Employment rights: building on fairness at work

Institute of Employment Rights (IER) and Press for Union Rights, IER, 177 Abbeville Road, London SE4 9RL, 24 pages, paperback, £5.00

This short booklet, sponsored by 13 major unions, is presented as a contribution to the debate for the progressive modernisation of employment law. It draws on earlier work published by the IER, most notably Working life, published in 1996. The latest booklet contains a 10-point plan to improve existing employment rights. These include extending all employment rights to "workers" not just "employees", improved and extended equality rights, paid parental leave, automatic uprating of the national minimum wage, improvements to recognition law and the removal of certain restrictions on industrial action. This is a useful checklist, particularly in the period running up to the next election when Labour will need to be lobbied to ensure that there is a further programme of reform.