A recent report from The Work Foundation suggests that the Labour government merits "7 out of 10"
for its impact on working life during the last 10 years. Authors Ian Brinkley, David Coats and Stephen Overell
award this score for the government's "central achievement" in maintaining economic performance and low unemployment,
while introducing reforms to secure greater justice in the workplace.
The report argues that while more action is needed especially in respect of enforcement of employee
rights and to improve the quality of working life the environment is much improved. Some of the more pessimistic
predictions about the future of work made in the 1990s have not come about. Less secure forms of employment (e.g.
temporary, part-time) were increasing at that time. However, three-quarters of the 2.9 million jobs created between
1999 and 2006 were permanent and full-time. The current of
74.5 per cent is comparable to the highest ever achieved (76 per cent in the mid 1970s).
Specific improvements cited by the report include:
- The National Minimum Wage introduced in April 1999 at an adult rate of only £3.60, it is now one of the highest in the world
(and will increase to £5.52 in October 2007). Affecting about one million workers, 68 per cent of them women,
it has "reduced the extent of low pay and improved the relative position of the working poor".
- Flexible working, work-life balance and families: the availability of flexible working has
increased significantly. The right to request this of employers was introduced in 2003. There has been an extension
of maternity leave entitlements and paternity leave was introduced in April 2003. However, the authors highlight
evidence of unmet demand, and compare greater availability in other European countries.
- Working Time of more than 48 hours a week has declined, partly a result of the implementation
of the Working Time Directive in 1998. This measure also introduced a minimum four week's paid leave to full-time
workers (2.5 million saw an increase in their entitlement).
- Trade unions: The Employment Relations Act 1999 introduced a statutory procedure for gaining
recognition for collective bargaining, but trade union membership has not increased over the period.
The report also considers changes in work less directly influenced by political reform. For example,
the trend towards decreasing job satisfaction appears to have been stemmed. However, the report describes the
"bad jobs problem" - more monotonous, repetitive jobs than comparable economies, combined with workers' low sense
of autonomy and control - as "the UK's most significant challenge" for the future.
David Coats, associate director of policy at The Work Foundation said:
"Work is one area of policy where Tony Blair's administrations have not only been extremely active
over the last decade, but in which that activity has been for the better. The government has legislated to give
workers a means of redress against some of the excesses of flexible labour markets - often in the face of resistance
from employers - while simultaneously maintaining the dynamism of the economy.
"It is true that there is a legitimate concern about how well these rights are being enforced -
especially among vulnerable groups of workers - and there may be a case for some further amendments to the law.
Nevertheless, now the era of re-regulating the relationship between employers and employees appears to be at an end,
Labour's workplace reforms can be seen not only as an ethical step forward, but perhaps also as a contribution to
closing the productivity gap with other major economies as more employers are encouraged to abandon low-pay,
low-skill, low-productivity business models."
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