Media

The UK’s commitment to ILO health and safety standards exceeds only that of Romania and Estonia among all EU Member States.

Analysis by Lord John Hendy QC finds that over 11 million people could face significant financial hardship during the current crisis.

IER has published an expert-led analysis of the international laws to which the government to conform.

A new report offers practical advice to trade unions seeking to protect their workers from dismissal over the content of their social media posts.

Independent think tank the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) will launch a comprehensive package of labour law proposals - Rolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law - on Sunday 09 September at TUC Congress.

14 December 2017A new report published by independent think tank the Institute of Employment Rights recommends a public inquiry is conducted into the blacklisting scandal, and sets out a Manifesto Against Blacklisting, proposing changes to the law, including criminal sanctions for employers operating blacklists. 

04 October 2017 A new report from think tank The Institute of Employment Rights, authored by a Cardiff University expert on labour standards in care work, concludes that establishing a sectoral collective bargaining process to negotiate workers' pay and conditions in the social care industry is the best way to prevent the exploitation of carers and improve the quality of care for service users.

30 June 2016 Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has said that the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law will be used as a blueprint for future Labour policy.

As the government attempts to rush through the unnecessary and unpopular Trade Union Bill, the IER and the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom have released a new YouTube clip and two new publications to inform the debate. In the video, Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC explain the content and expose the purpose of the Bill.

21 August 2015 A new publication, “The Mythology of Business”, has been released by the Institute of Employment Rights (IER). It dispels some of the myths surrounding business and its supposed benefits. The publication is authored by David Whyte, Professor of Socio-legal studies at the University of Liverpool, and released in conjunction with the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS).

15 July 2015 The Trade Union Bill will have its first reading in the House of Commons today (15 July 2015), when the full extent of the government’s vindictive attack on trade unions and their members will be revealed

18 February 2015 It’s official. UK workers need a pay rise. Thank you Mr Cameron for your belated words of wisdom! But Cameron’s outburst is no more than the Bullingdon Boy’s equivalent of saying, ‘let them eat cake’. Cameron is so far removed from the people he allegedly represents that he cannot see the problems let alone the solutions.

For immediate release 03 February 2015 The Institute of Employment Rights has brought together a high profile platform of policy makers, trade union leaders and labour lawyers to discuss an alternative, progressive agenda on labour law.

For immediate release 30 October 2013 The NUJ has confirmed its official support for the Institute of Employment Rights' (IER) Collective Bargaining Manifesto, making it the 14th major union to support the new policy proposals.

For immediate release 24 October 2013 The number of unions officially backing the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Collective Bargaining has grown to 13 following the addition of media and entertainment union BECTU, the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) and the Professional Trades union for Prison, Correctional & Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA).

For immediate release 11 October 2013 Railway union ASLEF has announced its official support for the Institute of Employment Rights' (IER's) latest package of policy proposals Reconstruction after Crisis: a manifesto for collective bargaining. This makes the organisation the tenth union to give the manifesto their backing, including Unite, Unison, GMB, NUT, PCS, CWU, UCU, RMT and ATL.

For Immediate Release 18 September 2013 Following Business Secretary Vince Cable's announcement this week that a consultation will be launched into zero-hours contracts, the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) published policy proposals that aim to eradicate the exploitation of workers while retaining a degree of flexibility for businesses.

23 August 2013 The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) will launch a policy proposal for an alternative growth strategy at the TUC Congress this year.

16 January 2013 Yesterday (15 January 2013), Minister for Construction and Tory MP Michael Fallon announced the launch of an 18-member advisory council, which has been developed by Government Chief Construction Adviser Peter Hansford in order to look at ways to help the flailing construction industry get back on its feet.

25 July 2012 The IER asks why G4S tried to fill 10,400 roles with a deal so poor for workers that Locog does not even expect the guards to turn up for duty.

20 June 2012 Statutory places for worker reps on remuneration committees would be a far more effective way to control executive pay, says IER.

18 May 2012 The IER notes that the Ellesmere Port deal came at a cost.

16 May 2012 Train drivers are a colourful group of people. But that doesn't extend to race or gender, according to a report released today at the ASLEF conference. Only about 4.2% of the grade ASLEF represents are women and a mere 4.9% come from ethnic minorities.

On the very day two construction companies were found guilty of causing serious injury to the operator of a crane that collapsed in the centre of Liverpool, the government pledged to undermine the law that brought them to justice. The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) is warning that the coalition’s supposed aim to ‘cut red tape’ could put thousands of workers in danger of injury and disease in the name of populist politics and tabloid myths that have no bearing on reality.

04 March 2012 As the misnamed Ministry of Justice considers responses to its consultation paper on charging fees in employment tribunals, IER notes that a cursory glance at the state of British employment rights and trade union freedoms highlights the extent to which access to justice is systematically being shut down for British workers.

You will find below a list of all the latest press releases from the Institute of Employment Rights, covering our publications, consultation responses, briefings and events. If you need any further information please contact Carolyn Jones on 0151 207 5265.

9 March 2011 Unannounced workplace inspections could be reduced by a third from 2011–12 onwards, according to a leaked letter obtained by the BBC’s File on 4 programme. An IER Briefing by Steve Tombs and David Whyte sets out the danger of deregulating health and safety.

6 January 2011 In a programme hosted by broadcaster Clive Anderson, the Chair of the Institute, John Hendy QC, is joined by David Reed QC, Sir Thomas Morrison and Bronwyn McKenna of Unison as they discuss how the law controls the actions of trades unions and employers during industrial disputes.

14 October 2010 The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) has warned against any freeze in the minimum wage, claiming that such a move would be both economically and morally unjustifiable. IER director Carolyn Jones explained that failing to increase the minimum wage – which currently stands at £5.93 an hour for over-21s – in line with inflation would deter some workers from spending their money at Britain’s retail outlets.

7 October 2010 The authors of IER’s recent report rebutting the myth of health and safety gone mad, have updated their comments on Left Foot Forward in response to statements by Cameron and Young.

20 October 2009 MPs To Increase Efforts To Strengthen Blacklisting Measures A group of Labour MPs have agreed to work with construction union UCATT to pressurise the Government to strengthen the draft regulations designed to outlaw blacklisting. The MPs agreed to take this action at the parliamentary launch on 20th October 2009 of Ruined Lives: Blacklisting in the UK Construction Industry an academic report which reveals that the Government’s proposed anti-blacklisting regulations are inadequate.

Balancing the scales of justice in the fallout from profit-driven decision making that led to the current financial downtrend.

1 April 2008 As the debate on the European Reform Treaty enters the House of Lords, Bill Wedderburn, QC – an ex-President of the Institute of Employment Rights -offers his informed opinion on the Reform Treaty, the draft Constitution and the need for a referendum.

9 December 2007 In a new publication from the Institute of Employment Rights – Anna Pollert, a Professor of Sociology of Work at the University of West of England – links the decline in the numbers covered by a union agreement with an increase in the vulnerability of workers. Pollert argues that ‘individualising’ work problems and ‘externalising’ possible solutions both fail to address the problems of isolated, vulnerable workers.

29 November 2011 The workplace is too often the source of ill-health warns the Institute of Employment Rights The Institute of Employment Rights has produced a Briefing in response to Dame Carol Black’s Review of the Health of Britain’s Working Age Population. The Black Review, announced in October 2007, was hailed as “the first ever review of the health of the working age population”. At the launch of the Review, Peter Hain MP said its aim was to “address how we can improve people’s health and support them to stay in or return to work”