More than a third (36%) of respondents believe they are not paid appropriately, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Its UK working lives: the CIPD job quality index survey report 2018, which surveyed 350,000 employees, also found that 70% of respondents receive an employer pension contribution of 6% or less, 18% receive between 7% and 10% and 12% receive an employer pension contribution of 11% or more.
The research also found:
- 44% of respondents believe that work positively impacts their mental health.
- 39% of female respondents feel they are underpaid, compared to 33% of male respondents.
- 53% of respondents who earn less than the full national living wage of £7.50 an hour feel they are not paid appropriately, compared to 12% of respondents who are paid three times the real living wage of £30.60 an hour for London-based employees and £26.25 an hour for employees working across the UK.
- 72% of respondents are saving for a pension through their employer.
- 50% of respondents who work in the public sector receive an employer pension contribution of 7% or more, compared to 24% of respondents who work in the private sector and 35% who work in the voluntary sector.
- 48% of respondents have access to social employee benefits, such as Christmas and summer parties, 45% are able to take enhanced leave such as paid bereavement leave or emergency eldercare support.
- 38% of respondents are provided with free or subsided food or drink as an employee benefit and 35% are offered healthcare and insurance benefits, flu jabs, dental or health insurance.
- 30% of respondents can access transport benefits as part of their employee benefits package, such as free or subsidised on-site car parking, travel season ticket loans or a company car.
- 24% of respondents receive wellbeing benefits, such as subsidised gym membership, massages or exercise classes and 22% can use technology benefits, for example a mobile phone for personal use or a home computer.
- 28% of respondents have used enhanced leave benefits in the last 12 months, compared to 2% who have used financial assistance benefits.
- 29% of respondents have experienced work-related musculoskeletal conditions in the last year and 22% have experienced anxiety or depression where work was a contributing factor.
- 42% of respondents have access to flexi-time arrangements, 40% can work from home using normal working hours, 34% can reduce their working hours and 25% have the option to work compressed hours.
- 56% of respondents are able to communicate to their employer via one-to-one meetings with their line manager, 47% attend team meetings and 37% give feedback through an employee survey.
Peter Cheese (pictured), chief executive officer at the CIPD, said: “The government has been clear that it wants to improve job quality in the UK, but in order to create quality jobs you have to be able to know one when you see one. We have a record number of people in work, but we have to make sure that we have quality as well as quantity, and that means making sure every job is a good job. That is why we have undertaken the first comprehensive measure to help understand and clearly map job quality in the UK.
“Headline job satisfaction is reasonably strong, and that is to be welcomed. However, it is clearly lacking for many people, and that headline masks some serious structural issues in the UK labour market.
“Those in management positions are often overworked, which can not only lead to stress and poor mental health, but also means they are not able to manage their teams to the best of their ability. Stress in the workplace passes down, and combined with the concerning lack of training and development opportunities for those in low-skilled work, is a heady mix which needs to be better understood and addressed to enable better productivity and wellbeing across all organisations.
“With employment levels high, challenges remain around productivity, and so organisations have to prioritise working smarter, not just harder. We need to ensure that we’re designing our jobs flexibly and in ways that best utilise the skills of the workforce, implementing positive health and wellbeing strategies, and tackling workplace cultures of stress and giving voice and support to our people. Alongside that, we need to give those looking to develop their skills the ability to do so, through workplace learning and wider investment in skills development to make sure we’re making the most of all the talent that people have.”