Eileen Dooley is a talent and leadership development specialist, and a leadership coach, based in Calgary
There has been a significant amount of job action across various industries in recent weeks: There’s the recently launched strike among Canada Post mail carriers, the ongoing strike by Ontario college workers, the three-day strike in August by Air Canada flight attendants and the threat of Alberta teachers walking off the job this month.
Strikes garner significant public attention, especially when they impact our lives, as seen with recent mail delays and cancelled flights. Unions and employers spend significant time and money on advertising and other forms of public relations to get their points across and win public support. While there are often many issues in a labour dispute, few capture as much public attention as pay and working conditions. These issues are personal and garner a lot of public empathy for the workers, and not so much for the employers, especially when we hear about “unpaid” work and poor working conditions – particularly in roles that are outside of the traditional 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday workweek.
Flight attendants, for example, may work any of the 365 days of the year, around the clock, since there is no such thing as closing time for an airline. They also, however, work much less than a 40-hour workweek. Or teachers, who may work longer than a traditional eight-hour day with parent meetings, marking tests or assignments, lesson prep or other school commitments but have more than the traditional 10-to-20 vacation days a year. These roles, and many others, fall outside of the typical standard with compensation and working conditions much harder to define.
In the world of human resources, compensation is the most complex. It’s about much than just money; it encompasses education and training, duties, perks, benefits and the nature of the work, all wrapped into one, seemingly reasonable compensation package to offer an employee. For roles that have non-traditional hours and working conditions, it becomes even more complicated.
Unions and employers will try to simplify their points surrounding pay and working conditions, in hopes of gaining public support. But before lending support for the worker or the employer in a current or upcoming labour dispute, consider these important factors:
All working time is not paid time
On the surface, it makes sense to pay employees for all the time they work. But what exactly is considered “working time”? In a regular eight-hour workday, most of us don’t work a solid eight hours. Consider a personal phone call, the time it takes to get coffee, whether it’s in or outside the office, or an extra-long chat while walking by a coworker’s desk.
Many employment groups do not have a “punch in and punch out.” The time working can vary depending on the role and the day. Flight attendants don’t work every day, for eight hours a day. Neither do teachers or any role that doesn’t take place in a regular office. Schedules vary – flights can be 13 hours long, requiring a hotel and meals (paid by the company). Teachers work according to the school calendar, rather than the typical work office days and hours.
For some professions, irregular hours and expectations are what you sign up for. Teachers may teach for the day, but also tend to issues that occur when classes are out. Flight times and duties vary and the unforeseen happens (as we have all experienced with delays), making it impossible to accurately predict “working time” for flight attendants. In short, being expected to be paid for each and every hour is impossible because of the unpredictable nature of specific roles.
Salaries reflect working conditions, but don’t improve them
Paying teachers more will not reduce class sizes. Paying flight attendants more will not cut down on the time it takes to find overhead space for your bag. Working conditions are factored in, however, when considering a salary.
For example, if the employee works less time because of the conditions or nature of the job, but is still considered a full-time job, the salary should reflect that. Flight attendants typically work 65-to-90 hours a month, primarily because of regulations and the nature of the role. (They are only considered to be “working” when the plane is in the air).
Teachers typically work (meaning teach) during the school calendar, between 800 and 900 hours a year, according to Statistics Canada. (A 40-hour-a-week job is around 2,000 hours a year, depending on the amount of vacation time). This figure for teachers doesn’t consider prep time, administration or parent meetings among other tasks typically happening outside of core teaching hours. Salaries must reflect specific working conditions, making it impossible to compare typical office work to non-typical roles and businesses.
So, before taking sides in previous, current or upcoming labour actions, take some time to understand what the job entails and the working conditions, perks and benefits that come that come with it. And then layer on a “reasonable” salary expectation. It should feel complex and difficult to define, because it is.