So much focus has been on bad jobs and bad employers recently like Sports Direct, with their shameful warehouse working conditions and zero hours contracts that rob people of any quality family life….Read more…
Decent Jobs Week: one to watch, two to do
Millions of people in the UK are trapped in low-paid, insecure work. Right now, Decent Jobs Week (15-21 December) is coming to the end of 7 days of shining a light on our growing jobs crisis. If…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: “I’m the last mother standing”
If you listen to the government, you could be forgiven for believing that women’s labour market position is better than ever before. It’s certainly true that women’s employment rate is up, and women’s unemployment rate is down. But what this positive picture of women at work doesn’t show us…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: Unions are scoring successes against casualisation
The fall in the numbers of workers covered by agreements negotiated by trade unions is the key reason for the rise in low-paid and casual jobs in the UK. In 2013, 29 per cent of working people in the…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: This exploitation of agency workers must end
Tina is a qualified further education lecturer employed through an agency which forced her to sign a permanent contract of employment. She is only paid for the time she spends teaching but not for planning or attending meetings. Because she only teaches 24 hours a week she can’t claim working tax…Read more…
‘Flexible’ employment: the winners and the losers
Government and industry often argue that the flexibility of casualised ‘zero hours’ jobs benefits both employers and workers. The advantages for employers are abundantly clear. But what’s in it for…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: £6 an hour pay and no security – life in a zero-hours college
When people think about poverty pay and zero-hours contracts, universities and colleges aren’t usually the first workplaces that spring to mind. So it may come as a surprise to learn that 46% of…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: Time to end the two-tier workforce
If the government is to be believed we should all be feeling more secure because the numbers in employment are rising. However, the reality is very different for many in precarious work, where exploitation is the norm and there is no prospect of escape or hope that things will improve. Employers…Read more…
Vince Cable: End the scandal of illegally paid care workers
220,000 care workers are being paid less than the minimum wage, thanks to their zero hours and temporary agency contracts. Sign our petition now!Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: I love being a home care worker, but I hate the insecurity
Oh joy! Today I received a letter from HMRC stating I have been overpaid tax credits in relation to my childcare costs. I will have to pay back any money owed and may face a penalty for failure to inform them of a change in my circumstances. I would never knowingly claim money fraudulently, and…Read more…
Zero hours and the changing face of employment
A new TUC report to mark Decent Jobs Week (15-21 December) reveals that, far from limited to low paid, low skilled jobs, ‘zero hours contracts’ and other insecure forms of employment are on the rise…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: 12 changes that will make a difference – for the 12 days of Christmas
Decent hours On the first day in a new job, all workers should be given a written statement setting out their terms and conditions, including their expected hours of work. Employers must give workers adequate notice of when they will be required to wor…Read more…
Zero-hours shop workers need some Christmas cheer too
With Christmas bargains on offer and the January sales around the corner, this is the busiest time of the year on the high street. It’s also the time when those working in shops are under enormous pressure to keep the shelves stacked and to share the Christmas cheer. But how often do we spare…Read more…
#DecentJobsWeek: Too poor to be off sick
Until recently all of us assumed that when we are off sick we would still be paid, whether through a sick pay scheme negotiated by a trade union, through a company sick pay policy or, in the absence of these, through statutory sick pay (SSP). This seem…Read more…