Closed call for evidence

Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2024 to 2025: call for evidence

Published 17 July 2023

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

© Crown copyright 2023

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General Information

Call for evidence details

Issued: 17 July 2023

Respond by: 8 September 2023

Enquiries to: LMEDirectorsoffice@beis.gov.uk

How to respond

Email to: LMEDirectorsoffice@beis.gov.uk

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Quality assurance

This consultation has been carried out in accordance with the government’s consultation principles.

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Introduction

This call for evidence sets out the issues on which Margaret Beels, the Director of Labour Market Enforcement, seeks evidence to inform her strategy for 2024 to 2025.

The Labour Market Enforcement Strategy for 2024 to 2025 is due to be delivered to government in autumn 2023. For this we need:

• written feedback on these questions and any relevant evidence that you may wish to bring to our attention by 8 September 2023
• stakeholder engagement (round table meetings and partner visits) to hear views and evidence from stakeholders directly, scheduled for July and August 2023

Should partners wish to host a roundtable that the Director and/or ODLME officials can attend to discuss any of these issues this would also be welcomed. We are especially keen to hear the views of workers themselves.

Background

The role of Director of Labour Market Enforcement was created in 2017 to bring together a coherent assessment of the extent of labour market exploitation, identifying routes to tackle exploitation and harnessing the strength of the three main enforcement bodies: HMRC National Minimum Wage; the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA); and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS).

Each year the Director submits a Labour Market Enforcement Strategy to Government to set priorities for the three main enforcement bodies.

Both the interim DLME Strategy 2022 to 2023 (published in March 2023) and the full DLME Strategy for 2023 to 2024 (awaiting clearance from government) proposed four themes as a structure for thinking about identifying and tackling labour market non-compliance. These four themes are:

1. Improving the radar picture to have a better understanding of the non-compliance threat.
2. Improving focus and effectiveness of the compliance and enforcement work of the three bodies under my remit
3. Better Joined-up Thinking to minimise the opportunities for exploitation of gaps in employment protection.
4. Improving engagement with employers and support for workers

The DLME Strategy for 2024 to 2025 will continue to build on these themes and this call for evidence seeks information about a number of these areas and provides an opportunity for respondents to draw to our attention evidence that they have of other areas where they observe significant risk of worker exploitation.

Structure of the call for evidence

This call for evidence is structured in 3 sections:

Section 1: About you

Section 2: Questions relating to the four themes.

Section 3: Other issues you may wish to raise.

It is not expected that you answer every question. You are of course welcome to submit any documents (for example, research, reports or media articles) to which you refer in your evidence.

We may wish to quote evidence received in the published strategy to support its conclusions and recommendations and will attribute these to the individual or organisation that supplied it, unless we are explicitly asked not to do so. Accordingly, please highlight whether any of the information you submit is of a sensitive nature or if you wish to remain anonymous.

Please send your evidence to: LMEDirectorsoffice@beis.gov.uk by Friday 8 September 2023 and feel free to contact the office at the same address if you have any questions.

Call for Evidence Questions

Section 1 – About you

Please briefly tell us about you or your organisation and your interest in enforcement of labour market regulations.

Section 2 – Four themes

We are adopting a slightly different approach this year. Rather than posing a series of questions, we have created a set of statements / hypothesis drawing on the discussions at four stakeholder roundtables that we held in June.

For each of the statements or hypotheses below we would like you to:

1.Indicate whether you agree with the statement 2.Provide robust evidence to support your answer

1. Improving the radar picture

1.1. Labour market non-compliance threats (measured by degree of non-compliant behaviour) are greatest in the following sectors: care, agriculture, hand car washes, construction, food processing, which should therefore be the focus of attention for the enforcement bodies.

1.2. Some groups of workers (for example, women, younger people, migrants, those with protected characteristics) are at higher risk of experiencing labour market non-compliance than others.

1.3. Jobseekers are increasingly using non-traditional means to find work (for example, online or via apps, social media) placing them at greater risk of fraud and scams.

1.4. Ongoing labour shortages in some sectors are not translating into improved conditions for workers in those sectors.

2. Improving focus and effectiveness

2.1. Workers and employers are sufficiently aware of employment rights and know where to go for help.

2.2. Workers have confidence in the three enforcement bodies that their cases are being dealt with proactively.

2.3 Compliance and enforcement interventions by the three bodies are helping to ensure a level playing field for business.

2.4 Current enforcement penalties (for example, financial, reputational) deter more serious labour market exploitation.

2.5 The enforcement bodies have a difficult job prioritising their resources but, on balance are addressing the right issues.

3. Better Joined-Up Thinking

3.1 Coordinated enforcement actions by the enforcement bodies are helping to achieve a more compliant labour market.

3.2 Cross-government working has been effective in tackling labour exploitation in high-risk sectors (for example, care, hand car washes, agriculture, construction)

4. Improving Engagement and Support

4.1. Failure to provide detailed, timely, physical, and accessible payslips can leave workers vulnerable to exploitation.

4.2 Key Information Documents (KIDs) are providing those workers entitled to receive them all the information they need in relation to their employment.

4.2. Lack of contractual clarity around employment status can put people at greater risk of exploitation.

4.3. Migrant workers coming to the UK on short-term visas are less likely to be aware of their employment rights or to seek remedies in cases of labour violations.

Section 3. Other issues

Over and above the issues raised above, are there any other relevant issues you would like to bring to my attention for this strategy?

For instance,

How might the effectiveness of labour market enforcement be improved?

Are there examples of good practice that can be drawn from elsewhere across the regulatory landscape?

Given the lack of progress with a Single Enforcement Body, are there benefits that it might have brought that you can envisage being delivered within the existing legislative framework?