Figures we published today show that with each passing month thousands more workers are being priced out of justice by employment tribunal fees. In the year before fees were introduced (2012/13) on average 16,000 people a month took a claim against their employer. However, by 2015/16 the average number of people taking claims dropped to…
Today the TUC has published figures which show how the gender pay gap widens as you get older. The most dramatic widening happens between the 30s and 40s. The gap in annual earnings has more than doubles, increasing from £3,034 a year to £7,234 a year. By the age of 50, a woman working full-time…
This week Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson warned of the risks of leaving the EU for disability rights. The response from a Vote Leave spokesman was that the UK outlawed disability discrimination long before the EU did and that “EU governments have a terrible track record in protecting the disabled, and certainly should not be able to…
Today Steve Hilton, the PM’s friend and former adviser, is making the headlines for declaring his support for Britain to leave the EU. In an article in the Daily Mail he makes his case for Brexit claiming that Britain’s membership of the EU makes the country “literally ungovernable”. He complains: “membership of the EU brings…
On Sunday we celebrated mothers’ day, a day when we show our appreciation for the often unsung and uncelebrated hard work of mothers. Today, on International Women’s Day, the TUC has published research that finds mothers are not so valued in the workplace. In fact, the research confirms the existence of a motherhood pay penalty,…
Today the government has finally published draft regulations that will require large private sector employers to publish their gender pay gap. It is intending to commence these regulations from 1 October 2016 but companies will have until 30 April 2018 to publish their pay gap. Government and business have said it is necessary for employers…
This week the Government published its response to the consultation on tackling labour market exploitation. It plans to give new powers to authorities to enforce basic work rights and it promises a new cross-government approach to enforcement. The BIS Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, says the reforms “will leave no place to hide for those…
David Cameron’s attempt to claim Labour territory has included strong messages on the gender pay gap. In his conference speech last week he declared, “I’m a dad of two daughters – opportunity won’t mean anything to them if they grow up in a country where they get paid less because of their gender”. Back in…
Yesterday, the Chancellor announced that the government will extend shared parental leave (SPL) and pay to working grandparents from 2018 – another policy stolen from Labour’s election manifesto. It is easy to envisage some of the benefits this increased flexibility will bring and political parties are right to recognise how heavily reliant many working families…
Today, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has published findings from the largest ever survey of the scale of pregnancy discrimination in Britain’s workplaces. Its headline finding: one in nine new mothers is forced out of work each year because of their pregnancy or maternity leave. That’s 54,000 women each year who are dismissed, made…