Category Archives: Workers’ rights

BEIS: Not so good with the name thingies.

Posted on May 25, 2017 by wonkypolicywonk

“I’ve never been too good with names,” sang Evan Dando and The Lemonheads on the title track of their fifth album It’s a shame about Ray in 1992. The song (and the album) is an indie classic that has easily … Continue reading →

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

Enforcement of the NMW – a fair sport?

Posted on August 25, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

Earlier this month, the newly re-named Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS, formerly BIS) named & shamed another batch of 197 NMW rogues. With six months having passed since the last batch, in early February, BEIS was able … Continue reading →

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

NMW enforcement: has BIS kissed goodbye to £4m in financial penalties?

Posted on May 13, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

As noted on this blog in February, something very unusual went on with enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) in 2015/16, with both the total amount of NMW arrears recovered by HMRC and the number of workers benefiting from … Continue reading →

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

Lies, damned lies, and co-authored articles in the Guardian

Posted on April 29, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

In “The Truman Show” – the film in which the eponymous hero comes to realise he is living in a constructed reality television show – Truman Burbank first suspects his marriage is a sham when he finds a wedding photo … Continue reading →

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

NMW enforcement: curiouser and curiouser

Posted on April 19, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

To their credit – and that is not something I tend to say very often – Tory ministers appear to have been stung into action by revelations that large, profitable companies such as B&Q, Morrisons, Tesco and Caffe Nero are … Continue reading →

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

Brexit and workers’ rights: Give me a break!

Posted on April 16, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

The already hyperbolic ‘debate’ around the likely impact of Brexit on UK workers’ rights got significantly sillier this week, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn using his Big Speech on Europe to warn of a “bonfire of [workers’] rights” should Britain … Continue reading →

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

Putting Shailesh Vara in context (condensed)

Posted on April 6, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

I’ve been feeling bad that my last post was a tad, well, unreadable. So this is the condensed version. With charts (see, I do love you, Gem). So, the question is: Has the introduction of Acas early conciliation been (a) … Continue reading →

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

Phantom menace: ET fees & Acas early conciliation

Posted on April 4, 2016 by wonkypolicywonk

As previously noted on this blog, I have been resisting the urge to write about the feeble performance of the imbecilic junior injustice minister, Shailesh Vara MP, when giving oral evidence on the impact of employment tribunal (ET) fees to the Justice … Continue reading →

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

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