When we read a survey brought out by the British Grooms Association (BGA) about the number of grooms that are working well below the UK National minimum wage it made us think about what happens in other countries. In Australia many grooms are family members or friends happy to help out but that said a lot of the professional riders do have paid grooms and many, like one of our bloggers, Michelle Robson, have been with their riders (in Michelle’s case – Shane Rose) for several years.
Michelle Robson is always busy and manages to combine working for Shane (above) and riding her own horse (below)
So while we start to investigate how things stand in Australia re groooms conditions and wages, take a look at the interesting and somewhat worrying results from the British Grooms Association.
The British Grooms Association (BGA) has pioneered a national survey of grooms and employers and has uncovered that an alarming number of grooms are working illegally.
Nearly 1100 grooms and 160 employers responded to the survey, which highlighted that grooms are, on average, being paid more than £2 below the current National Minimum Wage.
For those employed by businesses, the average wage is £4.19 per hour. This rises to £4.90 for freelance grooms and falls to £1.96 for working pupils/apprentices. The current National Minimum Wage is £6.31 for workers 21 and over; £5.03 for 18 – 20 year olds; and £2.68 for apprentices. The industry’s reputation for low pay is, therefore, justly deserved.
Retention within the industry is another area which was addressed and the survey found that grooms initially felt motivated, enthusiastic and dedicated, but turnover is high and only 18% of grooms had been in their current role for over five years. Of those who left the industry, 57% cite 'poor working conditions' as the main reason for their exit.
The BGA has evidence for poor working practices and has identified clear areas for improvement, these include: pay; training; structured employer feedback; and sick pay and holiday allowance.
Additionally, the survey finds that conditions of employment considered normal in other industries are not evident amongst the respondents:
56% of grooms do not receive payslips, and 56% do not have a written contract of employment, both of which are legal requirements.
Over 60% of our respondents worked more than 5 days per week; 10% claim to work 7 days per week. An average working week is 49 hours.
46% do not get paid holiday.
45% do not receive sick pay of any sort.
70% do not get paid overtime or receive time off in lieu when they work longer than their normal day.
90% are not paying into a pension fund of any sort.
Only 20% have regular appraisals with their employer.
Worryingly, the survey found that of the grooms who are currently employed as either working pupils or apprentices, 55% had no training either planned, or being received.
Executive Director of the BGA, Lucy Katan, says, “Unfortunately these results come as no surprise to us; the current situation is clearly untenable. We clearly need to offer further education to both grooms and employers. We simply cannot ignore and tolerate these illegal working conditions and with this evidence the industry must make the changes it needs to in order to modernise. Improved employment conditions for grooms will have a positive impact on the industry as a whole and are very long overdue.”
The survey was conducted under the auspices of the BGA by Georgina Brooke-Holmes and Dr. Kate Calamatta.
