DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/256)
issued by COI News Distribution Service. 5 November 2008
Business groups,
unions and the government joined forces today for the first
meeting of the Fair Employment Enforcement Board.
The Board will lead the fight to protect vulnerable workers from
the minority of unscrupulous employers who exploit their staff and
undercut their competitors.
Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden said:
"Workers in the UK enjoy better rights than in the past, but
there are still some unacceptable cases of rogue employers
mistreating their staff.
"We must safeguard workers' rights and ensure
unscrupulous employers cannot prey on those who are desperate to
earn a living in difficult times.
"Denying workers basic rights on wages, leave and conditions
is not only illegal, but cheats the majority of honest businesses.
These practices must be stamped out."
The new Board brings together government enforcement bodies,
unions, business leaders, and Citizens Advice to ensure effective
enforcement of the law.
The Board's first activities will be to:
* Oversee the launch of a single enforcement helpline to report
cases of mistreatment
* Oversee a significant and sustained campaign to raise
workers' awareness of their basic employment rights
Also this week, the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate
(EAS) has begun a campaign to inform agency workers of their rights.
An information booklet is being distributed to vulnerable workers
and advice bodies, and is also available at http://direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Typesofworkoremployment/DG_10027514?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=177027&Rendition=Web.
Richard Dunstan, Employment Policy Officer for Citizens Advice, said:
"Citizens Advice is delighted to join the Fair Employment
Enforcement Board.
"A great many of the clients we see with employment problems
are vulnerable workers, who face great difficulty in enforcing
their rights and who will benefit greatly from the single
telephone gateway to the enforcement bodies that the Board will oversee."
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
"The TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment found
workers across the UK who are trapped in a continual round of
low-paid and insecure work where mistreatment is the norm.
"Many, including agency workers and home workers, do not
enjoy their proper legal rights including the minimum wage,
working time limits and paid holidays.
"We welcome these moves to improve enforcement of existing
rights and make sure that workers and their bosses know their
rights and obligations. A single contact point and closer joint
working were calls made by the TUC Commission and we are pleased
to see the Government respond."
Katja Hall, Director of Employment Policy, CBI, said: "The
UK has a strong and extensive framework of employment law and
there should be no hiding place for rogue employers who block
their staff from benefiting from it.
"There are many misconceptions about vulnerable working, and
we are pleased that the Government will look further at this
complicated issue.
"We support targeted enforcement to drive out those who gain
an unfair competitive advantage by exploiting their staff.
However, such enforcement must not raise the costs of business for
the vast majority of compliant firms.
"There must also be more effective advice and guidance
available for those firms - particularly SMEs - who want to comply."
Notes to editors
1. Establishing a Fair Employment Enforcement Board was one of
the measures recommended in the final report of the Vulnerable
Worker Enforcement Forum. The Board will oversee key projects set
out in the conclusions of the Forum.
2. The Vulnerable Workers Enforcement Forum was established to
examine abuses of employment law. It reported in August 2008,
after working with the government over the previous year.
Recommendations included:
* Establishing a Fair Employment Enforcement Board
* Creating a single telephone helpline for vulnerable workers to
report abuses to the government's workplace enforcement
agencies
* The launch of a sustained campaign to raise
awareness of employment rights issues and encourage workers to
report abuses
3. A vulnerable worker is someone working in an environment where
the risk of being denied employment rights is high and who does
not have the capacity or means to protect themselves from that abuse.
4. The Fair Employment Enforcement Board includes:
* Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden (chairman)
* HM Revenue and Customs
* Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate
* Health and Safety Executive
* Gangmasters Licensing Authority
* Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
* Confederation of British Industry
* Trades Union Congress
* Federation of Small Businesses
* Citizens Advice
5. Information on the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable
Employment can be found at http://www.vulnerableworkers.org.uk.