Bad bosses show need for watchdog with teeth
CITIZENS Advice Scotland has called for a crackdown on bad bosses as a new dossier reveals the extent of rogue employers across Scotland during the pandemic. Health and safety issues, misuse of the furlough scheme and paying less than the legal minimum wage all appeared as problem areas. In a submission to the Low Pay Commission on the rates for the National Minimum Wage, CAS reveals the experiences of workers who sought advice across the country including a South of Scotland client who was refused from furlough as the employer claimed the National Insurance would cost too much. The employer in this case is a large hotel chain. A West of Scotland CAB reported that one of its clients was made redundant in advance of the end of the first period of furlough. When furlough was extended, the client was not rehired. The client believes he would have kept his job if this had been announced sooner and now faces financial hardship and rent and utilities arrears. Nina Ballantyne, CAS’s social justice spokesperson, said: “The pandemic was a once-in-a-lifetime challenge to employers, and the vast majority of them treated staff well, reacted flexibility and supported their workers, but we have seen some cases of employers behaving shamefully.
“The furlough scheme was an opportunity to support people and employers throughout the pandemic and in the main it worked really well – but some employers have misused it in various ways to the detriment of workers, or simply not used it at all.
“We appreciate this has been an incredibly difficult year for employers across industries as well as working people – but there’s no excuse to break the law and not recognise the rights working people have.
“That’s why we support proposals for an employment enforcement agency to crack down on bad bosses but it needs to be a watchdog with teeth – given the priority and the funding it needs to do its job properly.
“If anyone is struggling with an employment issue then the CAB network is here to help. We dealt with thousands of employment related cases last year and our advice is always free, impartial and confidential.”