Author Archives: wonkypolicywonk

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About wonkypolicywonk

Wonkypolicywonk is a recovering policy minion, assigned wonky at birth.

Brexit & workers’ rights. Meh.

Posted on March 29, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

A few weeks ago, I turned down the offer of a freelance assignment: an article on the implications of Brexit for UK employment law. Well, the day job is pretty busy, and frankly the subject matter didn’t float my boat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Workers' rights | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

How soon is now? Ministry of Injustice needs more time to work out the bleedin’ obvious.

Posted on March 26, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Two months ago, I was daft enough to venture on this blog that Michael Gove – everyone’s favourite justice secretary – might be close to concluding his Ministry’s snail-like review of the justice-denying employment tribunal fees introduced in July 2013. … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Workers' rights | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Workers thank their lucky stars for the Workers’ Party. Oh, hang on …

Posted on March 16, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Every now and then, someone in the Labour Party has a pop at the Tories for not prosecuting enough employers for breaching the national minimum wage. When he was shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna was not averse to skating on this … Continue reading →

Posted in Workers' rights | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Oh look, another set of ET claim statisti …. zzzzzzzzzzz

Posted on March 10, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Warning: This post contains selected statistics, taken in isolation and out of context         (© Shailesh Vara, junior injustice minister and officially the nation’s slowest reader) So, today the Ministry of Injustice coughed up the latest set … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

NMW enforcement: what the **** is going on, Mr Boles?

Posted on March 8, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

“Our policy of naming and shaming employers who ignore the law means there are consequences for their reputation as well as their wallets.” So said BIS Minister Nick Boles in February, when naming & shaming another 92 employers for non-compliance … Continue reading →

Posted in Workers' rights | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Paying the (s16) penalty. Or not, as the case may be.

Posted on March 5, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Back in January, I noted on this blog that, since the provision came into force in April 2014, only 11 penalties had been imposed on employers under section 16 of the Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Act 2013, and that only … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Workers' rights | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ice-cold in Calais

Posted on February 18, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

This morning I was up early to accompany Green Party leader Natalie Bennett and London Assembly member Jenny Jones as they visited a ‘bunch of migrants’ (© David Cameron) in the Calais refugee ‘camp’ known – seemingly with good reason … Continue reading →

Posted in Refugees | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Minimum wage enforcement, the Tory way

Posted on February 15, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Something very unusual has been going on with enforcement of the national minimum wage. As the following table shows, over the past five years HMRC has recovered an average of £3.9 million in arrears for an average of 23,147 workers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Workers' rights | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Don’t panic, Mr Boles!

Posted on February 12, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Scene: The private office of BIS skills minister, Nick Boles. Civil servant (breathlessly): “Ah, minister and permanent secretary, I’m glad I’ve caught you both. We have a situation.” Minister: “What, trouble in the City?” Civil servant: “No, minister, the City … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice | Tagged , | Leave a comment

BIS, you cannot be serious!

Posted on February 5, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

So, with markedly less media hoo-ha than on previous occasions, BIS today ‘named & shamed’ another 92 employers for breaching the national minimum wage (NMW). The relative dearth of national media coverage may reflect the absence from this tranche – … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Workers' rights | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments