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…
5.3 million employees worked a grand total of 2.1 billion hours of unpaid overtime last year, putting in an average of 7.7 extra hours each week. If they had been paid for all their free work, on average they would have each received an extra £6,301. Try out the TUC’s unpaid overtime calculator and see…
More than 250,000 UK workers are paid less than the legal minimum wage – let’s put this right. At a conservative estimate, minimum wage underpayment affects 250,000 people, but we fear that the true figure could be higher. For instance, we have heard that the forthcoming official Apprentice Pay Survey is likely to show that nearly one in five apprentices…
The Government has this morning released details of a month-old crackdown on alleged illegal working in nail bars, part of the year old Operation Magnify. The actual operation took place at the end of last month, and resulted in 97 people being held, and dozens of businesses warned they could face fines for trafficking and…
Matthew Taylor’s independent review of working practices launches today. We’re looking forward to working with him. Here are the things we think his review has the potential to change for working people: Making sure everyone can access decent rights at work Access to key workplace rights including protection against unfair dismissal, and family friendly rights, depend…
Average commutes are getting longer and travelling to work is getting dearer. Throw in the darker nights and bad weather and it’s no wonder that November intensifies the commuter blues. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In order to mark Commute Smart Week, which is organised by the campaign group Work Wise UK,…
The new official statistics on zero-hours contracts in the UK are out today and they make for grim reading. Over the past year, Britain’s zero-hours workforce has grown from 747,000 to 903,000 – a rise of 21%. Zero-hours contracts have become an easy way for bosses to employ staff on the cheap, and more and…
From paid holidays to pregnancy rights, and from safety standards to protections from discrimination. Every right that’s guaranteed by European law is a right that trade unions fought for, to improve the lives of working people. Together they form a vital layer of protection to stop our own government from being able to cut things…
Today marks the 11th National Work from Home Day, organised by Work Wise UK, who promote smarter working (flexible working, good homeworking and mobile working). The good news is that there has been some real progress over the past decade, with employee homeworking reaching the record level of 1,521,000. Furthermore, the number of home workers…
More than a million more employees would risk having to work excessive hours if the UK were to drop the EU 48-hour week rules, says a new TUC analysis published today. The European rules are vital for protecting our health , as regularly working more than 48 hours per week is linked to an increased risk of developing heart…