The Trades Union Congress (TUC) Commission on Vulnerable Employment recently published its final report ‘Hard Work, Hidden Lives’. I went along to the launch as we gave evidence in person to the Commission last summer, primarily about our work on the informal economy and its relationship to poverty.
Our 2006 report ‘People in low-paid informal work: Need not Greed’, supported by JRF , describes how, on one hand informal paid work takes people out of ‘absolute’ poverty enabling them to pay for some of the basics in life like being able to feed the family, and pay off the debt collector knocking at the door; but on the other hand informal paid work can trap people in ‘relative’ poverty. Leaving them outside the mainstream without access to the national minimum wage, insurance, health and safety, or holiday or sick pay.
The TUC’s report is right to focus on the appalling exploitation of over two million vulnerable workers across the UK. They are the hidden workforce, which is the backbone of our economy, in low-paid and insecure work where mistreatment is common. These people are care-home workers, cleaners, factory workers, hotels and restaurant staff, hairdressers, construction workers and security staff, they are being paid far below the national minimum wage, in poor (and at times dangerous) working conditions, not covered by insurance or health and safety laws, exploited by unscrupulous employers and physically or verbally abused and bullied… the list goes on.
The report includes powerful case studies illustrating the experiences of far too many people working in terrible circumstances.
Whilst employers can be exploitative, there are some benefits to informal paid work, which we shouldn’t lose sight of. Informal jobs enable those facing barriers to formal work to access employment. They also helped people to find a solution to temporary crises.
Many people who we’ve talked to over the last eight years identify a range of benefits, other than income, including increased confidence, skills and work experience, and potential pathways into formal work. There are also family, community and social benefits from informal paid work, including increased social cohesion.
Pick up a copy of the TUC report and read it. I commend it to you.
Download the report from CoVE website.
Have you experienced poor conditions in unregulated workplaces? Please add your comments here.
Nicola Smith is a Senior Policy Officer at the TUC, who launched their Fair Work campaign last week. 
The TUC conference 