News brief - 21/05/21 View this email in your browser
IER Chair's Bill could abolish insecure work
IER Chair, Lord John Hendy QC, will launch a Bill on Wednesday (26 May 2021) that proposes to give all people in employment access to the same suite of rights.
Currently, workers fall into a complicated array of employment statuses which are attached to varying access to employment rights. Employers are known to exploit the lack of clarity over employment status to provide fewer rights to their workers - notably in the case of gig employers like Uber, which the Supreme Court recently found to be misclassifying workers as self-employed to avoid paying the Minimum Wage.
Even where an employer has not misclassified a worker, millions of people are still excluded from employment rights because they are considered a 'limb b' worker rather than an employee. These workers, such as those on zero-hour contracts or hired through an agency, can effectively be dismissed at will and have no access to protection in the case of redundancy, paid parental leave, or unfair dismissal. Often, they have no guaranteed salary so are left to struggle in the precarious situation of never knowing when - or if - they will be paid.
The Status of Workers Bill proposes a universal employment status for everyone except those who are demonstrably self-employed. This will put all people in employment on a level playing field, preventing employers from using an insecure workforce to undercut wages and rights, and giving workers the job security they need to fight for the terms and conditions they want.
Read a draft of the Bill
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COMMENT: What are the central demands of British workers today?
IER Director, Carolyn Jones, considers the long-awaited - and now apparently forgotten - Employment Bill and what workers need from it.
Read full story
WATCH: IER Director Carolyn Jones speaks to RT's Renegade on the importance of unionisation
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Automation – negotiating a fair deal when technological improvements are made
22nd June 2021 – 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm
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Peril and possibility for workers – exploring the worst and the best of automation transition.
Speakers
Dr Leo Impett, University of Durham
+ more tbc
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IER and Covid-19
Due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus disease and the need to keep our staff, supporters and speakers safe, IER is holding all events online until further notice.
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