According to a recent report commissioned by the TUC, vulnerable workers are not getting the advice they need because employment advisers are not adequately resourced.
Researchers from the Centre for Employment Studies Research at Bristol Business School, commissioned by the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment, interviewed employment advisers from Citizens Advice (CABx) and the Law Centres Federation across the UK.
This showed that:
- 79 per cent of advisers receive reports of unfair dismissal weekly or more frequently
67 per cent of advisers receive reports of problems with pay weekly or more frequently
60 per cent deal with problems with working time/contractual rights weekly or more frequently.
These problems are concentrated in low paid sectors dominated by women, such as private care homes, hotels and restaurants, hairdressing and beauty, wholesale and retail, or cleaning companies.
For each of the main problems that workers experienced, more than 50 per cent of advisers said that they often came across employers who were “repeat offenders”.
The research showed that a large number of grievances were experienced by permanent workers, but that agency workers were disproportionately likely to experience workplace problems - 62 per cent of CABx and 81 per cent of Law Centres saw temps on a frequent basis.
The majority of respondents felt their organisation needed more resources to meet demand for advice: 70 per cent of CAB and 80 per cent of Law Centre advisers felt they had too few advisers to deal with the number of enquiries they received about mistreatment at work. Advisers also reported spending more and more time seeking funds so time available for advocacy work was decreasing.
To download the study, go to: www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk