Citizens Advice

The Citizens Advice service helps people resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free, independent and confidential advice, and by influencing policymakers.

Every Citizens Advice Bureau is a registered charity reliant on trained volunteers and funds to provide these vital services for local communities.

Citizens Advice service strategy 2008 - 2011 cover


Rooting out the Rogues

Fair Employment Commission needed to root out rogue employers says Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland

A joint report out today from Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland warns that tens of thousands of the most vulnerable workers in the UK are being exploited by rogue employers. Showing how gaps in the current system are allowing unscrupulous employers to act with near impunity, Rooting out the Rogues is calling for a ‘fair employment commission’ with the legal powers and resources to secure individual workers their rights and bring bad employers to account.

Both charities are also warning that exploitative practices such as non payment of tax and national insurance are putting good employers at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace, forcing some to cut corners or risk going out of business, potentially triggering a downward spiral of wages, conditions and even workplace safety.

Last year, Citizens Advice Bureaux across the UK dealt with over half a million employment related matters. Of these it is estimated that 60% are cases where statutory workplace rights have been denied, such as the statutory right to four weeks paid holiday per year, denial of statutory sick leave and pay, and the reduction of (often already low) wages to illegal levels by excessive deductions for accommodation, transport and other ‘services’. Workers may also be required to work excessively long hours or are denied proper rest breaks, be summarily dismissed simply for being pregnant or not receive wages owed after leaving employment.

Those most at risk include pregnant women, migrant workers and those who – on account of their age, disability or lack of skills– face the greatest challenge in finding alternative employment.

Rooting out the Rogues highlights how the combined remit of the four statutory bodies* currently tasked with enforcing workers’ rights is far from comprehensive leaving many workers and issues unprotected. It adds that there is little personal incentive for those who are covered to make a complaint, especially where successful action could result in their employer losing their licence and the employee their job.

In addition, Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland find that the Employment Tribunal system, the only option left for many after raising a formal grievance, is also letting vulnerable workers down. Not only is the cost of legal representation likely to be prohibitive, but the charities’ evidence shows that the process can be daunting and stressful. Even those who are successful and win a monetary award are not guaranteed to ever see the money, or see their employer held to account.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said:

"While the vast majority of employers try hard to meet their legal obligations, our evidence shows that there are still far too many rogues out there, flouting the law, ignoring rules without sanction and profiting from vulnerable workers.


"We welcome the UK Government’s increasing recognition of the problems caused by rogue employers and the difficulties faced by the most vulnerable workers, but much more still needs to be done. Tens of thousands of workers in the UK economy are currently failing to benefit from the UK Government’s very welcome policy programme, revealing a real need for a ‘fair employment commission’ to give exploited workers somewhere to turn, give employers a level playing field, and root out the rogue employers."

Case studies

Tomasina, a young Polish woman in Manchester, has been employed as a night cleaner by a London-based contract cleaning company for the past 18 months, working seven nights per week.  She has not had any paid holiday during this time, and when she recently asked her manager about this he falsely stated that she has no legal right to paid holiday.  Tomasina fears that, if she “makes a fuss”, she will be sacked, as she has seen happen to fellow workers who complained.

Donna, a lone parent of three teenage children living in the West of Scotland, works 15 hours per week and is paid £5.00 per hour – below the National Minimum Wage of £5.52 per hour.  However, even after being advised of her rights, she is too fearful of losing her job to complain to her employer.

A CAB in Kent reports being approached by a married couple, joint owner/managers of a small contract cleaning company.  The couple’s company had recently lost a number of contracts to competitors they knew to be paying illegally low wages (i.e. less than the National Minimum Wage) to migrant workers, and turn over is now so low that there is no profit to cover the couple’s basic needs.  The bureau reports the couple being in “great distress due to the looming loss of their business, their accumulating debts and their sense of unfairness”.

  • HM Revenue and Customs (National Minimum Wage)
  • Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (those employed through employment agencies)
  • Health & Safety Executive (health & safety issues)
  • Gangmasters Licensing Authority (those employed through a ‘labour provider’ in the agriculture, horticulture, forestry, shellfish gathering and associated processing and packaging industries)
  • Rooting out the rogues forms a joint submission from Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to the TUC’s Commission on Vulnerable Employment.


Notes to editors:

  1. The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers.
    For more information in England and Wales www.citizensadvice.org.uk
    For more information and 2008/9 service statistics see Introduction to the service
    For 2008/9 service highlights see the Citizens Advice service impact report
    For 2008/9 social policy campaigning highlights see the Citizens Advice social policy impact report
  2. The advice provided by the Citizens Advice service is free, independent, confidential, and impartial, and available to everyone regardless of race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age or nationality.
  3. Most Citizens Advice service staff are trained volunteers, working at over 3,300 locations across England and Wales.
  4. Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales advised 2 million clients on 6 million problems from April 2008 to March 2009
  5. Advice and information www.adviceguide.org.uk
  6. Volunteer hotline 08451 264264 (local rate)
  7. Citizens Advice Guide to your rights, second edition: January 2008 - over 600 pages of practical, independent CAB advice. An invaluable resource for any bookshelf - available from all good bookshops; price £11.99; ISBN: 9780141034089
  8. Follow Citizens Advice on Twitter: (New window) twitter.com/CitizensAdvice
  9. Subscribe to Citizens Advice press releases via RSS news feed: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/pressoffice