Nationally set minimum standards – from the minimum wage to holiday pay – make a real difference to the quality of low-paid work. But these reforms can only go so far. Many problems in the world of work are concentrated in specific sectors from social care to logistics. And even when problems are shared - such as a lack of training – the answers to address them may be different. While the UK has not seen innovation in labour market institutions for decades, other countries with similar labour markets – from New Zealand to US states – have begun exploring new routes to improving the quality of work.
Are there challenges with areas of lower-paid or lower-quality work that cannot be addressed by national regulations? To what extent do unions and potential new labour market institutions covering specific sectors offer routes to more good work? What can we learn from other similar countries – from Ireland to New Zealand – that have done more experimentation? And what route should the UK take to delivering a good work agenda?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar – as part of The Economy 2030 Inquiry, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key report highlights from a new report on how to improve low-paid workers’ conditions, we will hear from leading experts on how unions and labour market institutions can deliver a strategy for good work.
The event will be open for people to physically attend, alongside being broadcast via YouTube and the Resolution Foundation website. Viewers will be able to submit questions to the panel before and during the event via Slido.
Speakers:
Professor Melanie Simms, Professor of Work and Employment at the University of Glasgow
Professor Stephen Machin, Director of the Centre for Economic Performance
Hannah Slaughter, Senior Economist at the Resolution Foundation
Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation (Chair)
