Image via WikipediaThis week during my daily commute to work I could not help over hearing a lively discussion as to the looming redundancies in the UK public sector. One of my fellow commuters was experiencing some anxiety as to her future in regards to possible redundancies at her workplace which hung over her head like the mythical sword of Damocles.
Into this atmosphere of anxiety the UK Government launched its Employer Charter along with other proposals such as the extension of the period from one year to two years within which an employee is entitled to bring an unfair dismissal claim. The Employer Charter and other government proposals are based on the assumption that there currently exists an imbalance in the relationship between the employee and the employer.
This perception is not borne by the following facts:
Health and Safety
The plight of agency workers within the UK employment contractual framework is illustrated by the situation of agency workers at the Amazon, Inverclyde facility in Scotland whose work and pay was stopped mid shift leaving agency workers stranded overnight at the site awaiting public transport which resumed the following morning.
Before the UK seeks to develop another charter or one of our banks develops another customer charter should we be implementing the EU Social Charter?
The EU Social Charter adopts a broader social view of the impact of work life on the sustainable development of society. Specifically it enshrines the following following principles that are in direct contradiction to the Employer Charter:
The analogy of the Sword of Damocles is apt in this instance as legend states Dionysius a 4th Century BC tyrant seemed to have all the trappings of wealth and luxury, having been ingratiated for his wealth and power by one of his servants Damocles. Dionysius challenged Damocles to live his life for a day to which Damocles readily agreed. Damocles immediately began feasting and enjoying the trappings of power and wealth when suddenly he noticed a sword hanging over his head by a horse's hair. To which Dionysius explained this was what a king's life was like.
For many vulnerable adults single mothers, children and senior citizens who work the Employers Charter will hang like a sword of Damocles over their heads. My advice to supporters of the Employers Charter is to be a single working parent or working parent from a household living on the poverty line for a day and survive by a "horse's hair" from pay check to pay check... above all lets not forget with Valentine's Day just around the corner that Britannia is a woman.
Into this atmosphere of anxiety the UK Government launched its Employer Charter along with other proposals such as the extension of the period from one year to two years within which an employee is entitled to bring an unfair dismissal claim. The Employer Charter and other government proposals are based on the assumption that there currently exists an imbalance in the relationship between the employee and the employer.
This perception is not borne by the following facts:
Health and Safety
- 152 people were killed in the UK workplace in 2009/2010
- In 2009/2010 28.5 million workdays were lost to workplace injury or ill health
- 1.3 million people who worked in 2009/2010 reported illnesses or injuries caused as a result of their current or past work; of this figure 550000 are "fresh" cases
- The UK is yet to convict a CEO/Director for Corporate Manslaughter
- The UK does not explicitly include health and safety as part of a Directors duties
The plight of agency workers within the UK employment contractual framework is illustrated by the situation of agency workers at the Amazon, Inverclyde facility in Scotland whose work and pay was stopped mid shift leaving agency workers stranded overnight at the site awaiting public transport which resumed the following morning.
Before the UK seeks to develop another charter or one of our banks develops another customer charter should we be implementing the EU Social Charter?
The EU Social Charter adopts a broader social view of the impact of work life on the sustainable development of society. Specifically it enshrines the following following principles that are in direct contradiction to the Employer Charter:
- The Right of the Family to Social & Legal Protection Article 16
- The Right of mothers and children to Social & Legal Protection Article 17
- 60% of men and 40% of women aged between 20 and 24 in England still live with their parents - a catalyst for more student protests as household incomes are strained
- 23% households in the UK are single parent households
- 50% of single parent families in the UK are classed as poor
The analogy of the Sword of Damocles is apt in this instance as legend states Dionysius a 4th Century BC tyrant seemed to have all the trappings of wealth and luxury, having been ingratiated for his wealth and power by one of his servants Damocles. Dionysius challenged Damocles to live his life for a day to which Damocles readily agreed. Damocles immediately began feasting and enjoying the trappings of power and wealth when suddenly he noticed a sword hanging over his head by a horse's hair. To which Dionysius explained this was what a king's life was like.
For many vulnerable adults single mothers, children and senior citizens who work the Employers Charter will hang like a sword of Damocles over their heads. My advice to supporters of the Employers Charter is to be a single working parent or working parent from a household living on the poverty line for a day and survive by a "horse's hair" from pay check to pay check... above all lets not forget with Valentine's Day just around the corner that Britannia is a woman.
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