Threats and Challenges in our New Labour Market: A JobsAware Event

The UK labour market is facing considerable change and experiencing significant challenges, including COVID, the crisis in Ukraine, technological change, the gig economy, Brexit, IR35, off payroll working, and online recruitment. How UK government responds is essential to ensuring a prosperous and safe labour market.

JobsAware are delighted to be co-hosting a roundtable with Margaret Beels OBE and the Director's Office for Labour Market Enforcement. The roundtable will be a discussion of the key concerns and challenges facing the UK labour market and an opportunity for the Director to outline her current areas of focus. The briefing from the event will be used as a formal Call for Evidence submission into the UK Labour Market Enforcement Strategy for 2023 to 2024.

About JobsAware

JobsAware is the worker rights portal for work seekers and non permanent workers operated by SAFERjobs, a Community Interest Company with cross-government and law enforcement support. JobsAware have supported over 2.5m workers and work seekers across the UK and those globally seeking to work in the UK.

About the Director of Labour Market Enforcement

Margaret Beels OBE is the Director of Labour Market Enforcement (DLME) appointed in November 2021. Margaret has a career spanning both private and public sectors, being Chair of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in 2011 and previously having worked in BEIS and for British Gas and Centrica.

Proposed Agenda for the Event:

1. Recent Changes in how the UK Labour Market is Operating

Including the impact of the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), changes in employment status such as the shift away from self employed due to IR35 rules, and the rise in job vacancies.

2. Workforce

What have the experiences of workers or work seekers been during this time? How have immigration rules impacted the labour market and what additional threats have evolved due to labour shortages?

3. Workforce Engagement

What initiatives have assisted workers to understand and enforce their rights?

4. Business Engagement

A discussion around whether initiatives such as the National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme and the Good Business Charter have had a positive impact on business? What other initiatives have had a positive impact?

5. Recruitment

What changes have been observed in recruitment, such as online recruitment and offshoring? What do these mean for future compliance? What types of recruitment fraud have been witnessed?

6. Employment Models

What are the newer forms of employment models (such as the gig economy and joint employment models) and how do they impact on compliance and worker rights?

7. Enforcement Resourcing

What best practice have you seen to address labour market non-compliance? How have the EAS, GLAA, and HMRC NMW Teams operated during this time?

8. Any Other Business