What You Need to Know About Invisible Labour

How would your perspective change, if you were able to see the behind the scenes of everyone’s life? The hours it took for your colleague to research the presentation they gave last week, or the amount of time your partner dedicated to cleaning your home so you would have an uncluttered space to come back to after work. The truth is there is unseen labour in it all – in every aspect and facet of our lives. The next time you pick up a fruit or vegetable at the grocery store, take a moment to think about how many hands it has passed through in order to get it in your cart. Would we be more grateful if we knew all the backstories— the unseen edits that don’t make the final cut?

Invisible labour is a term that was coined by sociologist Arlene Daniels in 1987. It refers to unpaid work that goes unnoticed and as a result is unregulated. According to its sociological definition, unpaid work is often carried on the backs of marginalized communities, including women and people of colour. In 1989, sociologist Arlie Hochschild coined the term “second shift” to describe the housework employed women had to come home to after a long day in the office. But this second shift goes far beyond housework, and bleeds into office work as well. Think about the free diversity and inclusion initiatives so many people of colour unwittingly take on by proxy of simply existing. Explaining microaggressions, educating colleagues, being stereotyped or tokenized are all examples of unpaid labour and emotional tax marginalized communities are almost expected to carry out. This invisible workload can lead to detrimental consequences, including burnout, depression, anxiety, and heightened feelings of resentment.

The truth is, the illusive “second shift” impacts all of us, even those of us who are not taxed with carrying out the additional labour. According to a study carried out by the United Nations, women take on three of every four hours of unpaid labour. Further, unequal division of unpaid work can reduce earnings and economic independence. According to the International Monetary Fund, the economic empowerment and independence of women actually grows economies while simultaneously reducing income inequality and strengthening economic diversification. The same can be assumed for other minority groups, who are also commonly taxed with unpaid labor.

The first step is making unpaid labour visible. It’s taking stock of the “unseen” labour that employees accomplish in a day's work. Understanding what unseen labour looks like (and what it actually is) can help us to begin to conceptualize how we can support and/or accommodate these additional tasks.

 Engage in dialogue and have a conversation with employees and ask what can be done to alleviate some of the burden of their unpaid labour. Perhaps the answer is allotting more time to tasks, acknowledging and appreciating the invisible labour that comes with specific projects, or offloading certain assignments to employees who have more familiarity with it.

Whatever course of action you choose to take, drawing awareness to the unseen weight your staff carries will help create understanding. Taking action to support staff will help build a stronger, more equitable workplace where employees feel seen and heard.