Fair work in hospitality and retail: input to Senedd Committee

The Bevan Foundation has shared its findings on working life in hospitality and retail with the Senedd’s Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee

The Bevan Foundation was delighted to be one of a panel of contributors to an evidence session held by the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee. The Committee is looking into lthe issues that face people working in the hospitality, tourism, and retail sectors across Wales. 

The Bevan Foundation Director, Victoria Winckler, was able to share key findings from its 2021 research on hospitality and retail. We were also able to put forward some of the ideas to improve workers’ conditions that we set out in our final report. 

In giving evidence, Victoria was asked to identify three possible actions that the Welsh Government could take. She said that first of all, employers should be required to comply with statutory requirements in respect of their employees, for example providing a payslip, paying the minimum wage and ensuring workplaces are safe.

She also said that she thought that the education of workers – including future workers – about their basic employment rights was important, so long as that sits alongside employees having a voice. And lastly she said that she favoured a ‘co-investment’ approach, in which efforts to grow and support businesses in these sectors would be coupled with improvements in workers’ terms and conditions:

I would like to see, going forward, that attempts to support or steward those sectors, if you like, are firmly rooted in measures to deal with poor terms and conditions in them.

The transcript from the Committee meeting on 3rd March is available here.