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Government papers: Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018 to 2019

Several recommendations to help stop the exploitation of the lowest-paid workers have been outlined in an independent report by Sir David Metcalf.

Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2018 to 2019 1

The strategy calls for large employers to share responsibility for any wrongdoing in its supply chain, including naming firms whose suppliers break employment law. Other recommendations put forward by the report include:

  • higher financial penalties for employers who exploit their workers and pursuing more prosecutions
  • enforcing holiday pay and making it the law that employers must provide a statement of rights for employees and a payslip for all workers
  • more resources to the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate to enforce current regulations and to expand their remit to cover umbrella companies and intermediaries
  • locally or regionally piloting licencing of hand car washes and nail bars, which have been identified as sectors at risk of labour exploitation
  • tackling ‘phoenixing’ – the practice of directors dissolving their companies to avoid paying workers' tribunal awards and other enforcement penalties.

The strategy follows on from the government’s Good Work plan (its response to the Taylor Review), which set out new reforms to strengthen employees’ day-one rights.

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