[IER] High-paid workers have best opportunity for progression, leaving lower paid stuck, report finds

Fri Feb 1 09:11:37 GMT 2019

IER News Brief 01/02/19Follow us on Twitter  
news brief
Friday 01st February 2019
The workers who would benefit most from training are the ones least likely to have access to it, a new report from the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) has found.

Cuts in government funding have made free-to-access courses hard to come by and left employers - who are most likely to offer training to people already in senior roles, highly paid or highly skilled - as the main providers of opportunities to upskill.

Some workers also pay for training out of their own pocket, but this option is only available to those who can afford it.

Low-skilled, male, manual workers are the least likely to access training, the report found.

Dame Martina Milburn, Chair of the SMC, commented that this was bad for business and for the economy at large as well as for the mobility of lower-paid workers.

"The result is a system with vast numbers of low-skilled workers with little opportunity to build skills and escape low pay. This urgently needs rebalancing – for productivity as much as social mobility," she said.

"Both employers and the government need to act to address this problem. They should start by increasing their investment in training, to bring it closer to that of international competitors, and prioritise this to those with low or no skills. Doing this would benefit both business and the economy as a whole."

The need to improve training provision in the UK is a central motivation behind the recommendations made in the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law.

Our experts propose that sectoral collective bargaining structures are reinstated across the economy to bring employers, workers and government officials together to negotiate a better deal for workers and plan for the future strength and sustainability of British industry.

Read more about the Manifesto for Labour Law 

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This year we are celebrating our forthcoming 30th Anniversary and we're appealing for your support. We hope to raise £30,000 to celebrate our 30 years and with these funds we will modernise our website and communications; promote our ideas through meetings, education packs, videos and animations; and establish a reserve to avoid repeat fundraising. 
> click here to read full story Workers who would most benefit from training least likely to receive it, report finds 
The workers who would benefit the most from training are the least likely to receive it, a new report from the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) has found. 
> click here to read full story Hinds dangles bonuses in bid to tackle teacher shortfall 
Education Secretary Damian Hinds has promised extra pay to new teachers in a bid to turn the tide on schools' recruitment and retention crisis. 
> click here to read full story Asda workers win first round of equal pay claim 
The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision by the Employment Tribunal that Asda shop floor workers are comparable to depot workers for the purposes of equal pay legislation, after the employer challenged the original decision. 
> click here to read full story Over half of councils don't insist on care staff being paid for full day of work, FOI request reveals 
A Freedom of Information Request made by Unison has revealed that more than half of councils fail to insist that care workers are paid for their whole day of work, leading to thousands being paid below the minimum wage. 
> click here to read full story CONSULTATION RESPONSE: Employment Law Hearing Structures 
Professor Michael Ford QC, from the University of Bristol and one of 26 authors of the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law, responds to a consultation from the Law Commission detailing the recommendations of the Manifesto in terms of Labour Court reform. 
> click here to read full story 
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> Register for your free seat    Events Liverpool: Case law development - labour law review 
Thursday 21 March 2019 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, Liverpool 
At this interactive, hands-on conference, trade union representatives and others interested in defending workers’ rights will learn how recent changes in the law are being interpreted in the courts, as well as given the opportunity to apply what they learn to issues in their own workplace.
Speakers include Betsan Criddle and Bruno Gill 
> click here to read more and book your place London: Case law development - labour law review 
Wednesday 24 April 2019 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, London 
At this interactive, hands-on conference, trade union representatives and others interested in defending workers’ rights will learn how recent changes in the law are being interpreted in the courts, as well as given the opportunity to apply what they learn to issues in their own workplace.
Speakers include Betsan Criddle and Bruno Gill 
> click here to read more and book your place 
  PublicationsRolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law: £10 
Edited by John Hendy QC, Prof Keith Ewing and Carolyn Jones 
The IER’s 2016 Manifesto for Labour Law garnered support from major unions across the UK, the Green Party, the Scottish Nationalist Party, and most of all the Labour Party, which adopted many of the IER’s recommendations as a blueprint for future reform. Now we present Rolling Out, a guide to how our recommendations could be practically implemented. 
click here to read more and purchase Blacklisting: the need for a public inquiry (including a Manifesto Against Blacklisting): £8 
By Dave Smith and Alex Just 
In his thoughtful account of the conspiracy, which incorporates the first-hand experiences of blacklisted workers and their families, the author leads readers through the multitude of obstacles faced by the victims. It concludes with a call for a public inquiry that forces those involved to publically account for their actions; and a detailed Manifesto Against Blacklisting 
click here to read more and purchase Europe, the EU and Britain: Workers' Rights and Economic Democracy: £8 
Notes from a seminar by the Institute of Employment Rights and the Marx Memorial Library 
On 01 July 2017, labour movement leaders from across Europe met at the Marx Memorial Library, London, to discuss how a progressive future for workers’ rights can be sought following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. This report documents the meeting, including the transcripts of each presentation, as well as notes on the discussion between panel and delegates on the day. 
> click here to read more and purchase The Legacy of Thatcherism in European Labour Relations: The Impact of the Politics of Neo-Liberalism and Austerity on Collective Bargaining in a Fragmenting Europe: £8 
By Miguel Martinez Lucio, Aristea Koukiadaki and Isabel Tavora 
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, this analysis – the 11th in our Comparative Notes series – shines a light on the deleterious effect of the nation's deregulatory influence on the bloc. 
> click here to read more and purchase 8 Good Reasons Why Adult Social Care Needs Sectoral Collective Bargaining: £8 
By Dr Lydia Hayes 
In this booklet, Dr Lydia Hayes sets out the lessons learned from her interdisciplinary research into the social care sector, and builds upon the recommendations made in the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law: a comprehensive revision of worker’s rights to propose a sectoral collective bargaining structure for the negotiation of wages and conditions. 
> Click here to read more and purchase 
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