Two million UK workers are ‘trapped in a continual round of low-paid and insecure work where mistreatment is the norm’ according to the findings of the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment, published this week.
The Commission, set up by the TUC and involving employers and independent experts as well as trade unionists, says Government, unions, employers and consumers must now all play a part in ending exploitation at work.
Commissioners say that they were shocked both by the extent of vulnerable work and that much of the poor treatment they found was perfectly legal. The report says that ‘employment practices attacked as exploitative in the 19th century are still common today’ and that the ‘poor treatment at work that we have found should not be tolerated.’
Commissioner and SERCO Chairman Kevin Beeston said: ‘During my time on the Commission, meeting vulnerable workers and hearing the evidence first-hand for myself, I have become increasingly surprised by my own and society’s ignorance of these issues.
‘It’s disappointing to see how low the morals of some unscrupulous employers can be, and it’s time society stopped turning a blind eye to these workplace abuses that are shaming the world of work and tarnishing the reputations of good employers.’
TUC General Secretary and Chair of the Commission Brendan Barber said, ‘All the Commissioners - whatever their backgrounds - were shocked at just how vulnerable some workers are in today’s Britain. Their treatment is a national scandal, and we need urgent action.
‘But we have to cut thought the sterile debate that has turned any proposal to help even the most exploited people at work into a pro-union, anti-business old Labour move. Good employers have nothing to fear - and much to gain - from policies that stop them being undercut by bad employers who break the law or use loopholes to get round it.’
The report says that vulnerable workers suffer because they do not know their rights, lack an escape route from vulnerable jobs, cannot get their rights enforced - and often suffer when they try to - and that they fall through gaps in employment law that mean they do not enjoy the decent minimum standards to which the Government is committed. The report reveals OECD research showing that the UK has less employment protection than any other advanced economy apart from the USA.
Among the recommendations made by the Commission’s report, available free on-line at www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk are
- To counter widespread ignorance of employment rights, particularly among vulnerable workers, there should be a major awareness programme and better funding of employment rights advice.
- To counter the lack of proactive and co-ordinated enforcement of employment rights, there should be more funding for enforcement agencies such as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the minimum wage enforcement unit of HMRC, changes in the law that will allow them to work together more closely and more proactive enforcement that targets bad employers without waiting for complaints from their insecure victims.
- Some straightforward breaches of employment rights, such as illegal deductions from pay packets, which currently can only be enforced by individuals taking difficult and slow Employment Tribunal cases should be policed by an agency such as HMRC’s minimum wage enforcement unit.
- A new Fair Employment Commission involving employers, unions and civil society groups should co-ordinate the work of enforcement agencies, monitor awareness of employment rights and make recommendations to Government.
- The Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority (GLA) regime should apply to other sectors where agencies use vulnerable workers as there is evidence of exploitative treatment in sectors that are not currently regulated such as care homes or construction.
- There should be a reform of employment status law that denies rights and any security to workers who do not count as employees as they do not have a contract of employment.
- Equal treatment for agency workers with permanent employees doing the same work.
- Changes in immigration law to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers who raise complaints to losing their jobs and thus facing destitution.
- Vulnerable workers should be helped to move into better jobs, through more training - including ESOL for migrant workers - and a more flexible benefits system.
Commissioner Belinda Earl, Chief Executive, Jaeger, said: ‘During my work on the Commission I was able to meet with some of the UK’s most vulnerable workers in London. I was shocked that such poor practice still exists; one worker that I spoke to told me he had worked 70 hours a week, in a fast food takeaway, for 3 years without any paid holiday - and he was not even being paid the minimum wage. I also met with migrant domestic workers, who were being underpaid and exploited - and who faced physical and sexual violence from their employers. It is unacceptable that these practices exist today and more action is needed to prevent these extreme violations of employment law.’
