United Kingdom insolvency law
United Kingdom insolvency law regulates companies in the United Kingdom which are unable to repay their debts. While UK bankruptcy law concerns the rules for natural persons, the term insolvency is generally used for companies formed under the Companies Act 2006. Insolvency means being unable to pay debts. Since the Cork Report of 1982, the modern policy of UK insolvency law has been to attempt to rescue a company that is in difficulty, to minimise losses and fairly distribute the burdens between the community, employees, creditors and other stakeholders that result from enterprise failure. If a company cannot be saved it is liquidated, meaning that the assets are sold off to repay creditors according to their priority. The main sources of law include the Insolvency Act 1986, the Insolvency Rules 1986, the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986, the Employment Rights Act 1996 Part XII, the EU Insolvency Regulation, and case law. Numerous other Acts, statutory instruments and cases relating to labour, banking, property and conflicts of laws also shape the subject.
UK insolvency law seeks to share losses fairly among creditors and rescue companies. In 2012, the UK insolvency profession (dominated by Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG, and PwC) handled 2,532 administrations and 4,243 compulsory liquidations of companies.
The Marshalsea debt prison, one of numerous London prisons, where insolvent debtors including Charles Dickens' father, was closed after the Debtors Act 1869. Imprisonment for debt is now contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, Protocol 4, article 1.
The financial crisis of 2007–2008 led to a bank run on Northern Rock, the first since Overend, Gurney & Co in 1866. Northern Rock, Lloyds TSB and RBS were nationalised for £650bn. After this, the Banking Act 2009 created a specific insolvency regime for banks, but with reduced lending, and economic activity a large number of businesses failed.
The credit ratings industry is dominated by Fitch, Moody's and S&P, with London headquarters in Canary Wharf. Companies pay the rating agencies to rate them, because this provides access to cheaper loans.
United Kingdom labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity. This includes the right to a minimum wage of £10.42 for over-23-year-olds from April 2023 under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. The Working Time Regulations 1998 give the right to 28 days paid holidays, breaks from work, and attempt to limit long working hours. The Employment Rights Act 1996 gives the right to leave for child care, and the right to request flexible working patterns. The Pensions Act 2008 gives the right to be automatically enrolled in a basic occupational pension, whose funds must be protected according to the Pensions Act 1995. Workers must be able to vote for trustees of their occupational pensions under the Pensions Act 2004. In some enterprises, such as universities or NHS foundation trusts, staff can vote for the directors of the organisation. In enterprises with over 50 staff, workers must be negotiated with, with a view to agreement on any contract or workplace organisation changes, major economic developments or difficulties. The UK Corporate Governance Code recommends worker involvement in voting for a listed company's board of directors but does not yet follow international standards in protecting the right to vote in law. Collective bargaining, between democratically organised trade unions and the enterprise's management, has been seen as a "single channel" for individual workers to counteract the employer's abuse of power when it dismisses staff or fix the terms of work. Collective agreements are ultimately backed up by a trade union's right to strike: a fundamental requirement of democratic society in international law. Under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 strike action is protected when it is "in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute".
In the UK in 2021, of the total working population 32.5 million people were employed, there was 4.2% unemployment, and 6.6 million trade union members. The average income was £30,472, and the average working week was 36 hours.
Wat Tyler, leader of the Peasants' Revolt is killed in front of King Richard II.
The International Labour Organization was created by the Versailles Treaty in 1919, on the principle that "peace can be established only if it is based on social justice".
The UK miners' strike (1984–1985) was a bitter confrontation between the Thatcher government and coal mine workers, which has left resentment till today.
