40,000 jobs in London pay below the minimum wage, new report finds

A cross-party group of council leaders has called for urgent action to tackle employment rights abuse, after a new report found nearly 40,000 jobs in London pay below the minimum wage.

The report, published by Central London Forward, found that 39,000 jobs in the capital pay below the legally-required minimum wage, at least 168,000 employees are denied holiday pay, and 358,000 are not provided with a payslip.

Those in insecure employment, low paid workers, migrant workers and new mothers are far more likely to experience employment rights abuse, whilst workers on zero hours contracts were found to be ten times more likely than average workers to be denied holiday pay.

The report found that the lack of awareness of rights, support for workers affected and enforcement contributed to the widespread abuse of employment rights.

This comes as the Government is seeking to pass an Employment Rights Bill, which aims to strengthen rights at work and improve enforcement. 

Central London Forward is a cross party group of 12 local authorities in London, including Lewisham, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminster.

Their report calls for the Government to work with councils as it initiates the new bill. 

Cllr Adam Hug, Leader of Westminster and Chair of Central London Forward said: “We very much welcome the action the Government is taking both to strengthen rights and ensure they are enforced. 

“We are determined to work with the Government and with unions and employers to stamp out abuse of employment rights and improve job quality for all Londoners.”

(Picture: Andrea Piacquadio/ Pexels)