On Monday 4th November, we are launching our campaign with a focus on young people and their employment rights. Our campaign outputs will feed into our longer term engagement on young people’s rights at work, seeking to get a fair deal for young people. We want to gather the experience of young people and raise awareness of their rights at work, empowering them to take action on issues and increasing their public confidence and awareness.
The campaign will run for two weeks, during that time we will be working with a range of national partners such as NUS Scotland, Young Scot, Scottish Trades Union Congress and the Poverty Alliance. We will be supporting the Living Wage Foundation’s ‘Living Wage Week’, which launches on Monday 11th November, an ideal time to spotlight and highlight the need for fair pay in Scotland.
Background
Across the Citizens Advice Bureaux network, the current landscape that clients are navigating is particularly difficult. Wages don’t correspond with the cost of living which is increasing; this can leave people vulnerable and with a lack of resilience to cope with demands on finances. Young people (aged 25 and under) navigate this turbulent landscape often in employment on zero hours contracts, living on national minimum wage - or less - and can pay inflated or unaffordable rents.
Citizens Advice Scotland data - from Citizens Advice Bureaux across the country, our online public advice site, and our nationally representative tracker survey - show that it’s tough to be young at work. The data we have from 2018/19 show that young people contacting a Citizens Advice Bureaux were almost twice as likely as older people to be seeking advice on employment, with those in full time work three times as likely to be seeking help with issues at work. Of all the employment advice we give, the most common is advice related to 'pay and entitlements' and 'terms and conditions'. Within each of these categories, 'wages and deductions and payslips' and 'contract/terms and conditions' are the most common.
Analysis of case studies shows a common theme of young people being treated unfairly, and in many cases illegally, by employers, leaving young people not getting what they’re owed in wages, or rights.
This campaign has two aims:
- to raise awareness amongst young people of their rights at work, making sure they get what they’re owed.
- collect evidence of bad experiences at work that young people have.
How can you get involved?
If you or your organisation would like to take part in the Do Rights Thing Campaign, get in touch with Emily Liddle, Senior Campaigns Officer to order a campaign toolkit or to discuss ideas about how you can take part.
Our campaign toolkit will contain the following:
- Poster template
- Wallet card
- Postcard
- Social media graphics, animated GIFs and social media cover banner
- Social media toolkit
- Local press release template (for Citizens Advice Bureaux)
Key contacts
If you have any further questions or would like further information about the campaign, please contact Emily Liddle, Senior Campaigns Officer: emily.liddle@cas.org.uk