Citizens Advice Scotland is calling for a raft of measures to crackdown on bad bosses amid claims workers suffered more than usual during the pandemic.

The charity wants to see the UK Government fast-track plans for an employment rights watchdog, as well as an awareness campaign to educate workers about their rights.

Responding to the Scottish Government consultation ‘Becoming a Fair Work Nation’, CAS is also calling for an easy-to-use reporting system where employees or witnesses can raise concerns and prompt investigative action.

It comes after the organisation reported a spike in demand for employment advice during the pandemic, with bureaux dealing with almost 75,000 requests for help during 2020/21.

There was also a 40 per cent increase in demand for online advice about work issues.

CAS social justice spokesman David Scott said: “The vast majority of employers treat their staff fairly, but sadly cases of poor treatment have always been a significant part of the workload of the CAB network.

“During the pandemic, we’ve seen some staggering cases of workers being mistreated, like cases of furlough and statutory sick pay not being used properly and people being denied rights through the use of zero hour contracts.

“People should be treated with dignity and respect at work, have the ability to exercise their rights and be paid what they are owed.

“The pandemic has created huge challenges for employers across all industries - but there’s no excuse to break the law and not recognise the rights working people have.

“Better promotion and awareness of rights at work would make a difference, as would the UK government bringing forward an employment rights watchdog with real teeth to tackle bad bosses.”

The Scottish Government’s fair work consultation closed in December last year and sought views on what action needs to be taken to make Scotland a “fair work nation”.

In its response, CAS said it welcomed government proposals such as a requirement on public sector grant recipients to pay the real living wage to employees, however it argued that there should also be a focus on helping people enforce their existing rights.

The charity stated: “The majority of people CAB see every day do not work in the sectors supported by the Scottish Government’s most ambitious plans. They will instead be in low-paid and insecure work, often facing violations of very basic employment rights. For these people, the first step to a Fair Work Nation must be better enforcement of their already-existing rights.”

One worker who suffered poor treatment at work prior to the pandemic is Tanya Gersiova, 27, who came to Glasgow as a student from Slovakia in 2014.

To help to support herself through university, she took a job as a waitress but suffered at the hands of an aggressive manager who regularly shouted at her, reduced her hours and failed to pay her.

She said: “Looking back now, I know I should have left and reported them, but I was only 20, new to Scotland and to university, and honestly, I was too scared to do anything as I needed the money.

“Now of course I understand better and I know that as a worker you do have rights and that help is available from the Citizens Advice network and others.”