Worker voice has a direct impact on whether employees experience ‘good work’ in the workplace. This issue is especially pertinent given that the recent Employment Rights Act aims to strengthen working conditions and improve job quality, notably for lower paid workers. In this article, Dr Emma Hughes, Professor Tony Dundon and Professor Debra Howcroft highlight research on the UK warehouse industry and provide recommendations for the strengthening of worker voice.

• Quality of work in the rapidly expanding UK warehouse industry impacts hundreds of thousands of workers.
• Research shows that if policymakers want to improve implementation of the Employment Rights Act, four areas need to be considered: worker voice frameworks; performance management practices; worker representative support; and line manager development.
• Introducing collective bodies in sectors beyond social care could support workers and employers by improving voice, working conditions and training.

Employee voice and the UK warehouse industry

Employee voice concerns the way that people communicate their views to their employer and influence employment conditions.

Voice channels can include meetings with supervisors, team briefings, anonymous helplines, collective bargaining and negotiation, works councils, and the use of digital tools such as electronic surveys or apps.

Many lower paid workers are employed in the UK warehouse industry.  It offers low barriers to entry and is accessible to people from different backgrounds, including those who have been out of work. The latest ONS data showed that in 2023 there were almost 290,000 employees in warehousing and storage in the UK, which is more than three times the number in 2010.

This figure is set to expand given the demand for e-commerce. The industry has witnessed various hostile anti-union employer strategies, such as those reported at Amazon. It has also attracted significant debate on the nature of working conditions and how new technologies influence the future of work.

New research – worker experience

Led by researchers from the University of Manchester’s Work and Equalities Institute (in collaboration with researchers at Queen’s University Belfast), our research study examined worker experiences in the UK warehouse industry.

This involved interviews with workers and supervisors in a range of UK warehouses of different sizes (e.g., third party logistics, online retail, retail). The aim was to gauge the extent of worker voice and examine whether employers are creating an environment where workers at all levels and on different types of contracts (both permanent and temporary) feel comfortable speaking up about issues that matter to them.

The research findings 

Four key themes emerged from the study:

• Workers were far more likely to discuss individual/team-based voice channels rather than collective voice channels such as employee forums, health and safety committees, or trade unions. Workers may fear reprisals from management if they speak up about union voice. Most workers had access to informal and formal voice channels but reported having limited impact on decision-making at the organisational level. They may have been invited to offer suggestions and ideas on how processes could be improved, but they lacked influence over working conditions.

• Targets and real-time monitoring were often discussed, for example through handheld scanners, warehouse management systems, or voice picking systems. Workers were not necessarily opposed to explicit performance management targets, as long as they were perceived as reasonable, and failure to meet targets was dealt with fairly. We found that union reps, where recognised, could help communicate and clarify targets and monitoring. However, opportunities to shape or have a voice over performance management practices were very rare and these were usually determined by managers.

• There were examples of workers using voice channels to request how shift patterns were organised. However, for temporary and agency workers, the number of weekly working hours could vary and they were often informed via their phone, rather than face-to-face interactions.

• Temporary and agency workers reported that they fear that speaking up or joining a union will lead to contract termination, negatively impact their chances of securing a permanent contract, or affect their shift allocation. This lack of solidarity fragments the workforce and hinders collective representation.

Employer actions 

There are several actions that can be taken to enhance worker voice:

Firstly, the Employment Rights Act provides an opportunity for organisations to consider how they can begin working with unions or strengthen working relations with unions. Employers should consider how individual and collective channels can be combined, which could improve work experiences.

A second recommendation is that employers review the role of worker voice over performance targets. The study found that management practices of monitoring and surveillance were of critical concern to workers, yet they very rarely influenced these practices, including how they were rewarded for meeting or exceeding expectations. Involving workers in how their performance is evaluated can help organisations ensure fairness and improve retention.

Policy implications – good work versus actual experience

 The research highlights tensions between ‘good work’ policy objectives and lived worker experiences in warehouses.

If the Employment Rights Act aims to enhance job quality and working conditions, regulatory frameworks for strengthening worker voice are key.

Our research emphasises that any legal frameworks need to ensure that temporary and agency workers are able to speak up without detriment or retaliation. For example, government could establish sectoral-level negotiating bodies, to negotiate on issues such as pay, progression, working time, health and safety and training. ACAS (an independent impartial organisation for workers and businesses) could also introduce a new Code of Practice and guide on worker voice. Other potential options include introducing statutory works councils and/or worker directors on company boards.

Performance management and algorithmic management practices also influence workers experience of voice, fairness and autonomy, but they are rarely discussed explicitly in policy. Policymakers in the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Work and Pensions should share guidance on how performance management practices relate to the Employment Rights Act and decent work policy agendas. Statutory voice frameworks could explicitly include performance management practices.

Finally, the findings show that effective enforcement of the Employment Rights Act will require social dialogue between employers, unions, charities and other civil society organisations. However, the reforms outlined in the Employment Rights Act also rely on front-line managers, whose role is often marginalised in UK policy debates. As the Employment Rights Act is implemented, government should consider how front-line managers can acquire capacity, development and influence to facilitate worker voice and work with worker representatives.

Most people would like to have a voice over workplace issues, with the intention that this leads to an improvement in working conditions. From an employer perspective, providing meaningful voice could improve retention, productivity and morale, while helping resolve day-to-day workplace issues.

Individual/team-based voice channels are widely implemented across the warehousing industry. The introduction of the Employment Rights Act provides an opportunity for employers to strengthen worker voice by combining individual voice channels with collective representation. To achieve this, policymakers could provide support for employers by introducing a sector-level body to provide specific guidance, templates for consultation, government- funded training and development programmes for employers, front-line managers and worker representatives.