Study shows ‘alarming levels’ of precarious employment within higher education

One-third of respondents to a survey carried out by the Irish Federation of University Teachers feel that their employer does not treat them with dignity and respect. File Picture.

Academic staff on precarious employment contracts are working unpaid overtime, experiencing elevated levels of stress, and are considering leaving academia, according to a new survey.

The survey of more than  550 academics, including lecturers and researchers in third-level institutions across the country, found that almost one third (32%) were employed on fixed-term or hourly-paid casual contracts.

The study found that the non-permanent nature of contracts restricts staff from making long-term life decisions, such as securing a mortgage or starting a family, while some even have difficulty paying bills and rent.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

The survey carried out by the Irish Federation of University Teachers (Ifut) also found that academics are working on average 11 hours per week over their normal hours with no additional compensation, which contributed to financial and psychological strain.

One-third of respondents feel that their employer does not treat them with dignity and respect and for those who do, there were still significant concerns.

Some 60% of all staff, regardless of contract type, reported unmanageable workloads with 74% of respondents, including permanent full-time staff, saying they work additional unpaid hours to complete tasks.

Separately, 61% of casual, hourly-paid employees do not get paid for time between terms, and a further 31% only work on an “if and when” basis.

Some 65% of precarious staff working unpaid hours are female, compared with 53% of permanent staff.

The majority of respondents (60%) are not paid for exam marking, with some raising questions about the value placed on this aspect of academic work by higher education institutions.

Some respondents indicated that employers are not adhering to public-sector pay increases, with 7% indicating that they are not receiving increases.

Some 15% are uncertain whether or not they will receive the incremental increases.

Ifut general secretary Frank Jones said precarious employment, which has been a feature of higher education for decades, is becoming more “pervasive and sinister”, with thousands of employees on involuntary and inappropriate fixed-term, part-time, casual, if-and-when, and zero-hour contracts.

Mr Jones also said the gender pay gap reports of the universities show that part-time, fixed-term, and atypical employment in the sector is disproportionately affecting female workers.

“There are no pathways to permanency or pathways to decency," he said. 

This is in no small part because of the low levels of collective bargaining present in this sector for the most vulnerable workers."

The Ifut is calling on the Department of Further and Higher Education to engage on the issue to establish robust collective bargaining systems “through which we can agree fair conditions of employment and progression opportunities for the staff propping up our university sector”. 

Mr Jones said the funding of higher education has declined since the 2008 economic crash while the staffing number limits imposed by the Government at the time still apply.

He said precarious employment is undermining academic freedom and the standards of teaching and research in Irish higher education institutions.

“The effect on the student is clear — precarious employment means that students are increasingly being taught by lecturers who are not paid outside of class time and therefore cannot provide the pastoral care and feedback students require,” he said.

“The effect on the individual is devastating — precarious employment is forcing many workers to leave the sector and those who remain report that they are delaying starting a family, relationships, or even moving out of their parent’s house because of the poor conditions on which they are employed."