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European employment research at Manchester Business School's European Work and Employment Research Centre (EWERC) has had a significant impact on international policymaking bodies, specifically the European Commission (EC), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Demonstrated policy impact includes: the defining and strengthening of a gender mainstreaming and gender pay policy in Europe; technical improvements in the European Commission's approach to the European Employment Strategy (EES) (which all EU member states are required to report on and implement); and greater precision (regarding up-to-date data and the functioning of labour market institutions) in EC and ILO policy recommendations on low wage work, minimum wages and regulation for decent work.
This case study describes the impact of research on improving employment outcomes for disadvantaged groups by influencing Government policy on employability. The case study focuses on the contribution to national employment policy from research conducted by the Employment Research Institute (ERI) at Edinburgh Napier University. Impacts outlined in this case study describe research that has been applied in the public policy field to address the issue of improving employment outcomes for those with complex barriers to employment.
The long-term impacts outlined in this case study relate to low-paid women workers in health and local government sectors in the UK. Professor Carole Thornley undertook some of the earliest and most sustained academic research focusing on these workers. Through this she identified systematic undervaluation of their skills and competencies, as well as problems with training, career advancement, pay, and payment systems. The evidence from this research has been used in successive pay determination exercises and reviews of payment systems, valuation of skills, and to inform public policy. This has put these workers higher on the agenda of both unions and employers, informing their practice and leading to improvements in training and pay conditions.
Brown has carried out research on payment, workplace industrial relations, conflict resolution, and collective bargaining over forty years. He has had a close involvement with policy formulation and implementation in British industrial relations; this has continued since 2008. The attached testimonies confirm that his research since 1993 has had a direct influence on the design and continued implementation of the National Minimum Wage; on the work of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service; and on the administration of the Union Modernisation Fund. His research is the basis for a continuing advisory role with the Chinese government
A far-reaching restructuring of publicly-funded employment dispute resolution agencies and programmes in Ireland has resulted from a series of research studies on the structure, conduct and performance of such agencies, and on employment dispute resolution within organisations. In particular, the studies:
"Gender equality in employment is recognised by policy makers and advisors (such as the Low Pay Commission) as an extremely important policy area." (Factual statement 1. Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary, Low Pay Commission); affecting as it does, all employees in the UK labour market. Research at the University of York analyses the gender wage gap at a national level, making a new contribution to the understanding of wage inequality in the UK. The three major stakeholder government departments (Low Pay Commission, Government Equalities Office, and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) have used the research findings and policy recommendations in their wage policy development to reduce the gender wage gap in the UK. The report was personally identified by the Minister for Employment Relations as making an important contribution to the development of policy.
There are over two million lone-parent families in the UK, including one in three children. Since the late 1990s, the key policy targets have included raising employment rates and reducing in-work poverty. Researchers at the University of Bath have engaged in innovative and influential research on lone parenthood over many years. Our work has been instrumental in the development and evaluation of policies intended to help lone parents move into, and remain in, work. Specifically, our research has influenced the design and delivery of the New Deal for Lone Parents, Tax Credits, and policies to improve lone parent job retention. These policies have a direct and ongoing impact on the social and economic circumstances, and quality of life, of the families.
The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) pioneered a unique live platform that has informed and influenced the work of UK, European and International government agencies, industry, policy makers, practitioners and researchers. For the first time, CMBOR provided systematic research evidence on private-equity buyouts which is an area that is often misunderstood among policy makers and the wider public. The provision of extensive data on over 30,000 European private equity buy-out transactions and quarterly reports / analyses on buy-out activity has served to enhance government, industry and the wider public's understanding and inform the development of policies and practice on a strategic and operational level in the UK, Europe and US.
This case study illustrates the impact of research at Swansea University Business School by Harvey during 2005 - 2009. It focuses on the managerial response to the challenges faced by civil aviation since 2001 and their impact on employment relations. The research has raised awareness and increased understanding of the critical importance of positive employment relations and influenced attitudes to the priorities in meeting the challenges within civil aviation. The impact is evident in international public debate on labour policies and practices, especially the Social Dialogue process coordinated by the European Commission (EC) and adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Essex research on false self-employment in the construction industry has informed the Labour Party's policy on this issue, both in government and opposition. Professor Mark Harvey's 2008 report, The evasion economy, commissioned by the Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT), informed the Prosperity and Work section of the second `Warwick Agreement', formed by the TUC and the Labour Government. The Labour Government's budget of 2009 made explicit reference to eradicating false self-employment, which led to the circulation of a consultation document that cited Harvey's report. Whilst in opposition, the Party has taken measures to prevent false self-employment and two members of the Shadow Cabinet have explicitly acknowledged Harvey's research.