To whom it may concern I work in language department on hourly paid. I have been working for more than 8 years with 3 months contract. It is not guaranteed if you are going to be hired next term or not. Grade 0.5 is only offered for one teacher out of many. It is frustrating. I am hoping you will make some changes for people like myself. Kind regards

I work as an hourly paid tutor. I only have a few hours work so do the 945 tutors who work on an hourly paid tutor's contract. We get 1/2 paid for preparation but we do at least 2 hours prep.The real issue is if the class doesn't run we don't have a job. It's nearly impossible to make ends meet unless you have another job or a partner who earns. Most colleges are undergoing closure so it's necessary to plan for another career if teaching is your only source of income. The insecurity of the job mean that the risk is all on the workers. Flexiility iss an advantage for the employer who pays less NI and pension contribution. If you work for an agancy its even worse, no sick pay no rights. This precarity has secondary effect both on the quality of the work and on the committment of the employeees and their sense of loyalty towards the employer and the workplace

Most carers, one of the lowest paid of all professions, are usually encouraged to use their own transport with no insurance, travel allowance or wear or tear expenses paid for by the employee. Try expecting a builder, electrician or delivery person etc to accept that.

I was recently working in a care home which outwardly is modern looking and pleasantly decorated. The conditions for the carers however are a very different story. Very poor management by both manager and senior carers, bullying victimisation and a lack of warmth and care to many residents. Twelve hour shifts with 1 hour unpaid break, of which the last 15 minute break near end of shift is not encouraged to take unless you are a smoker. Extremely high turnover of staff on one floor particularly, equipment which is faulty and many occasions a lack of suitable gloves and the correct bags. The gloves are also of an inferior quality as compared to widely used NHS hospitals and the uniform is costly. Attitude to carers being absent due to illness is treated extremely harshly, after episode of sickness being advised that as a worker you must agree to not be ill for the year ahead else there is threat of a possible dismissal. Senior members of staff acting in a very unprofessional way, prone to bullying and having different attitudes to certain members of staff both positive and negative. Senior members of staff sporting innopropriately long finger nails openly with the managers apparent approval. Extremely heavy and relentless workload, little praise and recognition. Appraisals not given when expected, communication between many staff members is poor, malicious and often aggressive. Manager advised of many of these issues as mentioned above, and no action taken.

I work for a large company with homes all over the country. Last year we had to take a reduction in pay, we quite often work short staffed, as the managers get a bonus if they don't use any agency in a month. We also have to go to handover before and after shift, which we do not get pad for. They also altered the sickness benefit from one day to 3 days with no pay it off sick. Because of the changes the moral is very low, and as we are under paid, working short staffed, so staff go off sick. I am the only member of staff in one home who is in the union, if I could encourage others to join, we could go on strike. The only thing I can do at the moment is work to rule, not do extra shifts, or attend handover as I am trying to make a point. I feel undervalued and underpaid and overworked .

Hello, Working for the council it is a regular occurrence that workers are building up lots of hours in 'toil'. I feel the service takes advantage of this and uses the term 'toil' as a way round paying overtime. Due to working with looked after children you find a certain amount of pressure to pick up extra shifts to ensure the children are receiving consistent care from carers, however, the service does not pay you for extra hours and gives you them back in toil. It is a regular occurrence that employees are building up 100+ hours in toil. This 'Toil' isn't even giving you back by giving you full shifts off, but gives you a couple of hours back here and there.

My substantive role is with an in-house agency, created by a major multi-national corporation, so as to undermine pay, terms, and conditions. Joining a union in this role is purposeless, as any attempt at collective bargaining would be met by the already-union-hostile company being dissolved, and the work farmed out to another agency. I also work three different zero-hours/casual roles with a local authority. Although I'm a member of UNISON and Unite for those roles, there is again no realistic prospect of successful organising, as anything I do to challenge the employer will simply result in my phone never ringing, and no subsequent work being offered. I feel hopeless, and trapped. My situation is familiar to many workers in what we now know to be bosses' meat-grinder which is the gig economy.

My substantive role is with an in-house agency, created by a major multi-national corporation, so as to undermine pay, terms, and conditions. Joining a union in this role is purposeless, as any attempt at collective bargaining would be met by the already-union-hostile company being dissolved, and the work farmed out to another agency. I also work three different zero-hours/casual roles with a local authority. Although I'm a member of UNISON and Unite for those roles, there is again no realistic prospect of successful organising, as anything I do to challenge the employer will simply result in my phone never ringing, and no subsequent work being offered. I feel hopeless, and trapped. My situation is familiar to many workers in what we now know to be bosses' meat-grinder which is the gig economy.

We must wear black trousers, not jeans, and closed in black flat shoes but get not expense allowance to buy these. Travel time between customers is not paid for so a whole weeks work can include up to 2 hours or more travel time, 8 hours a month or around 400 hours a year of work time not paid for. Poor catheter care can cause sepsis which can be fatal, yet years of asking for detailed catheter training has resulted in half hearted responses.

As I work in the Shetland Islands, I do not really have a problem. However, I am very aware of the plight of my fellow-workers on the UK mainland, and feel it is high time they were treated with the respect and pay they deserve. Caring is just that - you care for people. It can be quite draining emotionally to see people deteriorate, or suffer. We, as carers, have feelings too, and the work is quite arduous and heavy, with little time for breaks. 20 mins per 6 hrs is the legal break-time, I think. How can that be fair for an office worker AND a manual worker. That is, if you even have the time to have that break, which you very often don't. Sometimes it is difficult to fit in a toilet visit, such is the stress of a shift. Please pay our care-workers a fair wage!