The Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA) has published its latest Work Quality statistical report, which contains analysis of six additional work quality indicators: accidents at work, underemployment, trade union membership, participation in training, overtime, and zero-hours contracts.

The analysis, which compares data from 2020 to 2024, includes comparisons across key cohorts such as sex, age, deprivation quintile, and skill level. Of the six indicators, the only one to see a significant change was the proportion of employees reporting that they had worked overtime (paid or unpaid), which decreased by 8 percentage points (pps) to 21% in 2024, from 29% in 2020. According to the report, fewer employees doing overtime would be considered a positive change. The report also highlights that the proportion of employees not having a zero-hours contract has remained consistently positive at nearly 9 out of 10.

When comparing across key cohorts, the largest differences were seen in skill levels. Employees in high-skilled jobs reported a higher proportion of trade union membership, participation in training, and not having a zero-hours contract, but were more likely to report working overtime. By age, a significantly higher proportion of employees aged 40 and over reported trade union membership (38%) and not having a zero-hours contract (92%) compared to those aged between 18 and 39 (29% and 86% respectively). In terms of deprivation areas, a significantly higher proportion of employees in the least deprived areas (91%) reported that they did not have a zero-hours contract compared to employees in the most deprived areas (85%).