Working in law’s borderlands: translation and the work of an advice office

Increasing ly people in the UK are turning to voluntary sector advice organisations for help and support in dealing with everyday problems . Here w e argue that advice organisations, who work in the borderlands of law , are nevertheless key players in legal arenas , focusin g on local Citizens Advice offices supporting clients with employment problems. We look at the making of advisers as border- workers through programmes which turn volunteers into employment advisers; and the paid advisers who inhabit spaces on the edges of the profession. We examine the social practices of these advisers, the ways in which law -work becomes translation and advice -work becomes a process of co -production between adviser and client. In concluding, we consider how far into the legal arena it is p ossible to go with limited resources ; and what happens when translating the technicalities of law no longer works. Translation comes to mean advisers turning to their activist -selves and adopting political tactics

The Impact of Employment Tribunal Fees : A Perspective from Citizens Advice Advisers in Scotland

The Employment Tribunal (ET) evolved from the Industrial Tribunal and provides an individual with the opportunity to have their employment case heard before an independent adjudicator who will apply a legal framework to the dispute to pass a legally binding decision. Previously this system was free for individuals and business to use

The worker and the law revisited: conceptualizing legal participation, mobilization and consciousness at work

Situating legal mobilization within a wide-ranging conceptual framework of worker activity that goes beyond recent interest in ‘strategic litigation’ and related organizing in the gig economy, this contribution explores the fundamental relationship between ‘laypeople’, i.e., the non-professional subjects of law, and labour law. Notwithstanding a growing interest in empirical labour law research, there remains a lack of conceptual clarity and rigorous evidence pertaining to how workers, activists and employers think about law and how this has evolved over time. The idea, often implicit within policy discourses, that we have become increasingly ‘legally minded’, and the implications of this, remain particularly underexplored. This article develops understanding of what legal mobilization is, does, or potentially can do, mapping the range of ways in which ‘laypeople’ may invoke or engage with law at work, distinguishing between activities defined as (1) legal participation; (2) mobilization; and (3) consciousness. This schema goes beyond the more obvious ways in which laypeople engage formal legal institutions, ‘strategically’ or otherwise, towards everyday processes of constructing ‘legalities’. The concept of legalities, meaning taken-forgranted assumptions about what is ‘legal’, provides a lens through which to view the ideological processes involved in the constitution of society and economic institutions through law and vice versa. Revisiting the theme of the worker and the law, this schema focuses as much on how the worker understands and acts upon the conceptions of law as much as how the law characterizes and protects the worker, and how the interrelations between the two may have evolved over time

Contesting ‘bogus self-employment’ via legal mobilisation: the case of foster care workers

The rise of the ‘gig’ economy has placed a spotlight on employment status, leading to challenges over the nature of working relationships and attendant rights from increasingly diverse groups. The predominant image of the struggle against ‘bogus self-employment’ features the mostly young, male riders and drivers engaged in platform work. This article examines the distinctive campaign of foster carers to be recognised as workers, focusing upon the emergence of the campaign and the imaginative solidarities forged with seemingly disparate groups of precarious workers. Drawing from interviews and observation, this article explores the tactics used in contesting ‘bogus’ self-employment, the achievements and challenges faced. The concept of legal mobilisation is used as lens, capturing the blend of strategic litigation, organising and legal enactment. This article concludes by considering how this solidaristic project might be further broadened to provide fully inclusive protections for all those who work for a wage

Inaccessible Justice : What Happens to Workers Who Don't Pursue Employment Claims?

This report details findings from a pilot study that considered the experiences of workers who faced a workplace dispute that constituted a potential claim in the Employment Tribunal (ET) but, for whatever reason, did not pursue that claim. Two specific questions were examined. Firstly, why workers with employment disputes do not pursue potential claims against their employers. Secondly, what the costs are (financial, emotional and otherwise) for these workers of not formally accessing justice. The impetus for this work is the recent policy changes that have been introduced by the Coalition and Conservative governments to deter workers from taking claims to the ET. These include the requirement that workers must now be employed for a period of two years, instead of one, before they have the right to make a claim for unfair dismissal and the introduction of fees to take a claim to the ET. The government has largely justified these changes on the basis of the high level of costs arising from workers pursuing claims in the ET. It is claimed that such expenses are disproportionately borne by employers, in terms of time and money, and society, in terms of public expenditure and economic growth

The snakes and ladders of legal participation: litigants in person and the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights

This article reviews the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights for litigants in person (LIPs). LIPs operate in a system that was not designed for them and so challenge the norm of fully represented parties that the system has evolved to expect, creating potential risks for their Article 6 rights. The jurisprudence on Article 6 reveals the centrality of effective participation as a requirement for fulfilling the right to a fair trial. The article views the jurisprudential interpretation against original and significant empirical research data on how LIPs participate in civil and family court processes. It applies a conceptual analysis of legal participation to consider what might constitute effective participation in court proceedings and, through the empirical evidence, categorizes the intellectual, practical, emotional, and attitudinal barriers that LIPs face in their legal proceedings, which can constitute risks to their rights under Article 6

Legacy effects of cover crop monocultures and mixtures on soil inorganic nitrogen, total phenolic content, and microbial communities on two organic farms in Illinois

Cover crops can leave behind legacy effects on their soil environments by influencing soil inorganic nitrogen (N) pools, total phenolic content through the release of secondary compounds, and by altering soil microbial communities. I analyzed soils collected during a two-year field study and aimed to determine how spring-sown cover crops (grass, legume, or Brassica monocultures or diverse, five-way mixtures) influence these three aspects of the soil environment. Soils were collected in the spring of 2015 and 2016 on two different organic farms in Central and Northern Illinois, PrairiErth and Kinnikinnick, during the four weeks post-cover crop incorporation. The first part of this study addressed the influence of cover crops on soil inorganic N (nitrate, ammonium, and potentially mineralizable N, PMN) and total phenolic content intensity, as measured by the integrated area under the curve of the three sample dates plotted against time. I found that Brassica monocultures, the most productive cover crop treatment, resulted in the lowest soil nitrate intensities and greatest soil PMN intensities, but they did not affect the total phenolic content of the soil. Weedy contributions to total plant biomass were also important in determining soil inorganic nitrogen levels, and weed biomass was positively correlated with soil PMN intensity. The second part of this study addressed the changes in microbial community structure and -diversity as a result of cover crop type as well as identified specific cover crop drivers that were associated with individual microbial taxa using partial least squares regression (PLSR) modeling. I found the greatest bacterial -diversity under Brassicas and the lowest under the plant-free control plots. Fungal diversity, in contrast, was greatest under the plant-free control plots and lowest in the Brassica monocultures. Idagold mustard, weeds, and oat were the most influential cover crops in describing bacterial and fungal taxa according to the PLSR models. Though taxa often displayed individualistic responses, I found that Idagold mustard biomass was positively associated with several pathogen-suppressive taxa and negatively associated with pathogenic taxa. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea were abundant among the top model results and appeared to be suppressed by Idagold mustard and oat at both farms. In conclusion, Brassicas were the most effective at reducing soil nitrate and increasing PMN concentrations, which reduces risks of nitrate leaching after cover crop termination and increases the potential inorganic N supply for subsequent crops. Brassicas also increased bacterial diversity and decreased fungal diversity, which could have implications for managing subsequent crop disease. Landowners should consider their cover crop goals (reducing soil nitrate leaching, increasing inorganic N for subsequent crops, or mitigating crop disease) when evaluating cover crop type and diversity

Employment Tribunal Fees : Effect on clients of Citizens Advice Bureaux

This report considers the effect the introduction of Employment Tribunal (ET) fees has had on workers who seek advice from Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABx) for their employment problems. The data presented are a subsample of 14 workers about whom information was collected as part of a European Research Council funded project entitled Citizens Advice Bureaux and Employment Disputes . The overall aim of this project was to understand workers’ experiences as they attempted to resolve problems faced at work, including identifyi ng barriers to justice

Citizens Advice Bureaux and Employment Disputes Interim Report

This report details interim findings from the project Citizens Advice Bureaux and Employment Disputes. It comes at a time when drastic changes are occurring to employment conditions, rights and regulation in the UK, yet at the same time funding for employment related advice is being reduced. These processes are taking place under the broader political and policy ‘austerity’ programme of the Coalition Government and are fundamentally impacting upon people’s ‘access to justice’. The project is funded by the European Research Council and is part of a broader programme of study into third sector advice agencies and public conceptualisations of legal issues.The aim of the project is to examine how CAB clients pursue their employment disputes following their first interaction with the CAB and explores barriers to justice. Three specific questions are addressed: how the relationship between the CAB and their client shapes the approach to the employment disputes; how the different levels of support that are offered by CABx affect how clients identify, assert and defend their rights; and how advice work carried out across CABx enable the organisation and individual bureaux to campaign for social policy change in the field of workers’ rights