Only part of the picture

Black and minority ethnic (BME) workers are more likely than ever now to have a job, but Unite has warned that the latest figures only reveal part of the picture.

According to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), last year 3.9m workers in employment were from an ethnic minority, up from 3.7m the year previous and up substantially from 2.8m in 2010.

The figures, which were analysed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), show that the employment rate for BME people has broken previous records and now stands at just over 66 per cent, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi workers in particular driving employment growth among ethnic minorities.

But as Unite has warned about recent headlines crowing over high rates of overall employment, jobs quantity has come at the expense of jobs quality in a labour market dominated by low-paid, insecure work.

And it is black and minority ethnic people who have borne the brunt of precarious jobs as they face a “triple hit of lower pay, temporary work and too few hours” according to the TUC.

TUC research published last month found that BME workers are more than twice as likely to be stuck on agency contracts than white workers, and they are substantially more likely to be on zero hours contracts than their white counterparts — 1 in 24 BME workers are on zero-hours contracts, compared to only 1 in 42 white workers.

BME workers are also a third more likely to be in temporary work – 1 in 13 compared to 1 in 19 white workers.

Pay for black and minority ethnic people also drags well behind white workers – separate research last year unearthed a shocking pay gap, with BME workers losing out on £3.2bn in wages each year compared to their white colleagues.

The analysis from the Resolution Foundation think tank found that after controlling for differences such as average qualifications and job types, the ethnic pay gap rose to as much as 17 per cent for black male graduates, who incurred a ‘pay penalty’ of £3.90 an hour. Among non-graduates, Pakistani and Bangladeshi men faced the biggest ethnic pay gap of 14 per cent or £1.91 an hour.

Although lower, female BME workers, both graduate and non-graduate alike, incurred a pay penalty too, ranging from 4 to 9 per cent.

The figures prompted a call for companies to publish ethnic pay gaps alongside gender pay gaps, which from last year became a legal requirement for firms larger than 250 employees. At the moment, only 3 per cent of companies voluntarily publish ethnic pay gaps.

Commenting on today’s figures that showed a record number of BME workers now in work, Unite national officer Harish Patel said they should be viewed through a much more detailed lens.

“Although it’s of course welcome that a record number of black and minority ethnic workers are in employment, we must ask ourselves what kind of employment before we’re too quick to celebrate these latest figures,” he said. “It still remains the case that BME workers are much more likely to be on zero hours contracts, or in agency work or other forms of insecure employment. These workers are also doubly hit by an astonishing pay gap compared to their white colleagues, even when we take into account educational attainment and other qualifications.”

“Like reporting gender pay gap data, making ethnic pay gap reporting mandatory would help reduce the pay penalty workers now face simply for being non-white,” Patel added. “Banning zero hours contracts and increasing the minimum wage to ÂŁ10 an hour, for example, are other solutions that would benefit all workers, but in particularly BMEs. Most of all, joining a trade union is the best way for BME workers to ensure they aren’t discriminated against in the workplace. For Unite race equality is a key priority in the workplace and beyond.”