Spotlight on: Employment
Citizens advice bureaux help thousands of clients each year with employment problems. These clients are often low paid, relatively low skilled, are often unaware of their employment rights, and are vulnerable to poor and illegal employment practices.
The recession has created a situation in which these poor practices are more common: employees will put up with poor employers for fear of losing their job; workers will accept radical changes to their pay and hours rather than face a tough labour market; and employers will try to cut corners and slash costs in order to stay afloat.
News
-
17 Apr 2013
Today the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee published their inquiry into underemployment, using lots of evidence presented to them by CAS Social Policy Officer Lauren Wood and Norma Philpott, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice and Rights Fife. The term underemployment refers to people working fewer hours than they want to, or taking on jobs which do not use all their skills, and the inquiry shows that young people and women are more adversely affected.
The evidence CAS supplied to the Committee would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of social policy feedback from advisers. Thank you!
-
25 Feb 2013
The Scottish Parliament's Welfare Reform Committee took evidence last week from people who had been through a Work Capability Assessment for ESA or who cared for someone who had been through the process. The transcript of the evidence session is now up online.
-
23 Jan 2013
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and Citizens Advice and Rights Fife will today tell MSPs on the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee that underemployment is pushing Scots into poverty. The organisations will tell the committee that many CAB clients are desperate to work more hours and to better use their skills, but the shortage of full-time jobs is keeping them in underemployment.
Publications
-
Digital exclusion amongst Scotland's CAB clientsPublication date: May 2013
-
Consultation responsePublication date: March 2013
The Department for Work and Pensions is asking for ideas about how they can make jobsearch requirements work for in-work benefit claimants. Read CAS' response here.
-
Publication date: February 2013
The Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee launched an enquiry into the issue of underemployment which CAS and Norma Philpott (Chief Executive of CARF) were invited to provide oral evidence to on the 23rd January. This written evidence followed the oral session, reinforcing the arguments made on the day.
-
Publication date: September 2012
This report is the concluding publication of Perth CAB's campaign which sought to research the issues young people face in the workplace, and find out how much they felt they knew about their employment rights.
