Research on Work Rights

The Department for Business and Trade has commissioned NatCen to conduct research on people’s experiences of work in the UK.

What is the research about?

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), to conduct research on people’s experiences of work in the UK. NatCen is the largest independent social research institute in Britain. We design and carry out research studies in the fields of social and public policy. The research will help DBT to understand more about people’s experiences of their working arrangements, their understanding of the rights they can access at work, and decision-making about their work.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You are being invited to take part in an interview on the basis of answers you gave when you completed a NatCen Panel survey in April/May last year. You may remember taking part in the survey and answering some questions about your work at the time.

Your work arrangements may have changed since you completed the survey. If so, we will ask you to tell us about the arrangements you had at that time (April/May 2025).

What will taking part involve?

  • A one-to-one interview with a NatCen researcher, organised at a time convenient for you in April 2026. The interview will last up to an hour.
  • You can take part online via Microsoft Teams or by telephone, according to your preference.
  • Taking part is completely up to you. You do not have to take part if you do not want to, and you can change your mind at any time. If you do choose to participate, you do not have to answer any questions you do not want to, and you can stop the interview discussion at any point.
  • Everything you say will be confidential and anonymous. Only NatCen will know you have taken part. We will store your information securely and your details will not be shared with DBT or anyone else outside the research team. The only exception is if something you share indicates a risk of significant harm to you or someone else, in which case we may have to tell someone else, which could include an authority such as the emergency services.
  • We will send you a £40 Love2Shop e-voucher as thanks for your time and contribution. This will be emailed to you after the interview and can be used in many high street shops or online.

What will the interview be about?

The interview discussion will mainly focus on your working arrangements. If these have changed since you completed our survey last year, we will ask you to tell us about the arrangements you had at that time (April/May 2025). The kinds of things we’ll ask about are:

  • Your working arrangements.
  • Your feelings about those working arrangements.
  • Your feelings about accessing your rights at work.
  • Any changes to your working arrangements since that time.

There are no right or wrong answers, and you would not need to prepare anything in advance. You may find it helpful to look at your contract before the interview and familiarise yourself with your working arrangements, but this is not necessary.

What will happen to any information I give?

Everything you say will remain anonymous in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This means we will not tell anyone that you have taken part in the study or what you specifically have said.

With your permission, we will audio-record the interview. The recording will be kept securely. Only the NatCen research team and McGowan Transcriptions, our trusted transcription service, will have access to personal data that you provide during the interview.

We will use the information from the interviews to write a report for DBT that will be published on the Research and Statistics - GOV.UK website. We will not use the names of any individuals or organisations when reporting our findings.

For more information on how your data will be used, visit the privacy notice.

Can I have specific arrangements to enable me to participate?

Yes. The recruiter who arranged the interview with you should have discussed if you have any specific requirements to help you take part. For example, you may want to take breaks during the interview, use closed captions if participating via video call, or receive a list of the topics to be discussed beforehand. If there is anything else we can do to help you participate, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing workrights@natcen.ac.uk or calling Freephone 0808 281 0307.

What are the next steps?

If you would like to take part, please contact the research team at workrights@natcen.ac.uk or on Freephone 0808 281 0307. It’s unlikely we will be able to interview everyone who gets in touch, so please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested.

A member of the NatCen team may also give you a call in the coming weeks to share further information about the research and see whether you would like to take part. Please look out for a phone call from area code 01277 (Ashton Gate).

You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to. You can contact NatCen by phone on 0808 281 0307 or by email at workrights@natcen.ac.uk if you would prefer not to be contacted again for this research.

Contact the research team

We welcome any questions you might have. If you would like to get in touch about the research, please contact the NatCen team at workrights@natcen.ac.uk or by calling Freephone 0808 281 0307.