How much power should employers have over their workers’ lives? Most countries recognise that employer power needs to be curbed – with governments setting out legal requirements on minimum pay, maximum working hours and paid leave. And governments also intervene to curb worker power – ruling on trade union recognition, who can strike and under what conditions. But should governments intervene between employer and employee on matters such as sending out-of-hours emails, or on whether to pay bonuses?
We discuss what policies the government should introduce - or scrap – to bring about a better balance of power in our working lives.
Meet our speakers and chair
Kate Bell (@kategobell) is Assistant General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
Stephen Machin (@s_machin_) is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, has been President of the European Association of Labour Economists, is a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists and was an independent member of the Low Pay Commission from 2007-14.
Alan Manning is Professor of Economics at LSE and is Co-Director of the Centre for Economic Performance's research programme on Community and Wellbeing. From 2009-2012 he was Head of the Economics Department at LSE; from 2004 to 2011 he was a member of the NHS Pay Review Body and from 2016-2020 the Chair of the Migration Advisory Committee.
Sarah O’Connor (@sarahoconnor_) is a columnist, reporter and associate editor at the Financial Times. She writes a weekly column focused on the world of work, as well as longer reported articles.
Kirsten Sehnbruch (@KirstenSehn) is British Academy Global Professor and a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE.
More about the event
This event is part of the LSE Festival: Power and Politics running from Monday 10 to Saturday 15 June 2024, with a series of events exploring how power and politics shape our world. Booking for all Festival events will open on Monday 13 May.
The Centre for Economic Performance (@CEP_LSE) carries out policy-focused research on the causes of economic growth and effective ways to create a fair, inclusive and sustainable society.
Hashtag for this event: #LSEFestival
Podcast & Video
A podcast of this event is available to download from Better work: whose business is it?
A video of this event is available to watch at Better work: whose business is it?
Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.