Latest News
Underpayment of workers rockets by 73% in a year
28 October 2016
New figures by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people being paid below the minimum wage has rocketed by 73% in the last year.
Victory for bogus “self employed”
28 October 2016
The Institute of Employment Rights welcomes today's decision by the Central London Employment Tribunal that Uber drivers should be legally classified as 'workers', not as 'self employed', thereby entitling those working for the taxi app to fundamental employment rights they did not enjoy before.
IER welcomes inquiry into workers’ rights: law needs to change to reflect changes in the world of work
01 November 2016
The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) notes the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee's launch of an inquiry into workers' rights in the burgeoning "gig" economy but warns against the further fragmentation of labour law.
UK falls behind developing countries in terms of gender equality, new research shows
26 October 2016
Gender inequality in the UK is worse than in developing economies such as Rwanda, Burundi, Nicaragua and Namibia, new research has found.
POA: One-fits-all approach to workers’ rights “doesn’t make sense and creates unnecessary conflict”
25 October 2016
A "one-fits-all" approach to workers' rights is not appropriate for all sections of the workforce, General Secretary of The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA), Steve Gillan, has said, announcing his union's official support for the Institute of Employment Rights' proposals for the reform of employment law.
REVIEW: Politically motivated attacks
20 October 2016
By Declan Owens, Socialist Lawyer
Access to Justice: Exposing the Myths, Andrew Moretta, published by the Institute of Employment Rights, 2016
Readers of Socialist Lawyer are aware of the problems in relation to their clients obtaining access to
justice in their various practice areas and the devastating impact of the legal aid under New Labour, the Coalition Government and the Tories. One of the Coalition’s most far reaching reforms was the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals in 2013 (except for Northern Ireland) and the removal of employment law from the scope of legal aid, which had a major impact on law centres and firms. Andrew Moretta provides the reader with a clear, concise and detailed critique of how access to justice for workers in the United Kingdom has been
gorged and outlines why the myths propagated by the Tories and businesses need to be exposed.
REVIEW: Too much law and not fit for purpose!
20 October 2016
By Declan Owens, Socialist Lawyer
A Manifesto for Labour Law: towards a comprehensive revision of workers’ rights, published by the Institute of Employment Rights, 2016
Workers who read the Institute of Employment Rights’ Manifesto will recognise its diagnosis of the problem of labour law in the UK and it is likely that they will agree the recommended solution: a comprehensive revision of workers’ rights. Workers’ rights in the UK are already subject to a framework of law that is the most restrictive in the western world, a grim reality proudly endorsed by Tony Blair on the eve of his election in 1997 and not effectively addressed by any UK government since. Nevertheless, the Manifesto recognises that the world of work has changed and the law must follow.
HMRC to investigate bogus self employment at Hermes
20 October 2016
Delivery company Hermes will be investigated by HMRC after drivers reported being misclassified as self employed to chairman of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee and Labour MP Frank Fields.
Liam Fox agrees to sign controversial trade deal without parliamentary debate
19 October 2016
Trade Minister Liam Fox has agreed to sign a controversial trade deal between the EU and Canada – the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) – before MPs were given the opportunity to debate it in the Commons.
Sharp rise in “self-employment”, but earnings fall
19 October 2016
Self-employment has boomed by 45% since 2001-02, but earnings among this section of the workforce are lower than they were 20 years ago.
EU case law protecting workers’ rights ‘could be challenged following Brexit’
19 October 2016
Research by the House of Commons Library has warned that workers' rights won through EU courts could be challenged in British courts and overturned if the government does not act to incorporate existing case law into legislation.
