A paper examined whether the gangmaster licensing system could be used to improve the quality of temporary, precarious, and low-paid work.
Source: Kendra Strauss, Challenging hegemonic deregulation? The UK Gangmaster Licensing Authority as a model for the regulation of casual work, Working Paper WPG09-18, Centre for Employment, Work and Finance/University of Oxford (01865 285070)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Nov
The government began consultation on proposals for implementation of the Agency Workers Directive. It said that implementation should be delayed until the last possible date, in 2011.
Source: Implementation of the Agency Workers Directive: Consultation on draft regulations, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Consultation document | DBIS press release | TUC press release | CIPD press release | REC press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Oct
A survey examined the awareness by workers of their rights and the support available to them. 22 per cent of workers were unaware of basic employment rights, such as the national minimum wage or the right not to be discriminated against.
Source: Ralph Fevre, Theo Nichols, Gillian Prior and Ian Rutherford, Fair Treatment at Work Report: Findings from the 2008 survey, Employment Relations Research Series 103, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Oct
A report said that despite government regulation gangmasters were continuing to pay workers well below the minimum wage; failing to adhere to health and safety legislation; and using bullying, harassment, and even physical violence against workers. Gangmasters were also beginning to move into new sectors such as building sites, hotels, and care homes.
Source: Turning the Tide: How to best protect workers employed by gangmasters, five years after Morecambe Bay, Oxfam GB (01865 313184)
Links: Report | Summary | Oxfam press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jul
A discussion paper (by an official advisory body) examined the issues facing agency workers in the workplace. It looked at the implications of greater regulation for agency workers, and asked whether the idea of what constituted a typical or standard working relationship needed to change.
Source: The Agency Workers Directive: A Permanent Solution to Temporary Work?, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (020 7210 3613)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Jul
The Law Lords ruled that workers who were denied holiday pay while on sick leave could make a claim to an employment tribunal for unauthorized deductions from wages under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Source: Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs v Stringer and Others, UKHL 31 (Session 2008-09), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | PCS press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Jun
A study examined the perspectives of employment tribunal applicants on the funding arrangements employed to enable them to bring their cases. Very few applicants made a conscious choice between alternative funding types, and many solicitors failed in their professional obligation to advise claimants about what the alternatives were.
Source: Richard Moorhead and Rebecca Cumming, Something for Nothing? Employment tribunal claimants' perspectives on legal funding, Employment Relations Research Series 101, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jun
A study examined the characteristics of rejected employment tribunal claims, and of the parties concerned.
Source: Paul Latreille, Characteristics of Rejected Employment Tribunal Claims, Employment Relations Research Series 96, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jun
An article examined the experience of low-paid workers without union representation. Problems at work were widespread and, despite a strong propensity to take action to try to resolve them, most workers failed to achieve satisfactory resolutions. The existing government definition of 'vulnerability' was too narrow, because a large proportion of low-paid, unrepresented workers were at risk of being denied their employment rights.
Source: Anna Pollert and Andy Charlwood, 'The vulnerable worker in Britain and problems at work', Work, Employment and Society, Volume 23 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jun
A study examined the overall proportion of employment tribunal awards in England and Wales that were honoured, and the factors that might affect the likelihood of a claimant being paid an award by the employer.
Source: Lorna Adams, Ashley Moore, Katie Gore and Joni Browne, Research into Enforcement of Employment Tribunal Awards in England and Wales, Research Report 9/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Date: 2009-May
An article examined the initiatives taken in three countries (including the United Kingdom) to adjust legislation so as to accommodate new self-employment and types of work on the borderline between dependent employment and self-employment. It described the ways in which these types of work were considered under national labour legislation, and the extent to which they were taken into account by the respective statutory social security systems.
Source: Karin Schulze Buschoff and Claudia Schmidt, 'Adapting labour law and social security to the needs of the "new self-employed"' – comparing the UK, Germany and the Netherlands', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 19 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Apr
The watchdog for official information said that it had uncovered a database containing details on 3,213 construction workers, which was used by over 40 construction companies to vet individuals for employment. The information included sensitive personal information such as construction workers' personal relationships, and their trade union activity, as well as their employment history.
Source: Press release 6 March 2009, Information Commissioner (01625 545 700)
Links: Information Commissioner press release | TUC press release | Liberty press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report | Personnel Today report | Socialist Worker report
Date: 2009-Mar