In March, we reported on a gig economy tribunal at Oxford University, the lack of progress towards gender equality in the City and failures by a major employee assistance programme (EAP) provider.
Oxford professors win gig economy tribunal
A tribunal found that Oxford University wrongly classified two creative writing professors who were employed as gig workers.
Alice Jolly and Rebecca Abrams both taught the Master of Studies (MSt) in Creative Writing.
In 2022, both Jolly and Abrams brought a claim against Oxford University for employing them as gig workers on fixed-term personal services contracts, which they claimed denied them their working rights. They claimed that their contracts gave rise to the expectation that they would return at each academic year and teach the course full-time for its entirety, as laid out by the tutor handbooks.
Ryan Bradshaw, senior associate solicitor at Leigh Day, who represented the professors, told HR magazine that the case shows gig working is not suited to the education sector.
Sexism in the City: Lack of progress 'shocking' say MPs
Women working in the London financial sector are forced to put up with “shocking” levels of sexual harassment, bullying and a stagnating gender pay gap, a report by MPs found in February.
The Treasury Committee’s Sexism in the City report examined the state of the City of London’s firms for women at work, six years on from the committee’s first report on the subject in 2018.
MPs found that little had changed, with many of the barriers to women’s progress identified in 2018 still in place.
The committee stated that it was “particularly concerned” by the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims and force them out of organisations.
Major EAP provider accused of failings
The EAP Health Assured was under scrutiny due to allegations of mishandled calls.
In response to calling Health Assured’s helpline and reporting suicidal thoughts, one caller claimed that he was told to go on a date with his wife, according to the BBC. BBC File on 4 journalists also heard reports of counsellors being urged to keep call times down, to limit referrals to therapists and to keep conversations solution-focused.
A spokesperson from Mental Health First Aid England told HR magazine that employers should regularly review their EAPs to ensure staff are satisfied with the support.
The EAP provider refuted the allegations.
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