Who are the low-paid, non-unionised workers with problems?
Women, full-time workers in the private sector, those employed in workplaces of below 25 people and with less than six months service were more likely than others to find themselves in this group of vulnerable workers. What problems did they experience? All of the workers had experienced more than one problem at work. Problems with pay were the most frequently mentioned (36.1 per cent) and problems concerning work relations (primarily stress and management bullying), workload and working hours were reported by more than a quarter of the group. What action did they take? A high proportion (86 per cent) had taken some action to resolve their main problem and most had done several things. The vast majority had approached a manager; only 12 per cent had used the formal complaints procedure and just 2 per cent had made an Employment Tribunal application. Although non-unionised, almost a quarter had attempted some form of collective action by joining with other workers who were experiencing
