BLACK and ethnic minority (BME) workers are significantly more likely to work nights, leading to heightened health risks and insecure and low-paid work, the TUC has warned.

The union federation said its analysis, published today, shows structural racism in action in Britain’s economy: regular night work increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression.

The data follows figures that show one in eight BME women, 12 times the rate for men, are forced out of the labour market due to unpaid caring responsibilities.

Analysis of the Labour Force Survey Q2 2023 revealed that one in seven BME workers work nights compared with one in 11 white workers.

Overall, one in 10 workers regularly worked nights: about three million workers nationwide.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said Britain’s night workers do vital work, “but too many night workers — especially in key sectors like care — are on low pay and insecure contracts.

“Night workers are at higher risk of health problems and face disruption to their daily lives,” he said. “And it’s black and ethnic minority workers who disproportionately work nights. This is structural racism in action.”

The TUC analysis found that 53 per cent of night workers earn less than £12 an hour, the newly announced real living wage outside of London, and 85 per cent earn less than £15, roughly the British median wage.

“It’s time night workers got the fair pay and conditions that they deserve,” Mr Nowak said.

Night workers were also more than twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts compared with the wider workforce: 7.1 per cent compared with 3.1 per cent, with one in two care workers — who account for the largest number of night workers in Britain — on such contracts.

As well as being detrimental to family life, workers, particularly women, are also at greater risk of harassment and attacks in their journey to and from work when it’s late at night, the TUC warned.

The union body is calling for government action to deliver better pay and conditions for night workers and supports Labour’s pledges to introduce ethnicity and disability pay-gap reporting and a ban on zero-hours contracts.

Alex Baylis, assistant director of policy at the King’s Fund think tank, raised concerns over ethnic minority staff working in the NHS.
She said: “Despite having one of the most ethnically diverse workforces in the public sector, there are longstanding race inequalities issues in the NHS workforce.

“There is a lack of ethnic minority representation at senior levels, less than half of ethnic minority staff believe their NHS trust provides equal opportunities for career progression, and 17 per cent report personally experiencing discrimination at work from a manager, team leader or other colleagues.”