Young people's experiences of precarious and flexible work – Evidence Review

What should we know about precarious employment and health in 2025? Framing the agenda for the next decade of research

Paper proposing an agenda for ongoing research on precarious employment and health, with reference to existing evidence and research techniques at an international level

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Precarious Employment in Europe Part 1: Patterns, Trends and Policy Strategy

Study prepared at the request of the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee, examining precarious employment in Europe. Explores the risk of precariousness of different types of contract, using information from EU data analysis, literature review, and case studies (including UK specific information and case studies)

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Zero-hours contracts can work for employers and employees

Article by the Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London. Discusses Zero Hour contracts at a UK wide level

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To gig or not to gig? – Stories from the modern economy

Research designed to help inform the Government commissioned Taylor Review of Modern Working. Explores the experiences of people engaged in the gig economy and their views on what it is like to work in this way, through a nationally representative sample 

of UK adults aged 18 to 70

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Working Together, Trade union and co-operative innovations for precarious workers

Report identifying innovations in technology, co-operation and self-organisation by workers in the UK, including comparisons with global activities through partnership with the cooperative network CICOPA

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Taking the High Road – Work, Wages and wellbeing in the Scottish Labour Market

Inquiry, conducted between June and November 2015, to establish the quality of employment in Scotland, including evidence review, consultation, interviews and workshops and an online survey of 607 people in Scotland (all ages), disseminated through the Scottish Parliament’s website and social media channels, stakeholder organisations and local authority networks

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What do low-paid workers think would improve their working lives?

Qualitative study exploring the experiences and perceptions of low-paid, low-income workers in the retail, hospitality and care sectors in England through 14 focus groups

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Not by Pay Alone

Article by Professor Donald Hirsch, Director of the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, for the Child Poverty Action Group, discussing poverty in the UK

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International Trends in Insecure Work

Report for the Trade Union Congress by the Institute of Economic and Social Research, comparing international trends in insecure work through a case study approach in which the UK is used as a benchmark case study

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Secret Agents: agency workers in the new world of work

Resolution Foundation report on agency work in the UK

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From Mini to Maxi Jobs? Low Pay, ‘Progression’, and the Duty to Work (Harder)

Industrial Law Journal paper arguing for new approaches to labour and social security legislation in the UK

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Temporary Contracts, Precarious Employment, Employees’ Fundamental Rights and EU Employment Law

Study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the Committee on Petitions, discussing the nature and extent of employment precariousness in the framework of EU fundamental rights and employment law at a European level

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Degrees of Insecurity, Graduate employment issues in Scotland

Report for Citizen’s Advice Scotland on ways in which better support can be provided to graduates to make a successful transition into the workforce, including a survey with graduates in Scotland

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Tales from the gig economy: Real people, real stories

Article in The Herald detailing experiences of a selection of gig economy workers in Scotland

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Workers would give up half their hourly wages in exchange for a steady job

London School of Economics and Political Science blog reporting results from research with UK and US workers

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Contingent work and occupational safety, The Psychology of Workplace Safety

Evidence review of international studies of the occupational health and safety (OHS) effects of contingent working 

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Under pressure, out of control, or home alone? Reviewing research and policy debates on the occupational health and safety effects of outsourcing and home-based work

Review of international studies of the occupational health and safety (OHS) effects of subcontracting and home-based work undertaken over the previous 20 years

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Gig economy “a springboard for entrepreneurs”

RBS article commenting results from the NatWest sponsored annual survey of UK entrepreneurs, the UK edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 

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Outsmarting the gig-economy through collective bargaining – EU competition law as a barrier

Paper for the International Review of Law, Computers and Technology discussing the barriers posed by EU competition law for collective labour rights of gig economy-workers

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What do we know about In-Work Poverty? A summary of the evidence

Evidence review on the extent and impact of in-work poverty in Scotland

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The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices

Government commissioned independent review considering the implications of new forms of work on worker rights and responsibilities, and on employer freedoms and obligations in the UK labour market

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Living on the Edge

Report exploring changes in the relationship between employers and working people in the UK

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How Precarious Employment Affects Health and Safety at Work: The Case of Temporary Agency Workers

Study undertaken in Australia, of occupational health and safety amongst temporary agency workers drawing upon workers’ compensation claim files for injured agency and directly hired workers from 1995-2001, and focus groups of temporary agency workers conducted in 2003 

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Decent work for Scotland’s low-paid workers: A job to be done

A UWS-Oxfam Partnership report with the support of Warwick Institute for Employment Research, presenting findings from a mixed method research programme exploring priorities for ‘decent work’ for low-paid workers in Scotland and their current experiences of the workplace, through focus groups, individual interviews, street stalls and an opinion poll

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What Scotland’s future workforce think about decent work

Study documenting 82 Scottish secondary school pupils’ (aged 13-17 and from the West of Scotland area) views on and expectations about ‘decent work’ through 16 focus groups between September and December 2015

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Asda offers 135,000 staff pay rise in exchange for 'flexible' contracts

Article in the Independent discussing a flexible contract offer by Asda to its UK staff

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