Equal opportunities for women employees in the hospitality industry: a comparison between France, Italy, Spain and the UK

Int. J. Hospitality Management Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 161-179, 1997

Pergamon

© 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0278-4319/97 $17.00 + 0.00

PII: S 0 2 7 8 - 4 3 1 9 ( 9 7 ) 0 0 0 0 3 - 0

Equal o p p o r t u n i t i e s for w o m e n e m p l o y e e s in the hospitality industry: a c o m p a r i s o n between France, Italy, S p a i n and the UK Jean Burrell, S i m o n e t t a Manfredi and Hilary Rollin School of Languages, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 OBP, UK and

Liz Price and Lindsay Stead School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK

This paper considers women's employment in four countries with reference to their participation in the labour force in general and in the hospitality industry in particular. Comparison is made o f the factors which affect women's employment, including the legislative environment and access to training. National factors which help or hinder women "s opportunities are contrasted. The paper then draws on the results of a crossnational survey and case studies of hotels in each country to demonstrate differences and similarities in women's employment patterns. The survey shows that employers have only a limited awareness o f employment legislation based on European Directives and that stereotyped attitudes still act as a barrier to the types o f jobs that men and women carry out in hotels. Recommendations are made for national and company level policies and approaches to achieve equality of opportunity. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

Key words:

women's employment training occupation

equal opportunity

legislation

Introduction The growing internationalization of the hospitality industry means that today's managers may find themselves working in almost any area of the world. In each country cultural, political and legislative factors influence the workplace, and managers need to understand these if they are to organize and motivate the workforce to best effect. Since women make up a significant proportion of the labour force in an increasing number of countries, an

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awareness of the particular factors which have influenced their participation, and of the constraints they may be facing, is increasingly desirable for those who manage them. Armed with this knowledge managers can better ensure equality of opportunity for women employees and so hope to retain experienced and qualified personnel. This article is based on the work of an interdisciplinary research team of Hospitality Management, European Studies and Law specialists which has been comparing the position of women working in the hospitality industry in four European countries: Spain, France, Italy and the UK. The article begins by drawing on published data to consider women's participation in each economy and more particularly in the hospitality industry, as well as the types of jobs they do in each of the four countries. The influence of training provision and national legislation on women's ability to achieve their full potential in the workplace is then explored. From this evaluation we are able to reach some conclusions about the policies and practices at national level which are most helpful in furthering women's equality of opportunity. We then move on to present the findings from our own survey of employment practices in hotels in the four countries. From this analysis we are able to highlight some of the local barriers to women's progression and indicate areas where policies and practices could be developed at establishment level.

W o m e n ' s participation Data on the labour force are available from the Eurostat Labour Force Survey, which ensures a reasonable level of comparability for all countries, although the most recent figures available are for 1993 (Eurostat, 1995). Figure 1 compares the working patterns of men and women in each of the four countries. The economic activity rate (the proportion of the population of working age in the labour force) is higher for women in the U K than in any of the three other countries, although it is closely followed by France. Italy and Spain have much lower activity rates for women; this may reflect the more traditional role still played by older generations of women in Mediterranean countries, compared with women in northern Europe.

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Equal opportunitiesfor womenemployees

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The high activity rate in the UK is due in part to the large number of women with parttime jobs. As Fig. 2 shows, almost 44°/~o of the women with jobs in the UK were working part-time. In France, where the female participation rate was comparable, the figure was only 26.3% because of historical factors deterring employers from taking on part-time workers, as well as the growing tendency for women to retain their full-time jobs through the child-rearing years. However recent changes in French labour legislation are increasing this proportion. When the Hotel and Restaurant Sector (NACE; Nomenclature g6n6rale des activit6s 6conomiques dans les Communaut6s europ6ennes; Group H) is considered, the

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Jean Burrellet al.

