Today we’re publishing the findings from our research with over 1,000 young mums and dads. We wanted to know what young mums and dads thought about the workplace rights which are supposed to help them manage their childcare. We asked them: If they are aware of three key existing employment rights which could help working…
The Immigration Act 2016 brought about significant changes to the remit and powers of the Gangmasters Labour Abuse Authority. It also created the position of director of labour market enforcement. Sir David Metcalf has been appointed to this post. It is the director who is responsible for developing an overarching strategy for the three key…
Following UNISON’s legal challenge, the Supreme Court has, today, ruled that employment tribunal fees are unlawful because they price workers out of accessing justice and discriminate against women. This means that from today, employment tribunal fees will no longer apply and that all previous fees that have been paid will have to be repaid. The…
The Taylor Review includes a section on “fairer enforcement”, which concludes with the statement: “The two-tier enforcement framework in the UK works”. No it doesn’t. Two things immediately spring to mind that show this statement isn’t true: Employment tribunal fees price people out of justice. Ministry of Justice statistics show that claims have dropped by…
Congratulations to John Walker! For eleven years, he has been fighting his employer and the government, so that his husband can receive his pension when he dies. He had to fight because, until today, the law permitted same sex couples to be discriminated against. Today the Supreme Court upheld Mr Walker’s argument, giving same-sex couples…
Forget socks, slippers or the latest gadget. This Sunday, the government should give fathers the perfect Fathers’ Day gift and help them spend time more with their families – by making sure all fathers can access well-paid paternity leave. One in four working fathers aren’t entitled to take paid paternity leave when their child is…
Today is the International Day for Families, so it’s timely to think about the types of support that working families need to spend more time together. As a starting point, it’s imperative that working parents don’t see their existing rights undermined following Brexit. EU employment law provides key safeguards for working parents including the right…
The UK’s gender pay gap stands at 18.1% and at the current rate this gap will not close for at least another 40 years. This means that the average woman has to wait nearly a fifth of a year (66 days) before she starts to get paid, compared to the average man. Today the government…
This week UNISON challenged the government’s employment tribunal fee policy in the Supreme Court. We’ll have to wait a while for the verdict, but when it comes it could have a huge effect on workers’ abilities to enforce their employment rights. Since July 2013, employment tribunals have charged an up-front fee to workers who want to…