NEWS IN BRIEF

Vulnerable Women

The Commission on Vulnerable Employment, set up by the TUC, has said in it final report that 62 per cent of the UK's two million vulnerable workforce are female.

It found that vulnerable workers suffer because they do not know their rights; lack an escape route from vulnerable jobs; cannot get their rights enforced (often suffering if they try); and fall through gaps in employment law.

The Commission made a number of recommendations, including the following:

• To counter widespread ignorance of employment rights, particularly among vulnerable workers, there should be a major awareness programme and better funding of employment rights advice
• To counter the lack of proactive and co-ordinated enforcement of employment rights, there should be more funding for enforcement agencies such as the Health and Safety Executive and the minimum wage enforcement unit of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• Some straightforward breaches of employment rights, such as illegal deductions of pay, should be policed by an agency such as HMRC's minimum wage enforcement unit
• A new Fair Employment Commission involving employers, unions and civil society groups should co-ordinate the work of enforcement agencies, monitor awareness of employment rights and make recommendations to Government
• The Gangmasters' Licensing Authority (GLA) regime should apply to other sectors where agencies use vulnerable workers
• Employment status law that denies rights and any security to workers who do not count as employees should be reformed
• Agency workers should be treated the same as permanent employees doing the same work
• Changes should be made to immigration law to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers who make complaints
• Vulnerable workers should be helped to move into better jobs, through more training - including ESOL for migrant workers - and a more flexible benefits system.

For more information, go to: www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk