders

Stakeholders are helping to co-design practical, low-cost, and scalable ways to manage new parenthood within SMEs.

Our practice-based co-investigators are:

• Working Families
• the Fatherhood Institute.

The Advisory Board includes representatives from:

• the International Labour Organization
• the Equality and Human Rights Commission
• Maternity Action
• Acas
• the Federation of Small Businesses
• the Medical Women’s Federation
• SME owners and managers
• SME employees, including expectant and new parents
• policymaking organisations

Research methods

The project combines quantitative and qualitative research.

Researchers will conduct semi-structured interviews with SME owners, managers, and employees in three phases over one year. The interviews will examine experiences relating to:

• pregnancy
• maternity, paternity, adoption, and shared parental leave
• flexible working
• breastfeeding support
• childcare support.

SME owners, managers, and employees will also co-design an awareness-raising intervention.

Focus groups will involve:

• prospective and expectant parents
• co-workers discussing new parenthood and employment
• parents who have requested flexible working.

Two large-scale surveys will examine attitudes, intentions, experiences, and social norms among SME employers and employees. They will cover pregnancy, parental leave, flexible working, breastfeeding and childcare support, and the uptake of support by mothers and fathers.

Project outputs

The project will produce:

• a final report
• datasets from each research method
• an awareness-raising toolkit focused on low-cost solutions for SMEs
• a video supporting positive communication between employers and employees
• factsheets
• short documentary videos
• a stakeholder engagement event
• a one-day academic conference
• conference presentations
• peer-reviewed publications.

For more information, contact project leader Dr Bianca Stumbitz at B.Stumbitz@mdx.ac.uk. Learn more about and participate in Transition to Parenthood in UK SMEs.

Commissioned by Oxford Brookes

Women in Racing commissioned this research. The Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice at Oxford Brookes Business School conducted the study with Dr Bianca Stumbitz at CEEDR.

The research examined the challenges facing working mothers in the British horseracing. It built on the 2017 report Women's representation and diversity in the horseracing industry 

The qualitative study included regional workshops and semi-structured interviews. Its case studies show how motherhood impacts women’s careers and identify ways in which the industry could provide better support.

View the report.

Commissioned by the International Labour Office

This report reviews international research on maternity protection in SMEs. It examines how and under what conditions maternity protection can benefit businesses and wider society.

The costs of maternity protection are often perceived to place SMEs at a competitive disadvantage. The review finds that effective maternity protection is feasible within SMEs and can produce positive outcomes related to productivity.

Support for maternity, paternity, and family responsibilities must fit the practices and interests of SMEs. The report proposes coordinated action at state, market, community, and family levels.

This approach aims to:

• address gender inequality
• support SMEs
• normalise family responsibilities within working life
• contribute to wider development objectives.

Download the report.

The Power to Change charitable trust commissioned CEEDR and Locality to examine good work in the community business sector.

Power to Change supports community-led businesses established and managed by local people. Profits are reinvested to create positive local impact.

The research builds on previous studies of:

• how community businesses support the wellbeing of staff and volunteers
• the relationship between decent work, productivity, and business performance in SMEs.

The qualitative study examines how community businesses create positive working environments while delivering viable services in diverse and challenging contexts.

It includes interviews with leaders, employees, and volunteers from 10 community businesses. The project also developed a Good Work Toolkit. Community businesses can use the toolkit to assess their working environment and identify areas for improvement.

Commissioned by the University of Cape Town

CEEDR conducted a study of workplace support for breastfeeding in South Africa with the University of Cape Town.

Breastfeeding-friendly workplaces can support economic, health, and social development. They are particularly important in developing economies.

Although the health benefits for mothers and children are widely recognised, returning to work can create a major barrier. This is especially significant for workers on low incomes and those employed in the informal economy.

The research addresses the limited evidence about workplace support in South Africa. It raises awareness of low-cost measures that different workplaces can use to support employees.

Commissioned by the Health & Safety Executive

This project examined how cultural factors shape attitudes and behaviour relating to health and safety in small and micro-enterprises. It also considered how business intermediaries could help promote good practice, particularly among ethnic minority businesses.

