Latest News
Carney’s speech to TUC Congress
12 September 2014
The bank of England’s governor told TUC Congress that interests rates were likely to rise before wages do, in his address on Tuesday (9/9).
71% drop in Employment Tribunal claims
11 September 2014
The Ministry of Justice has this morning released quarterly tribunal statistics (Apr - Jun 2014) revealing a 71% drop in Employment Tribunal claims, compared to the same period in 2013.
One in five workers now low paid
4 September 2014
Center for Cities, an independent think tank, has published a report, “unequal opportunities”. Commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree foundation, the report draws attention to the polarisation of the employment market: soaring executive pay and bonuses at one end, a proliferation of low paid, part-time work at the other.
Underemployment hits 3.4 million
5 September 2014
Underemployment – those in work but wanting more hours – has risen by 432,000 under the coalition government, with an increase of 100,000 over the last two years. The number of self-employed citing underemployment has risen most sharply.
UCL must do more to stop labour abuses in Qatar
1 September 2014
International pressure on UCL to do more to help workers on its Qatari campus is mounting. The International Trades Union Confederation (ITUC) has criticised UCL, along with seven American and one French University, for the mistreatment of workers in Qatar’s “Education City” in Doha; an academic complex that houses branches of several prestigious universities.
Tribunal orders council to pay £65k in compensation
28 August 2014
Bromley council has been ordered to pay over £64,000 in compensation after offering employees cash incentives to give up employment rights.
300,000 people to be affected by five-week benefits wait.
27 August 2014
Analysis by the TUC shows that around 300,000 claimants will be forced to wait at least five weeks to receive any unemployment benefit under the new Universal Credit system.
Carr report to make no recommendations due to “politicised” environment
27 August 2014
A review of laws governing industrial disputes, set up in the wake of the events at Grangemouth, will not make any recommendations, the report’s author Bruce Carr QC has announced.
Zero Hours Contracts: The exclusivity clause consultation
28 August 2014
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has launched a consultation on the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. The consultation seeks to find loopholes in clause 139 of the Zero Hours Contracts (ZHC) section of the bill: the proposed ban on exclusivity clauses. Exclusivity clauses in ZHCs aim to prevent employees from obtaining work elsewhere.
Collective bargaining in Europe
22/08/2014
The issue of collective bargaining has been at the heart of IER’s work for the past two years. In a report entitled Reconstruction after the Crisis: a manifesto for collective bargaining by Keith Ewing and John Hendy, the nature of the systematic European attack on collective bargaining was noted by the authors.
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Health and Safety Act celebrates 40 year anniversary as Coalition repeal advances
31 July 2014
40 years ago today (31 July 1974) the Health and Safety at Work Bill received Royal Assent. The Act introduced a new regulatory framework for safety in UK workplaces. It required employers to assess and manage the risk to the health, safety and welfare of their workers. The act encouraged cooperation between government, employers and trade unions in managing the health and safety needs of the workforce.
Treatment of Whistleblowers must improve, PAC reports
1 August 2014
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its Ninth Report of Session 2014-2015 into whistleblowing, finding that employees who voice concerns about malpractice in the workplace are treated “shockingly”.
