Lower-paid health and social care workers, who played a pivotal front-line role during the COVID-19 pandemic, experienced bullying, racism and harassment at work according to their evidence to an inquiry conducted by Britain’s equality regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Poor data collection by their employers could also be masking the extent of discrimination against them, according to the inquiry report.
The inquiry found that job insecurity in the health and adult social care sectors caused fear of victimisation among low-paid ethnic minority staff, particularly if they were to raise concerns. The findings highlighted that in England and Wales, ethnic minority workers were more likely to be employed on zero-hour contracts and job insecurity also contributed to the fear of victimisation and loss of jobs.
Launched by the EHRC in November 2020, the inquiry examined the experiences of workers from a range of ethnic minorities employed in lower-paid roles in the health and adult social care sectors across England, Scotland and Wales. Their roles included healthcare assistants, porters, cleaners, security staff and residential, home and personal care workers.
Work-related factors that may have contributed to their risk of contracting COVID-19 were also examined, such as hours worked, workplace culture, workplace training and policies.
Published today (9 June 2022), the 67-page report exposes a lack of data about these workers, linked to poor levels of responsibility and accountability for them by the outsourced organisations that employ them. The report highlights that the missing data could mask the scale of discrimination against lower-paid ethnic minority workers in health and social care settings.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, Chairwoman of the EHRC said: