Mangan, David --- "Deepening precarity in the United Kingdom" [2019] ELECD 1845; in Kenner, Jeff; Florczak, Izabela; Otto, Marta (eds), "Precarious Work" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 55

Book Title: Precarious Work

Editor(s): Kenner, Jeff; Florczak, Izabela; Otto, Marta

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Deepening precarity in the United Kingdom

Author(s): Mangan, David

Number of pages: 20

Abstract/Description:

Three examples from the United Kingdom will be used to explore a troubling movement towards precarity. First - a familiar refrain in English labour law - trade unionism has again been challenged with further trade union legislation: the Trade Union Act 2016. Second, with the development of information technologies, workers may be disciplined (up to and including by termination) for anything they may post on social media platforms that, in the employer's opinion, causes embarrassment or harm to the employer. Third, the stifling of workers' access to redress complicates employment protections, betraying the situation that workers are often one dismissal away from difficulties. The hurdles put in front of workers as a cohort suggest a wider application of the adjective 'precarious'. Deepening precarity includes a larger cohort of workers as their freedom of association, freedom of speech, and right to access to courts are simultaneously curbed. The UK Supreme Court decision regarding tribunal fees will be assessed as a signpost regarding precarity: a potential tipping point in the understanding of employment regulation that renders the workforce more vulnerable.