Labour market
·
Low pay

Take it or leave it

Workers’ experiences of power in low-paid and precarious sectors

Melanie Simms
Melanie Simms
Hannah Slaughter
Hannah Slaughter

This briefing note – the third in a series on precarious work supported by Unbound Philanthropy – examines the balance of informal power between workers and employers in the cleaning, hospitality and warehousing sectors, drawing on a new survey of 2,000 workers and in-depth interviews.

The UK labour market is in the midst of the biggest overhaul of employment rights in a generation, as the Employment Rights Act (ERA) begins to take effect. But regulation is only part of the route to better work: the balance of informal power between workers and employers also matters for determining whether workers can push their pay and conditions above the minimum. Against a long-term decline in collective bargaining, individual power matters more – but the proportion of workers in the lowest hourly pay quintile who reported significant influence over decisions affecting their job has fallen from 23 per cent in 1992 to 14 per cent in 2024.

Our survey of cleaning, hospitality and warehousing workers shows just how little voice and power workers in these sectors feel they have, either to shape their current job or to find a better one. This highlights why the ERA is overdue, and its importance in protecting working conditions where workers lack power to bargain themselves. But policy and practice can also strengthen workers’ power in the first place: it is now time for the Government and employers to work together to ensure that workers in precarious sectors have real voice and real options.

Key findings

  • Most workers in cleaning, hospitality and warehousing have no voice over their pay. More than half of those surveyed (55 per cent) say their pay is set unilaterally by their employer (45 per cent) or by the minimum wage or real Living Wage (16 per cent). Only 6 per cent have negotiated a pay change themselves.
  • Workers want this to change – but the groups with the least power are the least likely to ask for more. 86 per cent of those surveyed want more say over how their pay is set, but this falls to 80 per cent among under-35s, 78 per cent among women, and 73 per cent among workers on a zero-hours contract.
  • Only one-in-three workers (38 per cent) would push back over unfair pay, either individually or with colleagues. A similar share (34 per cent) say they would do nothing or are not sure what they would do – rising to 57 per cent among workers on zero-hours contracts.
  • Voice over non-pay conditions, such as shift allocation and informal flexibility, often hinges on individual line managers, meaning that workers with inflexible managers often have little power over these non-pay attributes of their job.
  • Workers feel they have few options to leave their job. Around three-fifths (62 per cent) say they would find it difficult or impossible to find another job with similar pay in their local area.

Recommendations

  • Since voice over non-pay conditions often hinges on individual line managers, employers and employer groups should lead on improving management practices through providing training and support.
  • The Government should start thinking now about how Fair Pay Agreements could work in cleaning and warehousing in particular, where the ERA is less likely to resolve sector-specific issues.
  • Improving workers’ outside options is also central to strengthening individual power; this requires a continued focus on monitoring and improving labour market conditions across the country.
  • Technology should play a role in helping workers compare pay and conditions, find jobs and access training.

Further reading

Take it or leave it
Workers’ experiences of power in low-paid and precarious sectors
·
Melanie Simms, Hannah Slaughter
Lost in transition
An examination of why the UK NEET rate is high and rising
·
Lindsay Judge, Alex Clegg, Julia Diniz, Nye Cominetti, Imogen Stone
Labour Market Outlook Q1 2026
·
Hannah Slaughter

https://doi.org/10.63492/zydt100

Melanie Simms
Melanie Simms Research Associate
Hannah Slaughter
Hannah Slaughter Principal Economist