Author Archives: wonkypolicywonk

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About wonkypolicywonk

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

Zero-hours contracts: To ban, or not to ban?

Posted on August 19, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

While we await the return of MPs to Westminster to begin work on the new Labour Government’s ambitious legislative programme, including what is set to be a truly humungous Employment Rights Bill, the (very) clever policy wonks at the Resolution … Continue reading →

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

Zero-hours contracts: Labour’s zero-sum game

Posted on April 1, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

In February, I questioned whether Labour shadow ministers have any idea how to implement their near totemic pledge – set out in their New Deal for Working People – to “ban zero-hours contracts and contracts without a minimum number of … Continue reading →

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

Toxic Truss and the Chamber of Horrors

Posted on March 19, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

Since Friday, there’s been some argy-bargy between MPs over which party – the Conservatives or Labour – was responsible for “talking out” an attempt by the shortest-serving Prime Minister in history, Liz Truss, to progress her Private Members’ Bill (PMB) … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Sex & Gender | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ET fees: my response to the MoJ consultation

Posted on February 28, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

Earlier this month, on this blog, I posted my initial thoughts about the surprisingly-timed Ministry of Justice consultation on Employment Tribunal (ET) fees, launched on 29 January, as well as some further thoughts and my proposal for an alternative fees … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment tribunals, Justice | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Cochlear implants: an update from Wonky Junior

Posted on February 25, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

Today is International Cochlear Implant Day. If you’ve not heard of cochlear implants, they are an amazing technology that enables profoundly deaf children and adults to ‘hear’ sound, and so learn to communicate primarily by speech (often supplemented by lip-reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Disability | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Employment Tribunal fees: How to fee, *that* is the question

Posted on February 5, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

Last week on this blog, I set out my initial response to the Ministry of Justice proposal to introduce modest fees for Employment Tribunal (ET) claimants and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) appellants. In short, given the dire state of public … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment tribunals, Justice | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Employment Tribunal fees: Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before

Posted on January 30, 2024 by wonkypolicywonk

A ripple of excitement ran through ’employment law & policy’ X (formerly ’employment law & policy’ Twitter) yesterday, when the Ministry of Justice unexpectedly presented us with an opportunity to dust off a much-used hashtag from the past: #ETfees It … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment tribunals, Justice, Workers' rights | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Employment Tribunal cases: the new normal

Posted on December 18, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

The latest set of quarterly Tribunal statistics – published last week – indicates that, having risen steadily from mid-2017 (when fees were abolished) to a Covid-induced peak in late 2020, the number of new Employment Tribunal cases has now settled … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment tribunals | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Employment Tribunal backlog: Down in the MoJ at midnight

Posted on November 9, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

In June this year – and then again in July for good measure – junior justice minister Mike Freer MP – who almost certainly doesn’t smell of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs and too many right wing meetings – told the … Continue reading →

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

Employment Tribunal backlog: Getting freer with the data

Posted on August 24, 2023 by wonkypolicywonk

Previously on this blog, I have noted how, since February this year, HM Courts & Tribunal Service has been magically shrinking the backlog of Employment Tribunal cases, by retrospectively revising downwards its previously published monthly management information (MI). The backlog as … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice | Tagged , | 1 Comment