.
A traffic light system demonstrating the precarious nature of access to legal advice and assistance in worker rights in London would show a signal stuck permanently on crimson red. The not-for-profit sector simply can’t meet the demand for advice, and more and more workers seek information about their rights from informal social media resources or simply give up.
Prior to the general election of 4 July 2024, Employment Legal Advice Network (ELAN) members agreed on the need for change as follows:
1extend time limits for issuing claims in the employment tribunal, from three months to at least six months (to allow for knowledge of rights and meaningful dispute resolution);
2introduce early education on work rights and responsibilities (all school-leavers go on to work or be employers);
3an inquiry and report into the exploitation of migrant workers in the health and social care sector (we can, and must, do better for the vulnerable workers looking after our loved ones); and
4personal liability of directors where a respondent company fails to honour an employment tribunal award (the not-for-profit sector reports that many awards are not paid,
1For more on this problem, see March 2024 Legal Action 14. and it is simply not fair that you can navigate one to two years of litigation, win your case and not receive a penny).
ELAN members also identified the need for clarity and transparency about the funding of employment rights advice to capture the precarious nature of accessing justice in this area. Without access to advice and support, rights mean very little. Tackling this issue makes economic sense. The Institute for Public Policy Research’s recent article, ‘
Making work pay: the government’s mandate on worker’s rights’ (Joseph Evans, 13 August 2024), states:
There is a good economic case for strengthening workers’ rights. The UK is stuck in a low-pay, low-productivity and low-investment rut which is damaging the living standards of working people. Boosting the pay of the lowest earners, tackling labour market insecurity and improving opportunities for workers to join unions will help to lay the foundations of broader economic prosperity. Two months can seem a long time in politics and the new Labour government has had a lot to navigate. Behind each shop front destroyed by hate, there were workers terrified to turn up, deeply concerned about the impact on their jobs and their incomes. The need for workers to understand their rights and know what to do to enforce them did not make the headlines, but was critical to many of those already traumatised by the events.
Labour is standing by its pledge to make changes in employment rights. We can expect to see, among other things:
•day one employment rights, including rights not to be unfairly dismissed (though employers will be able to operate probationary periods);
•a ban on ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts, ensuring that workers have rights to a contract reflecting average hours worked and more security over shift scheduling;
•restrictions on ‘fire and rehire’ and ‘fire and replace’;
•making flexible working the default from day one;
•establishing a new state enforcement agency, called the Fair Work Agency; and
•new rights for unions to access workplaces and other union-friendly reforms.
Importantly for many ELAN members who work with migrant workers and those from minority groups, we also expect to see a draft bill extending the equal pay regime so that it covers race and disability as well as sex, and the introduction of mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for employers with at least 250 people.
However, ELAN’s desire for transparency and clarity regarding the precarious nature of funding of the employment rights sector is a critical element that so far remains overlooked. What good are rights if they remain out of reach of those most impacted by their breaches?