John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Matthew Taylor’s Review into Modern Employment Practices provided a useful starting point to discuss the need for improving the UK’s employment practices. The report clearly outlined the unfair practices in the labour market as a result of the loopholes in the Agency Workers’ Regulations and Usdaw is calling on the Government to immediately close the so-called ‘Swedish Derogation’ loophole.
 
“It is unfortunate that a number of the other recommendations from the Taylor Review have been significantly watered down. Whilst Usdaw welcomes that the Low Pay Commission will be asked to look at a higher minimum rate for workers on zero hours contracts, we believe that this should apply to all workers who are not given a contract based on their normal working hours.
 
“The Matthew Taylor report clearly identifies a number of further areas of concern, such as employment status, the right to a contract and access to trade unions. The Government has dithered when they could have acted. Additional enforcement of existing rights is welcome, but many workers need new rights to stop exploitation.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion