International study highlights need for new employee protections, says TUC

The UK has seen significant growth in insecure forms of employment compared to other EU countries, according to a new study published this week by the TUC.

The report, International Trends in Insecure Work, was commissioned by the TUC from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Among its findings, the UK had the largest increase in the number of self-employed workers for EU countries from 2008 to 2015, with the third largest increase in the number of temporary workers for EU countries from 2008 to 2015.

However, the report links this growth to the relatively weak legal protections for those in bogus self-employment, agency work and on zero-hour contracts. By contrast, atypical workers elsewhere in the EU tend to have stronger legal protections and greater job security.

In France, workers can only be on a fixed-term contract for 18 months, and Germany has introduced a maximum hiring period of 18 months for temporary agency workers.

Zero-hours contracts do not exist in many EU countries, and are strongly regulated in others (e.g. Netherlands, Italy, Germany), but only lightly regulated in the UK. In the Netherlands, for example, employers are required to pay for three hours per shift, and to provide regular hours when the worker reaches a certain number of weekly hours over a given period.

TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “We don’t need to accept insecure jobs as a necessary evil to get more people into work. In Germany, employment growth has been the strongest in the EU, but at the same time insecure employment has declined.

“It’s time Britain stopped being a soft touch for bad bosses. Otherwise the dodgy practices we’ve seen from employers like Hermes and Sports Direct will spread to more and more working people. All the parties must explain in their election manifestos how they will improve the rights of working people. There are millions of insecure workers in Britain who need a government that will flex its muscles to fight their corner, and stand up to bosses who treat them badly.

“If countries like France, the Netherlands and Germany can give their working people more protection, Britain can too.”

NIESR Researcher, Nathan Hudson-Sharp, added: “While insecure work in other European countries has been characterised by the emergence of regulation and policy, the UK has noticeably lacked much needed new legislation.

“The UK therefore stands out for having very precarious forms of work, and for creating arrangements where workers are at particular risk of insecurity.”