‘Zero-hours Contracts’: Zero Problem, or Zero Choice?
In our previous post, attention was drawn to the growing concern about the spread and regulation of ultra-casual employment known as ‘zero-hours contracts’ (ZHCs). Together with our colleague Dr Abi...
What Traffickers Know that the Court of Appeal Does Not
In Reyes and Suryadi v Al-Malki [2015] EWCA Civ 32 and Benkharbouche and Janah v Embassy of the Republic of Sudan and Libya [2015] EWCA Civ 33 the Court of...
Constitutional Protection for the Right to Strike in Canada
In a momentous decision, released on 30 January 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the right to strike is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s...
Modern Slavery Bill – A Brief Review
How does it happen? The fire brigade is called to a fire in a terraced house. When the firemen arrive the doors and windows are locked and bolted. They break...
The UK’s Widening Gender Pay Gap – What Must be Done
The Geneva based World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Equality Index 2014 has ranked the United Kingdom) 26th out of 142 countries. Last year the WEF ranked the UK 18th, and...
Menopausal Women Fear Discrimination in the Workplace
According to new research, women of menopausal age fear age-based discrimination in the workplace and face a total lack of menopause-specific support from employers. Interdisciplinary research resulting from a collaboration...
Improving the Law for Pregnant Women and Working Parents
Earlier this year I wrote about the preliminary data that the Australian Human Rights Commission (“AHRC”) had published which showed the high levels of workplace discrimination encountered by women who...
Hounga v Allen: Trojan Horse Comes to the Rescue of ‘Illegal’ Migrants
In Hounga v Allen [2014] UKSC 47 the Supreme Court took the opportunity to overrule one of the most controversial Court of Appeal decisions on employment rights in recent times,...
Recognising Maternity Leave as a Human Rights Obligation
Paid maternity leave is routinely argued as necessary to achieve gender equality in the workplace. Article 11(2)(b) of CEDAW requires States “to introduce maternity leave with pay or comparable social...
Europol and the Fight Against Human Trafficking
On Tuesday 24th June the Human Trafficking Discussion Group (under the umbrella of the Oxford Migration Studies Society) was delighted to host a talk by Sergio D’Orsi of Europol, speaking...
When does being better qualified provide you with fewer opportunities?
The answer: when you’re a member of one of the UK’s many ethnic minorities. Figures from the University of Manchester’s Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity, visualised in a recent infographic,...
Mega event tactics: Brazil’s Sex Industry During the World Cup 2014
On 23rd May 2014, police from the 76th Police Precinct in Niterói, near Rio de Janeiro, invaded (without judicial authorisation) a building occupied by 300 sex workers and other residents....