participation of women rises significantly. Figure 3 shows the number of women and men working in the sector in each country, distinguishing within the total workforce between employees and those who are self-employed or family workers. Again the UK stands out as having not only the largest overall number employed, but the highest proportion of women working in the sector, where they make up 63% of the workforce. This may be explained by the widespread availability of part-time employment in hotels and catering in the UK. The sector is least feminized in Spain, where only 41% of the workforce is female. The gender ratio is not significantly different when employees alone are considered. However, the proportion of the workforce who are not employees does differ in each country. It is low in the UK, but much higher in Spain and Italy. Eurostat gives no further detail on non-employees, so it is not possible to be sure what proportion of women are family workers and what proportion are self-employed or running businesses. The differences reflect to some extent the level of ownership concentration in the hotel sector, with more people being employed by a few larger companies in France and the UK, but a high proportion of small, often family-run businesses in Spain and Italy (Littlejohn, 1993: Fig. 1.2). French census data (INSEE; Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques) reveals that the proportion of women in categories other than employee in the Hotel/Cafr/Restaurant (HCR) sector fell from 37% in 1982 to 28% in 1992, and the proportion of men dropped correspondingly, as the number of family-run establishments declined (INSEE, 1982, 1992). Spain is moving in the same direction; in 1992, 38% of the country's hotel workers were employed by hotel chains (Federaci6n Espafiola de Hoteles, 1995). Labour Force Survey figures will tend to underestimate the number of people doing catering-related jobs, since the classification does not include the substantial numbers employed in catering services (catering occupations in other industries and services, including schools, hospitals and factories). National figures for this sector are more difficult to obtain because they combine industry and occupation, but in the UK a further million people were employed in catering services (HCTC, 1994), of whom 80% were female (excluding housekeeping and related services in that sector). In France, 60% of jobs in canteens and other catering services were held by women (UNEDIC; Union Nationale pour l'Emploi dans l'Industrie et le Commerce, quoted in FNIH; Frdrration Nationale de l'Industrie H6teli~re, 1996). It is surprisingly difficult to obtain comparable figures on the proportion of women in different types of job in each country. Different classifications are used in published statistics, giving only very broad occupational groupings. If we are concerned with the possibility of women being more numerous in lower paid, lower status jobs, occupational segregation may only become apparent when very precise groups are used (see Hakim, 1979 for a full discussion of horizontal and vertical segregation). For example, the proportion of women cooks may differ between school catering and large restaurants, a difference lost in aggregated figures. The only cross-national analysis of occupational segregation in the hospitality industry was coordinated by Rubery and Fagan (1993: Tables 2.18 and 2.19) for the European Union's Network of Experts on the Situation of Women in the Labour Market. Their findings indicated that occupational segregation was weakest in the UK by comparison with France, Spain and Italy and that waiting tended to be a traditionally male occupation in Mediterranean countries. However, their figures are patchy, inconsistent and poorly explained and reinforce the need for more research in this area.

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Training The contribution of training to the success of hotel and catering enterprises in an increasingly competitive environment has been stated many times before (see for example Price, 1994: p. 58). It has also been recognized in international fora such as the International Hotel Association that the image of the industry is poor in this respect and that international efforts are needed to improve the quality of training (Goss-Turner, 1993: p. 162). It is important, both for companies and for women themselves, that they receive appropriate training; this allows them to use the "qualification lever" (Crompton and Sanderson, 1990: p. 65) to facilitate their access to higher status occupations in the industry while at the same time providing motivation to make a commitment to the sector and the company. Vocational training in France is highly centralized and, for the hotel and catering industry, offers nationally recognized qualifications at staged technical levels (from the craft Certificat d'Aptitude Professionnelle through the Baccalaurrat Professionnel up to the management-orientated Brevet de Technicien Suprrieur) in public educational institutions. Vocational disciplines have had difficulty in finding a place in public higher education; higher levels of qualification are mainly offered by private establishments, often with the cooperation of the local Chamber of Commerce. Ongoing training is financed partly by levies on companies (taxe d'apprentissage and a payroll tax for continuing education and training), which may choose where to spend this money. Industry training strategies are decided by government in consultation with the industry and carried out through government-approved training agencies, some of which are industry-specific (e.g. INFATH: Institut National pour la Formation dans le Tourisme et l'Hrtellerie). There is considerable evidence, both statistical and anecdotal, that women benefit less from the available training opportunities than men (Rutter and Teare, 1992). This may be in part attributed to the fact that schools have been reluctant to recruit women for training in traditionally male-dominated occupations, fearing that they would have difficulty in finding work. In general, in the late 1980s women working in hotel and catering were markedly less well-qualified, not only than their male colleagues, but also than working women as a whole (INSEE Enqurtes Emploi, 1989 quoted in FNIH, 1996). However, recent reforms in industry training and trends in women's participation in employment are slowly increasing the numbers of women undertaking training and emerging with industry qualifications at various levels (Jauffret, 1994). Training and education in Italy is rather fragmented as there is no industry-level training body. In secondary education there are two types of schools which provide specific preparation for the hospitality industry: Hotel and Catering Schools and the Schools of Tourism. The first type is specifically aimed at the hospitality industry and offers a combination of vocational and theoretical studies. Schools of Tourism offer a more general preparation for work in the tourism sector. The Hotel and Catering Schools send their students to do placements in hotels, but the period is very short (one or two weeks) and therefore ineffective. Higher education does not provide any courses of study aimed solely at the hotel and catering industry, although some universities have recently started to offer degree courses in tourism. Short vocational courses are sometimes organized by local authorities with the aid of EU funds, to provide specific training for work in the hospitality industry. These courses range from training for kitchen staff to marketing. However, like others available in different areas, they often seem to serve the purpose of providing a "parking area" for the unemployed, rather than real opportunities. This is partly due to the

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fact that they are not organized in collaboration with the local hospitality industry to ensure that they respond to its needs. Vocational training in Spain is at Escuelas de Hosteleria and Escuelas de Turismo. The former offer craft training, and tend to be male-dominated. The latter give a more general training and lead to work in hotel reception, travel agencies and tourist guide work. Historically, one of the weaknesses of the Spanish system has been the lack of any higher education provision for the industry. The situation is in the process of change; the T6cnico de Empresas y Actividades Tur~sticas (TEAT), provided in Escuelas de Turismo, will shortly take on degree status as Empresas y Actividades Tur~sticas. This qualification is a requirement for new appointees to some posts in the industry. Since the T E A T covers not only the hotel industry, but other aspects of tourism, it has been criticized by hotel employers for its lack of practical skill development. The new training is seen as a move to bringing about a change of culture, seeing training as an investment designed to promote greater professionalism in the industry. Anecdotal evidence suggests that women students predominate, and that this contributes to the increasing number of female receptionists found by our survey (see below). In-service training, co-ordinated by F O R C E M (Fundacibn para la Formaci6n Continua), has made a positive impact on the industry, but it has not been taken up by smaller establishments. In 1994 only 10% of funding across all industries went to businesses employing fewer than 10 people (Kaufman, 1996). Larger hotel companies such as Sol Melih and N H are tending to provide their own training. In the U K over 300 colleges and universities provide programmes leading to qualifications in hospitality; courses range from National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) to degrees (HCTC, 1995: p. 49). The introduction of NVQs is an initiative to improve the skill base of the workforce by introducing a qualification which reflects achievement in the workplace. There are no entry conditions, no age restrictions and no laid-down time scale, and it does not matter how the particular skills are acquired--through work-experience, college-based studies, distance learning or some other means. There is a progression from Level 1, appropriate to employees in semi-skilled positions, to Level 4, middle management. NVQs may be of benefit in enabling women in jobs for which no qualifications have hitherto been required to achieve credit for skills development. There is a predominance of women on degree courses, judging by the results of a survey of recent graduates in which 74% of the respondents were female (Purcell and Quinn, 1995b: p. 115). Representation on these courses may well have led to a positive impact on their representation at supervisory and management levels, as discussed later in relation to our survey. Some pressure to improve the level of skills and training has come from Investors in People (IiP), a national initiative launched in 1990 to promote effective investment in training and development of people to achieve business goals. In the early years of operation, liP was criticized because of its slow take-up by employers and by 1994 only 27 hotels had been awarded liP status, although 234 were registered as committed to working towards liP (Watson, 1996). From this evaluation of training we can identify those aspects of national provision which are most likely to help women develop the skills needed to advance in their careers. First, a system of nationally recognized vocational qualifications appears to be a prime positive factor. The evidence shows that where women are able to acquire such qualifications they do gain access to skilled occupations. National-level efforts could ensure that women are not discriminated against at the point of entry to such training. The development of work-based vocational qualifications in the U K has the potential for reaching many women already

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employed in the industry and may facilitate their progress. In addition the provision of degree-level qualifications offers women a route to supervisory and managerial posts. Finally, there appears to be a trend towards the development of in-company courses among larger employers; careful monitoring and evaluation of such courses might lead employers to build in equal access to training for women and those working an part-time or short-term contracts with a view to maximizing the full potential of the workforce.

Regulation of employment contracts The four countries differ in their approach to the regulation of employment practices, particularly in the extent to which "atypical" work is permitted. This has implications for employment in the hotel and catering industry, especially for women. The main types of employment contract used in France are permanent (contrat ~t durde ind~termin~e) and fixed-term (contrat ~t durde d~termin~e), both of which can be full-time or part-time. The definition of full and part-time used to be 39 hours per week for the former and a maximum of 32 hours (with no minimum) for the latter. However, the 1993 employment law (loi quinquennale), designed to introduce more flexibility into the management of human resources and thus reduce unemployment, allows for annualized contracts, a provision which benefits sectors, such as hotel and catering, where there is a considerable variation in workload over time. The HCR sector is particularly notable for the frequency of short-term contracts--11.3% of the workforce compared to just 5.5% in the overall working population (FNIH, 1996). In another move towards greater flexibility, since 1992 employers have been able to pay reduced social security contributions on permanent contracts for part-time jobs where these jobs are newly created or result from a full-time employee choosing to drop down to parttime. In the HCR sector in general part-time working has risen during the last decade from 14.5% of jobs (1985) to 20.2% (1995). In 1995 a third of restaurant waiters and hotel administrative staffwere working part-time (around 308,000 people) and over 60% of these were women (Bisault et al., 1996). Industrial relations in Italy are regulated by detailed legislation which is aimed at protecting and safeguarding the rights of employees; working conditions and minimum wages are agreed by collective bargaining. All the Italian legislation which specifically concerns women's employment is still mainly focused on protection rather than on the creation of more opportunities to widen women's participation in the labour market. Legislation governing part-time work is extremely inflexible in that it allows an employee to work either a shorter number of hours every day, or a full day for a specified number of days. The agreed working timetable has to be spelt out in the contract of employment and can be changed only with the agreement of the local Inspectorate of Labour, not by mutual agreement. Part-time employees, moreover, are not economic, as they cost almost as much as full-timers. As Fig. 2 showed, part-time work is uncommon in Italy; if it were made more flexible and less expensive, employers in the hospitality sector would almost certainly be inclined to take on more such employees, which would probably benefit women. In this case, legislation designed with employee protection in mind may not be helping women's participation in the sector. Italy remains the only country of the four under discussion which has not legalized temporary employment agencies, Spain having passed enabling legislation in 1994 (Marullo, 1995).

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In Spain permanent, temporary and seasonal (fijos discontinuos) contracts are permitted. The seasonal contracts allow employees to claim unemployment benefit for a time after they have accumulated 12 months of work within a 5 year period, but seasonal workers on very short contracts may never achieve this. There is some evidence in the hotel sector that women may find it more difficult to get permanent contracts than men. In this sector, although women make up 46% of the labour force they have only 37% of the permanent contracts against 51% of the seasonal and 53% of the temporary contracts (Federaci6n Espafiola de Hoteles, 1995: p. 7). The UK has the most deregulated employment environment, since the Conservative Government identified this and the associated lower employee protection costs as the way forward on flexibility and job creation (Marullo, 1995). This philosophy underlies Government opposition to the Social Chapter of the Maastricht Treaty. At present there are no restrictions on the duration of an employment contract or the hours that may be worked and employees may be employed under so-called "zero hours" contracts. The social costs of employment are directly related to hours worked since employers' National Insurance contributions are linked to salary levels. Further, those whose earnings fall below a particular threshold are entirely excluded from the National Insurance system. This is a strong incentive, especially for small employers, to utilize low-paid staff working for only a few hours each week. Comparison of the four countries shows considerable variation, from Italy with the highest level of protection to the UK with a policy of deregulation, with France and Spain moving towards deregulation. While strong regulation has the advantage of protecting women in work, it may restrict part-time opportunities which could be attractive to women.

National equality legislation As established members of the EEC (European Economic Community), France, Italy and the UK introduced legislation in response to the Equal Treatment Directive (76/207) and the Equal Pay Directive (75/117) during the 70s and 80s. Spain, which did not enter the EEC until 1986, had already incorporated equality clauses into the 1978 constitution which was introduced following the death of Franco and re-introduction of democracy. Legislation in all four countries laid down the principles of equality of opportunity and of equal pay for work of equal value. It also prohibited discrimination in all matters relating to employment (recruitment, conditions, training, etc.). In some cases it strengthened previous provision by introducing penalties for non-compliance and outlawing "exceptional" treatment of women (such as any ban on their undertaking night work). Although these basic principles are now common to all four countries, in some, further provisions were enacted which were designed to facilitate implementation. The UK's Sex Discrimination Act (1975) included the establishment of the independent equality agency, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), which is empowered to introduce codes of practice, conduct formal investigations and institute legal proceedings. The EOC has been very successful in using legislative processes, such as judicial review, to challenge UK legislation on the grounds of its failure to meet the requirements of European Directives. For example, a challenge was made in the House of Lords to the 5 year period required for part-time staff before they qualified for employment rights such as protection against unfair dismissal and redundancy. The EOC argued that this qualification period

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amounted to unfair discrimination against women who make up the large majority of parttime workers (Equal Opportunities Review, 1994a). In France the 1983 Roudy Law provided companies with a framework within which they could plan their human resources with equal treatment in mind. It is now compulsory for firms with more than 50 employees to produce an annual report on the situation of women relative to men. The Roudy Law also encouraged companies to negotiate "equality plans", whose main purpose was to allow women to "catch up" and for which financial aid was available. It was supplemented by later legislation which attempted to break down segregation by providing for women to be trained for traditionally male occupations. In Spain a network of Women's Advice Centres (CIDEM), organized by the Instituto de la Mujer, in theory enables women to find out about their rights and pursue infringements. In practice it is under-used by those women most in need of its services. The sectoral collective bargaining process has been used in Italy to establish equal pay for work of equal value and to review job evaluation in order to ensure that jobs done mainly by women are not under-rated. The existence of a statutory minimum wage in France may also be seen as a safety net for women doing unskilled and poorly paid work. Spain too has a minimum wage but it is so low (64,920 ptas/month) as to have little effect. Despite the presence of this statutory provision, many obstacles remain in all four countries to the achievement of equality for women in the workplace. In France the lack of a monitoring body independent of government, the gradual downgrading of the issue, the bureaucratic nature of some of the provisions and the weakness of the Inspection du Travail have meant that the enabling measures have had relatively little effect. The report on the first equality plans adopted (Dioniol-Shaw et al., 1989) draws attention to the complex positive and negative issues this innovative programme raised. In all countries bringing a case under equal pay legislation is likely to be complex, timeconsuming and costly. For example, there is little evidence in the UK that women working in the hospitality industry have found the law helpful in tackling inequalities. Out of 119 Equal Value cases referred by Industrial Tribunals to independent experts for evaluation between 1984 and 1993, only 5 (4%) involved workers employed in catering jobs, and all but one of these were workers in the catering services sector where they were able to bring in comparison with workers in non-catering jobs (Equal Opportunities Review, 1994b). The low level of union representation in the industry may be a further factor in all countries in deterring cases. Further, the persistence of occupational segregation, as described earlier, continues to make meaningful comparison difficult and to trap women in low-pay areas.

National maternity and family legislation The EU did not produce a Directive on maternity until 1992 when the Protection of Pregnant Workers (Tenth "Daughter" Directive 92/85) was introduced under Health and Safety provisions. Its main requirements were: a minimum of 14 weeks continuous maternity leave, during which all contractual rights must be maintained, pay or an allowance not less than would be received during sickness absence, and the right to attend antenatal medical examinations during working hours. Dismissal was prohibited from the beginning of pregnancy to the end of maternity leave, regardless of length of service, except in exceptional cases unconnected with pregnancy (Equal Opportunities Review, 1993a).

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All four countries already had some legally enforceable provision prior to this; where this was more generous than that proposed under the Directive the existing level was maintained. Spain and France both allowed 16 weeks leave (6 to be taken before the birth in France, 6 to be taken after the birth in Spain), whilst Italy had 20 weeks (8 before the birth). Arrangements in the U K constitute some of the worst in the EU. Prior to the Directive the leave allowance was 18 weeks, but only for women who had worked for more than 16 hours a week and had over 2 years service at the QW (qualifying week--15 weeks before expected date of birth), or had worked for 8-16 hours a week for over 5 years. In the process of developing the Directive, the U K government managed to "dilute" some of the original proposals on the grounds that the consequent costs to employers would restrict the employment opportunities of women (Ellis, 1993). The U K was finally required by the Directive to extend cover to all women, but it did so only at the minimum levels required. Consequently there is now a two-tier system with some women only qualifying for 14 weeks leave, and different eligibility criteria for rights to leave and pay (Equal Opportunities Review, 1993b). There are similar differences in maternity pay provision. France pays 84% of salary for the whole period, Spain 100%, and Italy not less than 80% but generally more through industry-level agreements (European Commission, 1994). In the U K maternity pay at 90% of salary is only payable for 6 weeks, after which it falls to the same level as statutory sick pay (currently £52.50) for the remaining period of leave. For women with less than 26 weeks service at QW only the lower level is payable throughout. For mothers with the longer length of service, a further 22 weeks unpaid leave is allowed. In France, either parent may take up to 3 years unpaid parental leave from the birth or adoption of a child, or may take a cut in hours worked to between 16 hours and 80% full time. Leave taken after a second child attracts a low fiat-rate benefit (allocation parentale d'dducation). Since January 1995, employers have no longer been entitled to refuse leave in companies employing fewer than 100 workers, so that many more hospitality employees can now benefit (European Industrial Relations Review, 1994). In Italy an additional 6 months leave is allowed following on from maternity leave, paid at 30% salary (more for public sector workers). The mother may transfer all or part of this to the father. However, this is not available to self-employed women. In Spain, if both parents work, the father may take the last 4 weeks of maternity leave in place of the mother, and either parent may take unpaid leave for up to 3 years per family from the birth or adoption of each child, although their job is kept open only for the first year. France, Italy and Spain also offer additional entitlements to women returning to work, enabling them to take daily breaks, or work a shorter day, during the first 9-12 months after childbirth. In Spain parents are given priority in the allocation of annual leave to coincide with school holidays, and mothers may work part-time until the child is six. The U K has no parental leave apart from the additional 22 weeks maternity leave mentioned above, nor are working mothers or fathers given any additional support. The picture is thus one of varying provision for working parents, and particularly mothers, across the four countries. The controversy surrounding the related questions of maternity/paternity leave, childcare and the family highlight this area as being one in which the attempt to square the circle of retaining trained and experienced workers, while at the same time giving proper consideration to the needs of families, will engage governments, social agencies and employers for some time to come, and not least in the hotel and catering sector where shift and weekend working appear unavoidable.

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Table 1. Summary of national data France Women's activity 48% rate Proportion of 26% women working part-time Women's share of 50% hospitality jobs Training Well-developed range of national qualifications, Some evidence that women get less access to qualifications than men.

Employment contracts

Equality legislation and other provision

Maternity legislation

Recent legislation has introduced incentives for employers to use more flexible contracts, especially parttime. Legislation provides for companyequality audits and plans to help women bridge the skills and qualification gap.

Spain

Italy

UK

34%

34%

53%

15%

11%

44%

41%

46%

63%

Developing a range of craft and degree qualifications, Women appear to be benefiting,

Permanent, temporary and seasonal contracts all allowed.

Advice Centres inform on rights and pursue infringements, but little used.

16 weeks 16 weeks on maternity leave 100% of salary. Up to 3 years Unpaid leave for unpaid parental parents of leave. Parental children under benefit for care of 3 years. Other 2nd and later entitlements. children. Other entitlements.

Fragmented education and training at all levels. No evidence of gender impact,

Well-developed degree level education. New national qualification system, but takeup rate relatively low. Women well-represented at degree level. Protective Use of flexible legislation limits contracts opportunities for encouraged. part-time work. Lower social costs in contracts involving few hours. Collective bargaining used to establish equal pay and job evaluation.

Equal Opportunities Commission active in monitoring implementation of legislation and investigating infringements. 20 weeks 18 weeks + for maternity leave women fulfilling on at least 80% conditions: 90% of salary. of salary for 6 months 6 weeks, on 30%+ (may statutory sick pay also be taken by for remaining the father). 12 weeks Other + 22 weeks entitlements. unpaid. 14 weeks otherwise.

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Table 2. Response rates Number responding

Response rate

France

57

29%

Spain Italy

49

25%

37 50 193

19% 25% 24%

UK Total

Having brought together evidence on the situation of women in the economies of France, Italy, Spain and the UK, and in particular in the national hotel and catering industries (see summary Table 1), we now turn to the results of the survey we conducted at regional level.

Hotel employment in Europe survey Methodology

This small exploratory survey was designed to consider both within-country and acrossborder differences in practices and attitudes. It took the form of a postal questionnaire. In each country a sizeable town and a resort area were compared in order to look at differences in employment practice due to seasonality. The areas selected were: Santander and the Cantabrian coast in Spain, Rennes and the Brittany coast from La Baule to the Gulf of Morbihan in France, Genova and resorts on the Ligurian Riviera in Italy, and Manchester and Blackpool in the UK. In each country a sample of 50 city hotels and 150 resort hotels with 6 or more rooms was obtained using Tourist Board lists. In all resort areas, except Blackpool, the sample size was reached by increasing the area under study. Blackpool has a particularly large number of hotels; as no one hotel list was comprehensive a list of hotels was compiled from more than one source, and a simple form of stratification was used: all establishments of over 50 beds, 50% of those with 15-49 beds, and 40% of those with 6-15 beds were included. In Rennes and Manchester, hotels were listed according to their distance from the city centre, so again the area was enlarged into nearby suburbs to increase the sample size. In Santander, there were almost 50 hotels in the town. In Genova, 70% of the known hotels were approached, using a similar stratification method to that used in Blackpool. Areas explored in the survey included the types of jobs/contracts applicable to women and men, approaches to recruitment and selection, pay and benefits and maternity/childcare arrangements. A combination of closed-ended and open-ended questions was used. The response rate, broadly similar for each country except Italy, was as listed in Table 2. The survey findings were analysed using the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). However, the data was not gathered in a form which lent itself to formal significance testing and we have only used simple descriptive statistics here. Postal questionnaires do have limitations (see for example Moser and Kalton, 1971: pp. 260-262). Most important in our case was the possible temptation for respondents to underreport poor or illegal practices. In order to overcome this possibility we followed up the

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Table 3. Proportion o f w o m e n in different functional areas

France

Italy

Spain

UK

No. of %ofjobs No. of %ofjobs No. of %of jobs No. of %ofjobs women women women women Housekeeping Kitchen Restaurant Bar Reception Management/ S u pervisory

138 13 57 8 51 21

97% 11% 38% 35% 73% 39%

57 23 29 7 26 8

74% 33% 40% 54% 43% 24%

217 59 83 19 56 17

99% 50% 64% 30% 56% 37%

288 28 166 63 112 171

92% 13% 61% 41% 82% 54%

survey with in-depth interviews involving a sub-sample of employers and a number of their employees. We conducted interviews in approximately 12 hotels in each of the four countries.

Women's and men's occupations Table 3 shows the proportion o f jobs in different functional areas held by women. The occupational area most clearly restricted to women was housekeeping and cleaning, where women carried out over 90% of the jobs in all countries except Italy. In Italy two hotels had a high proportion of men in this area and this had an effect on the total, with just 74% being female. Our interviews show that when men are employed in housekeeping they are generally carrying out specific functions such as laundry portering, and are not engaged in the traditionally female job o f "chambermaid". In the UK, although the gender-neutral title " r o o m attendant" must be used in advertisements under anti-discrimination legislation, in practice the term "chambermaid" is the norm. Our interviews indicate that this pattern is explained by employers' preference for women in this role due to stereotyped views about women's skills learnt at home, and their assumed "eye for detail". The kitchen had a high proportion of men in France and the UK, less so in Italy, and in Spain there was a 50:50 split. Since the questionnaire did not seek to distinguish between cooks and others such as washers-up we do not know the exact division of occupations, but from our interviews it would seem that women in kitchens were less likely to be cooking than to be washing up. The craft tradition in cooking, which tends to work to the detriment of women, appeared to be strongest in France and the UK. Resistance to women chefs in the haute cuisine sector seems to be particularly strong in France, where women may be discouraged from entering training colleges (Rutter and Teare, 1992). We also found that the atmosphere in French and U K kitchens was often described as "masculine" and characterized by vulgar jokes or "banter". Several interviewees indicated that women found this type of atmosphere unpleasant and that it put them off working in the kitchen. In contrast, women's relatively good representation in Spain may be explained by the larger proportion of family-run units; we found from our interviews that if a woman was in charge of the kitchen she would tend to employ only women there. Waiting staff were more likely to be female in the U K and Spain, but male in France and Italy. Bar staff'on the other hand were less likely to be female in the U K and Spain, although

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in France they had about the same mix as for waiting. Over half were female in Italy but the numbers of bar staff in the survey were too low for us to reach firm conclusions. There have been no previous cross-national studies of women's employment in reception, perhaps because this is not a clear occupational category in national or Eurostat statistics. Our findings suggest that reception is a predominantly but not exclusively female job in the U K and France, but with a more even gender distribution in Spain and Italy. Reception used to be a predominantly male occupation in Spain until quite recently (Federaci6n Espafiola de Hoteles, 1995). Now that more women than men are taking the T E A T qualification (see above) which is a requirement for the post in larger hotels, the proportion of female receptionists is increasing. Our interviews indicate that barriers to women's employment in reception still occur in smaller hotels with fewer staffin reception, due to the job requiring portering duties and/or night duty, and consequent concerns about heavy lifting and security. It is noteworthy that in hotels where women had carried out these duties, employers' fears about women's ability to do this type of work had been dispelled. This suggests that employers' concerns are not grounded in reality, but based on stereotyped assumptions about male and female attributes. It is also the case that there have been no previous attempts to compare women's representation at management level in the hotel and catering industry across countries. Our own findings show U K women in a small majority in management and supervisory level posts; the picture seems less encouraging in the other countries, particularly Italy, although these results are based on small numbers. We are confident that our U K survey reflects the national picture as it matches Labour Force Survey data which show that in 1992 54% of hotel managers and 49% of restaurant managers were women (HCTC, 1994: Table 4.5). The relatively favourable picture in the U K is substantiated by the findings of an international survey of graduates from hospitality management courses (Purcell and Quinn, 1995a) which included France and the UK. This demonstrated that the pay differential between these men and women was considerably narrower in the U K than France. This would suggest that women are achieving relatively better managerial posts in the U K than in France which may be linked to women's predominance on degree programmes in hospitality management in the UK. Equal treatment

Despite the introduction of legislation designed to ensure that employers do not discriminate against women or men in their recruitment and employment practices, evidence from our survey suggests that many employers retained clear preferences for one gender or the other to do particular jobs (see Table 4). Although, as we have already noted, the samples differ in some respects, these results Table 4. Employer preferences for male or female staff

Percent of respondents preferring women in some jobs Percent of respondents preferring men in some jobs

France

Italy

Spain

UK

94%

94%

89%

46%

70%

61%

74%

25%

Equal opportunities for women employees

175

point towards a higher awareness of discrimination issues in the UK. M a n y respondents mentioned more than one task for which they preferred to employ either men or women. Housekeeping was most often cited in all countries as the primary job for which women are preferred. Waiting was specified by more than 15 °,/o of those with a preference for women in all countries except the UK. In Spain a preference for women in most or all functional areas was expressed by 16 respondents. Amongst the jobs for which men were preferred, those relating to security and maintenance were commonly named. Four out of 36 mentioned night porter/receptionist in France, 7 out of 16 in Italy, 7 out of 32 in Spain and 5 out of 16 in the UK. However, bar and restaurant duties were also specified; 9 times in Spain, 16 times in France, but only 4 times in Italy and the UK. France was also notable for the number of respondents preferring men to work in the kitchen, with 20 stating this preference. These findings are clearly linked to the occupational segregation discussed in the previous section and are of concern because they indicate that a significant number of employers are likely to m a k e recruitment decisions based on stereotyped assumptions about men's and women's attributes. This is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Equal Treatment Directive and the associated national legislation, and m a n y hospitality employers across Europe are vulnerable to legal challenge as a result.

Equal pay In our questionnaire we asked about the rates paid to waiters and waitresses to see if any employers paid different rates for the same job, depending on the gender of the job-holder. We found no evidence of such crude pay discrimination. We were also able to make some comparisons between pay rates for different jobs, related to the likelihood of them being done by men or women. We did this by asking about the rates paid to chambermaids, chefs and receptionists. In our U K sample average pay rates were similar for waiting staff, chambermaids and receptionists. Although the mean hourly pay was higher for a receptionist, the median was the same at £3.50. Chefs received a significantly higher rate, and here the pay varied more according to the exact rank used. Where weekly rather than hourly rates were quoted, chefs seemed to be on much higher pay rates. In Spain the average monthly pay for a waiter or waitress in our sample was around 114,000 ptas, significantly more than a room attendant averaging 104,000 ptas, and less than a receptionist. Once again a chef is paid more than a receptionist, with the differential between them being higher than in the UK. In France the average pay for a waiter and waitress was broadly similar to that of a receptionist. Chambermaids were paid somewhat less, while here too chefs were paid much better. In Italy pay for a waiter/waitress was similar to that of a chambermaid, while reception staff were paid more. Chefs were paid most, but the differential was smaller than in the other countries. These results are interesting because they do show that relatively low pay tends to correlate with the degree of feminization in the job. So, for example, chefs (predominantly male) are best paid in all countries, and chambermaids (predominantly female) are generally the least well paid. It is also interesting to note that in France and the U K where there was a higher proportion of female receptionists, there was a lower differential in pay between them and waiting staff. The reasons for the pay differential are in some cases explained by the requirement for specialist skills in some jobs, and in other cases by the way the gender of the job-holder impacts on the way a job is valued. This suggests that both equal treatment and equal pay legislation have had only limited success in equalizing women's position in the workplace.

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Maternity rights In our survey, respondents were asked whether there had been any cases of maternity leave among their employees during the last 3 years, and whether this had caused them any problems (Table 5). There was more evidence that hotel employees made use of maternity provisions in France and the UK, and there remains perhaps a stronger culture in the other two countries of leaving work once pregnant. Take-up of maternity leave was lowest in Spain where interview evidence indicates that, in practice, women may be denied their maternity leave entitlement and that the generosity of the legislation is a deterrent to women of childbearing age being employed. French and Italian respondents were the most likely to feel that maternity leave had caused them difficulties. Managers were also asked about their knowledge of maternity legislation. In all countries knowledge seemed to be patchy, both over the length of maternity leave and whether it would be available for all staff. It is apparent that mothers benefit from more generous protection than required under the directive in France, Spain and Italy. Generous protection would seem to benefit women already in jobs, but may cause difficulties for small and seasonal employers, and this could act as a deterrent to the employment of women of child-bearing age. The fact that some employers still see maternity leave as a "problem" reinforces the case for effective legislation to prevent unfair dismissal, or discrimination against women at the recruitment stage.

Childcare arrangements The EC Recommendation on childcare 92/421 adopted in March 1992 recommends that member states act to ensure availability of adequate good quality childcare provision at affordable prices, and calls for the promotion of flexible working and sharing of parental responsibilities. In our survey we explored the types of childcare used by hotel employees (Table 6). State-provided childcare was most used in France, but even here where nursery provision is good, private arrangements with family and friends were important. One of the problems associated with hotel employment is the shift pattern and the likelihood that nursery provision will not cover the hours needed. While employers said they offered flexible working hours to assist in childcare in the UK and Spain, there seemed to be scope to introduce more flexibility in France and Italy.

Table 5. Incidence of maternity leave

Number of respondents who had had cases of maternity leave* Proportion of all respondents Number of respondents caused problems by maternity leavet "In last 3 years; t i n the past.

France

Italy

Spain

UK

13

6

6

11

26% 5

19% 4

14% 2

24% 0

Equal opportunitiesfor womenemployees

177

Table 6. Types of childcare used Arrangements

Private with family and friends State provision School Private nursery Employer provided childcare Flexible working hours

Number of times mentioned UK

Spain

France

Italy

21 14 17 9 2 17

10 5 5 3 -14

18 22 15 1 1 6

18 10 9 7 -4

Knowledge of employment law National legislation can only be effective in ensuring equality if employers obey the law and employees are aware of any infringement of their rights. In our survey employers were asked about their knowledge of employment law (Table 7). A substantial percentage of those completing the questionnaire in all countries admitted to having little or no knowledge of the law. This is likely to be an over-estimate of their knowledge, especially when we note that, although the French managers claimed to be better informed, in practice they were the most likely to express discriminatory views. This low level of understanding of employment law presents a challenge to the hospitality industry in all four countries.

Conclusions This article has shown that although women make an important contribution to the hospitality industry in all four countries, they still tend to be concentrated in lower status, less well-paid occupations. However, the detailed picture differs markedly across countries and across sectors of the industry. It is also the case that the situation is not static and women are slowly increasing their presence in higher status jobs. The main barriers to women's equality have been shown to be stereotyped attitudes held by employers (which are likely to be discriminatory), and the ineffectiveness of equality legislation partly because of employers' limited awareness of it. Additional factors include Table 7 Level of knowledge

Very well informed Reasonably well informed Know something of the law Know little of the law Know nothing of the law

Percentage of respondents UK

Spain

France

Italy

6% 31% 37% 18% 8%

2% 27% 38% 27% 7%

6% 27% 46% 14% 8%

6% 31% 37% 20% 6%

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Jean Burrellet al.

lack of educational and training opportunities for women, and inflexibility in employment contracts in some countries (caused by legal protection) which limit the availability of parttime work. Aspects of national-level provision which would improve equality of opportunity include mechanisms to improve women's access to nationally recognized vocational and degreelevel qualifications, some flexibility in employment law to allow part-time working, and adjustment of the social costs of employment in favour of part-time work. Further beneficial measures would be the establishment of independent equality agencies (such as the EOC) and a statutory minimum wage provided it is set at a reasonable level. Generous statutory maternity leave and pay are likely to help women already in employment, but could act as a deterrent to women's employment in small or seasonal hotels, unless other aspects of equality legislation are strengthened. At establishment level it is important that employers recognize the value of women's contribution and the ways in which legal provisions can be used to help women maximize their potential. Employers' limited awareness of employment legislation and stereotyped attitudes demonstrate the need for awareness-raising within establishments. Large organizations could tackle this through the development of equality programmes and policies and associated training which would build on the basic legal requirements. National governments and industry-level employers' and professional bodies also have a responsibility to provide information for smaller employers about legal obligations and the benefits of equal opportunity policies. If women are to develop their potential fully in the European hospitality industry, further national legislation and employer initiatives will be needed. The authors of this article would like to see all parties making use of this type of cross-national research which has allowed us to identify those areas of employment policy and practice which are most likely to be helpful in achieving equality of opportunity. We hope that our findings are not only of academic interest, but also of practical use in furthering women's employment in the hospitality industry.

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