LONDON, July 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- Most new jobs created between 1997 and 2006 were permanent and full 
time - contrary to predictions about the rise of temporary, insecure 
work made in the 1990s

- The Labour government has re-regulated the labour market without any 
credible evidence of damage to economic performance or organisational 
effectiveness; unemployment has remained relatively low

- Many worthwhile reforms (from the national minimum wage, to flexible 
working rights, to information and consultation rights) have offered a 
means of redress for employees - but enforcement remains an issue

The Labour government deserves '7 out of 10' for its effect on working 
life during the last decade, a new report says today.

This score is due to its record in maintaining economic growth and low 
unemployment, while legislating for greater justice at work through valuable 
new rights for employees. This balance is Labour's 'central 
achievement' in the sphere of work, the authors say.

The report argues that while a great deal remains to be done - 
especially on the quality of working life or 'good work' agenda - the 
environment for work is much more benign than it was.

Meanwhile, many of the predictions about the future trajectory of work
made in the 1990s have thankfully not come about. In the last decade
before the millennium, some theorists and politicians foretold the
decline of the 'proper job' in advanced economies in the early 21st
century as temporary, ultra-flexible, part-time or self-employed forms of
work rose and insecurity became widespread.

Instead, the proper job experienced a renaissance: three quarters of the 
2.9 million new jobs created between 1999 and 2006 were permanent and 
full time - quite different from the picture between 1986 and 1996. Job 
insecurity and fears about the decline of the 'job-holding society' have 
since waned. The employment rate (the share of the working age population 
in a job), at 74.6 per cent, is comparable to the mid 1970s - at 76 per 
cent the highest ever achieved.

David Coats, associate director of policy at The Work Foundation and one 
of the authors of the report, said: "Work is one area of policy where 
Tony Blair's administrations have not only been extremely active over the 
last decade, but in which that activity has been for the better. The 
government has legislated to give workers a means of redress against some 
of the excesses of flexible labour markets - often in the face of 
resistance from employers - while simultaneously maintaining the dynamism 
of the economy.

"It is true that there is a legitimate concern about how well these 
rights are being enforced - especially among vulnerable groups of workers 
- and there may be a case for some further amendments to the law. 
Nevertheless, now the era of re-regulating the relationship between 
employers and employees appears to be at an end, Labour's workplace 
reforms can be seen not only as an ethical step forward, but perhaps also 
as a contribution to closing the productivity gap with other major 
economies as more employers are encouraged to abandon low-pay, low-skill, 
low-productivity business models.'

Key improvements include:

The National Minimum Wage: introduced in April 1999 at a modest GBP3.60 
for the adult rate, today the NMW is one of the highest in the world (the 
adult rate will rise to GBP5.52 in October). Each uprating affects about 
one million workers, 68 per cent of them women. It has reduced the extent 
of low pay and improved the relative position of the working poor.

Flexible working, work-life balance and families: one of the areas where 
the government has shown most enthusiasm, the availability of flexible 
working practices has risen significantly - helped by the right to 
request of 2003. However, there is evidence of unmet demand, and 
availability is still less than in other European countries. Maternity 
leave entitlements have been extended and paternity leave introduced in 
April 2003.

Working Time: The number of employees working more than 48 hours a week 
has declined since 1998, a trend that has coincided with (but is not 
wholly due to) the implementation of the Working Time Directive in 1998. 
This measure also granted four week's paid leave to full time workers 
(2.5 million workers saw their entitlements rise) for the first time.

Trade unions: The Employment Relations Act 1999 has provided trade 
unions a statutory procedure to gain recognition for collective bargaining, 
but membership has stabilised rather than grown; unions need to work on their
'offer' to non-members.

The report also examines change in work outside areas that are directly 
affected by political reform, but over which Labour has presided.

On job satisfaction, for example, the trend towards falling satisfaction 
that marred the 1990s (due largely to workers having to work harder and 
feeling more tightly managed and controlled) appears to have been halted.

Yet what the paper describes as 'the UK's most significant challenge' 
regarding work remains to be further addressed - Britain's bad jobs 
problem. Evidence suggests Britain has more monotonous, repetitive jobs 
than comparable economies, while workers' sense of autonomy and control 
is low.

Notes to editors

1) '7 out of 10: Labour Under Labour 1997-2007' by Ian Brinkley, David 
Coats and Stephen Overell is available from The Work Foundation. The 
authors are available for interview.

2) The Work Foundation is an independent research organisation and 
consultancy.