Easier said than done

Enforcing rights at work

Claire Faichnie, Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit, 23 New Mount Street, Manchester M4 4DE, 53 pages, £6.00 including p&p

This useful report surveys the views of more than 400 workers who have contacted the Greater Manchester Low Pay Unit's advice line. The report shows that workers had a high awareness of their rights to minimum pay and holidays but were less aware of the newer rights, like those to parental leave and for part-time workers. In general less secure workers, like temporary workers, were also less well informed of their rights, as were young workers by comparison to older workers.

Those who wanted to know more about their rights had found it difficult to get information and thought that there ought to be better ways of telling workers what rights they had. What they wanted most of all was an independent body to which they could turn with basic employment problems.