28 October 2016

New figures by the Office for National Statistics show that the number of people being paid below the minimum wage has rocketed by 73% in the last year.

01 November 2016

The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) notes the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee's launch of an inquiry into workers' rights in the burgeoning "gig" economy but warns against the further fragmentation of labour law.

26 October 2016

Gender inequality in the UK is worse than in developing economies such as Rwanda, Burundi, Nicaragua and Namibia, new research has found.

25 October 2016

A "one-fits-all" approach to workers' rights is not appropriate for all sections of the workforce, General Secretary of The Professional Trades Union for Prison, Correctional and Secure Psychiatric Workers (POA), Steve Gillan, has said, announcing his union's official support for the Institute of Employment Rights' proposals for the reform of employment law.

20 October 2016

By Declan Owens, Socialist Lawyer

A Manifesto for Labour Law: towards a comprehensive revision of workers’ rights, published by the Institute of Employment Rights, 2016

Workers who read the Institute of Employment Rights’ Manifesto will recognise its diagnosis of the problem of labour law in the UK and it is likely that they will agree the recommended solution: a comprehensive revision of workers’ rights. Workers’ rights in the UK are already subject to a framework of law that is the most restrictive in the western world, a grim reality proudly endorsed by Tony Blair on the eve of his election in 1997 and not effectively addressed by any UK government since. Nevertheless, the Manifesto recognises that the world of work has changed and the law must follow.

20 October 2016

By Declan Owens, Socialist Lawyer

Access to Justice: Exposing the Myths, Andrew Moretta, published by the Institute of Employment Rights, 2016

Readers of Socialist Lawyer are aware of the problems in relation to their clients obtaining access to justice in their various practice areas and the devastating impact of the legal aid under New Labour, the Coalition Government and the Tories. One of the Coalition’s most far reaching reforms was the introduction of fees in the employment tribunals in 2013 (except for Northern Ireland) and the removal of employment law from the scope of legal aid, which had a major impact on law centres and firms. Andrew Moretta provides the reader with a clear, concise and detailed critique of how access to justice for workers in the United Kingdom has been gorged and outlines why the myths propagated by the Tories and businesses need to be exposed.