Workers across the UK are being subjected to illegal labour practices, including being underpaid, not receiving payslips and having holiday pay withheld.
Workers across the UK are being subjected to illegal labour practices, including being underpaid, not receiving payslips and having holiday pay withheld, according to a new report.
The Resolution Foundation launched the analysis as they start a three-year investigation into labour market violations.
They found that over 200,000 workers did not receive the minimum wage last year.
Many of those workers probably did not realise they were being underpaid, as the think tank reported that one in ten workers did not receive a payslip – making it difficult for them to determine whether they are receiving the correct amount of pay, pension and holiday according to hours worked.
The foundation also reported that one in 20 workers were not receiving holiday pay, despite being entitled to 28 days a year under UK law.
Certain people were more likely to have their worker’s rights violated, especially workers aged under the age of 25 and over 65 years old, who were less likely to receive a payslip.
Those working in the hotel and restaurant sector were more likely to miss out on paid holiday, with one in seven workers saying that they went without – a rate three times that of other sectors.
Lindsay Judge, Senior Economic Analyst at the Resolution Foundation, explained that the UK has plenty of rules to govern its labour market, but the laws were no use unless they are “properly enforced”.
“Labour market violations remain far too common, with millions of workers missing out on basic entitlements to a payslip, holiday entitlement, and the minimum wage.
“The government’s welcome proposal to create a new single enforcement agency should leave it better placed to tackle these labour market violations than the multiple bodies currently operating, as long as it’s properly empowered and resourced.
“Our analysis suggests that while violations take place across the labour market, the government should also prioritise investigations into sectors like hotels and restaurants, along with firms who make large use of atypical employment contracts, as that’s where abuse is most prevalent,” she said.
Meka Beresford is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter.
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6 Responses to “Illegal labour practices rife as workers are underpaid and go without holiday pay”
Dave Roberts
The vast majority of these workers are ” undocumented”, which means illegal, who are driving wages down as Eastern European workers from outside the EU obtain fake Bulgarian, Romanian and Greek passports and then arrive here as building and agricultural workers.
Go to any B and Q or similar store where building materials are sold and there is a queue in the mornings of them looking for work, price negotiable. They will be working on the houses of the Guardian reading middle classes who, of course, deplore the whole system and use the savings to invest in Buy to Let!
I have chapter and verse of this and would really like a discussion.
Patrick Newman
I am sceptical of Mr Roberts motives – smacks of UKIPPERY. What you allege is illegal – has he presented a dossier to the authorities? Thought not!
wg
But this is what the New Labour/EU agenda was all about – wiping away years of working class struggle.
John Reid (ex-Labour Cabinet Minister) reported in the Guardian:
“Reid said that when he was in government he wanted Labour to do more to curb immigration, and that Gordon Brown was to blame for the fact that it didn’t.
“The Treasury insisted on having a free flow of labour because they thought that brought down the cost of labour”.”
The blue collar worker has been raging about this for years and been accused of being xenophobic racists for doing so: if you wish to find the reason for Brexit, look no further.
It’s OK for people like Patrick Newman to prattle on about “UKIPPERY”, but he has to ask why the Labour Party lost all those voters – some to a party like UKIP.
Zero Hour and Fixed Term Contracts, aligned with freedom of movement from the poorer EU countries, has led to a dog-eat-dog situation – a low-bar minimum wage has set the price on our lives.
People, like myself, have seen in practice a regression in working relationships – how can a middle aged man who wishes to be with his family at the weekend compete with a young, fit crowd of people who are willing to sleep five-to-a-room and be available for work at every hour that God sends?
You don’t do what the boss wants – sorry, but we won’t be renewing your contract.
The general Left/Liberal consensus is for open borders and a generous free-for-all, but in achieving that aim the whole idea of community and cohesion is thrown under the bus: people are left with no agency and their lives become a battlefield.
We have gone backwards, and the Labour Party has assisted in that process.
Patrick Newman
What has been described is mostly illegal but what has been missing since 2010 is the resource for enforcement. There are many rogue employers who will exploit vulnerable people whether British citizens or EU migrants and we have had a government that has completely failed to enforce employment laws and worse. What people like WG (you dont have the courage of your convictions to reveal your real name) are trying to do is pit one part of the working class against another. Classic UKIP/BNP tactic based on the success in Thirties Germany by a guy called Adolf!
Dave Roberts
Mr Newman is a classic Trotskyist. Avoid the issues, call people names, have no arguments of your own have a tantrum.