The research included:

• a telephone survey of more than 1,000 small firms
• interviews with business owners and managers
• interviews with employees
• interviews with health and safety inspectors
• interviews with business intermediaries
• interviews with trade union representatives.

The recommendations considered the roles of inspection regimes, sector trade associations, and ethnic minority business intermediaries.

Published: 2003

Contact CEEDR for more information.

Commissioned by Ealing Primary Care Trust

This 2008 study assessed whether the health service could introduce a Job Rotation Pilot.

The project examined a model combining:

• pre-employment support
• guaranteed work-based training
• practical employment experience
• action to address skills shortages in health services.

The work responded to high levels of economic inactivity and disability-related benefit claims in London. It also considered concerns about barriers faced by disabled people seeking employment.

Contact CEEDR for more information.

Commissioned by the International Labour Office

CEEDR examined the legal, policy, and regulatory environment affecting maternity protection and workers with family responsibilities in Ghana.

The research gathered perspectives from:

• employers
• workers
• healthcare providers
• other stakeholders.

It identified gaps in provision and examples of effective practice within Ghana’s policy and regulatory context.

The findings showed that the formal sector provided stronger access to paid maternity leave. Informal businesses were often more flexible after childbirth and more supportive of breastfeeding.

The study encourages collaborative approaches that support family health and business sustainability.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Funded by the Sheffield University Innovation Impact and Knowledge Exchange Research (IIKE) Programme

This £19,000 project involved the Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership as its main research partner.

It examined inclusive governance in the context of policy devolution. The research considered how partnerships and programmes could address:

• the employment needs of disadvantaged groups
• skills shortages
• low pay
• the cycle between low pay and low skills.

The project focused on employment and skills policy in the Sheffield City Region. Conducted between October 2015 and May 2016, it involved:

• a scoping review
• a literature review
• textual analysis
• stakeholder mapping
• 20 semi-structured interviews.

Download the submission to the BIS Select Committee.

Commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

This feasibility study examined how future research could estimate the scale and nature of National Minimum Wage underpayment in the informal economy.

The study focused on two main areas:

• methodological challenges
• data limitations.

Non-compliant activity is difficult to measure because available data may systematically under-report it. The research therefore included expert reviews to test and strengthen the proposed methods.

Read the report.

Commissioned by the Learning and Skills Health Council, London North

This 2002 study examined recruitment and skills in the health sectors of Barnet, Haringey, and Waltham Forest.

It included:

• an occupational analysis of the health sector
• a review of existing research
• an evaluation of health-sector training
• an assessment of existing training programmes
• an evaluation of local initiatives recognising overseas qualifications
• analysis of pre-employment training and work experience.

Contact CEEDR for more information.

Commissioned by the Countryside Agency

This 2004 study examined the contribution of major employment sectors to rural economies.

The research combined statistical analysis, consultation with national organisations, a literature review, and a survey of 102 organisations.

It examined:

• public administration
• defence and security
• education
• health
• social work.

The study identified employment trends, operational challenges, and support needs. It also highlighted areas where policymakers needed a better understanding of the contribution these sectors make to rural economies.

Contact CEEDR for more details on this project.

For the Countryside Agency

This 2002 project examined support for self-employment and micro-businesses in rural and urban areas.

It considered support provided through:

• the Small Business Service
• New Deal
• the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Researchers examined coordination, partnerships, duplication, and complementarity across five case-study areas.

Contact CEEDR for more information.

Commissioned by Wales Institute of Social Research and Data Methods (WISERD)

This 2010 study examined trade union participation in UK Sector Skills Councils.

The research used a survey of union representatives and other stakeholders to explore how trade unions:

• participated organisationally
• influenced skills policy
• supported apprenticeships
• promoted women’s participation in vocational training.

The study also examined the Danish vocational education and training system. It identified lessons that could inform UK practice and considered how trade unions might influence future skills policy through Sector Skills Councils.

Commissioned by the British Academy

Modern slavery describes relationships based on severe exploitation, which is often economic. It encompasses practices including forced labour, servitude, forced marriage, human trafficking, debt bondage, and the sale or exploitation of children.

These relationships involve control through actual or threatened violence. Weak protection for human rights can allow them to continue.

Modern businesses rely on global supply chains connecting consumers with goods and labour. Their scale and complexity can make working practices difficult to oversee and exploitation difficult to detect. Modern slavery has therefore become a hidden crime of global significance. The risk can be especially high in countries with weak regulation and at lower levels of supply chains.

The United Nations addressed these abuses through its Sustainable Development Agenda. Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 calls on governments to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour.

This goal is connected to wider commitments concerning decent work, gender equality, and education.

Several countries have also introduced domestic legislation. The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires qualifying organisations to publish statements explaining how they address slavery and human trafficking within their operations and supply chains. The legislation also supports law enforcement, penalties for perpetrators, and protection for victims.

Businesses need efficient global supply chains, but exploitation creates legal, financial, economic, and reputational risks. Productive supply chains depend on healthy, educated, and appropriately trained workers.

Investors and consumers increasingly consider the ethical conduct and human rights records of businesses. Failures within production and service delivery can therefore damage an organisation’s finances and reputation.

A central challenge is determining how businesses should respond to actual or potential human rights abuses across complex supply chains. Many organisations use social auditing to identify risks. However, audits may overlook existing or potential abuses and are rarely open to public scrutiny.

Human rights violations can also occur within the informal economy, where they are particularly difficult to detect. Businesses cannot always determine whether their methods address exploitation effectively or push harmful practices further underground. Evidence about effective approaches remains limited.

In November 2017, the British Academy launched Tackling Slavery, Human Trafficking and Child Labour in Modern Business. The programme received support from the UK Department for International Development.

It aimed to support innovative research and make evidence accessible to those developing policies, business models, and interventions related to Sustainable Development Goal 8.7.

The programme funded eight connected research projects. These projects identified promising practices and examined what could work at scale across different contexts.

Multidisciplinary teams from universities in the UK and the United States led the projects. Participating universities included Bath, Bristol, Brown, Coventry, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Sussex.

Field research took place in:

• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• the Dominican Republic
• Ghana
• India
• Indonesia
• Jamaica
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Peru
• Vietnam.

The projects compared production processes across sectors including chocolate, textiles, beef, timber, construction, domestic work, smartphone technology, and seafood production.

Detailed case studies examined smartphone technology in East Asia, child sex trafficking in Jamaica, and debt bondage within Indonesian seafood production.

All eight projects considered gender and childhood. They also worked with researchers and stakeholders in developing countries to strengthen local capacity for addressing modern slavery, human trafficking, and child labour.

Read our publication in the British Academy Review, No.32, Spring 2018

Commissioned by the European Commission’s vocational education agency, Cedefop

Dr David Etherington of CEEDR and Professor Carol Costley of the Work and Learning Research Centre conducted this study as part of a wider consortium.

Other partners included:

• 3s Consulting in Vienna
• Tallinn University in Estonia
• Consoltor in Norway.

The research examined feedback between initial vocational education and training and the labour market.

It found that stakeholder participation was the most important factor explaining differences between feedback mechanisms. Social partners had a particularly important role, although the participation of teachers, students, and other groups varied considerably.

Social dialogue helped connect education policy with labour market needs. During the economic downturn, several countries strengthened social dialogue in vocational education and training. Some also introduced new apprenticeship-style systems with greater involvement from social partners.

Download the report

Commissioned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

This project strengthened the evidence available to the UK Government when assessing defence investment decisions.

It examined the defence sector’s contribution to the UK economy. A central focus was the wage premium associated with skilled defence jobs compared with roles requiring similar skills in other sectors.

The research used experimental methods, including propensity score matching.

Download the report

Commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council

The Coalition Government introduced stricter welfare conditionality from 2010. Access to benefits became subject to stronger work and job-search requirements, benefit caps, and sanctions.

The Government also introduced the Work Programme, expanding the role of external providers in services for people experiencing long-term unemployment.

The research used stakeholder interviews and a review of existing evidence. It:

• examined the implementation of welfare reform, with particular attention to benefit conditionality
• assessed whether conditionality increased poverty and social exclusion
• considered its effects on claimants’ social rights.

The findings suggested that conditionality had a limited role in improving employment outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged groups.

The research also identified possible long-term harms, including:

• poverty
• movement into low-paid work
• continued in-work poverty.