No longer. Not yet. These two phrases summarise the promise of British labour/employment law.1 There have been fleeting moments of positive steps towards employment protections. And yet, the focus of efforts remains to improve the present. Labour law has become a source of lament insofar as its contemporary form resembles little from a few decades prior and, simultaneously, offers tantalising bits of hope for better days. There have been a number of publications pronouncing a pessimistic state for labour law.2 This perspective originates in a view of the discipline that expects more of contemporary worker protections and reflects back on the 1980s as a period of tremendous decline on this account. Economic duress is a theme that runs through the collective-dominant to the individual- dominant periods of labour law. Complaints about economic duress (the perceived unfair influence of trade unions by way of industrial action) were part of the movement that brought about the decline in collective labour law in the 1980s. An amended form of the argument is being used again today. Illustrating the contemporary usage, employment tribunal procedure reforms (such as the introduction of fees for claims) passed in and around 2013 were premised on the idea of improving the economy (perhaps a first for economic stimulus). Threatening to continue the ‘not yet’ era of labour law, this example demonstrates how the imperative of commercial viability not only dictates labour regulation, but may also prove to continue the area’s decline. Although the hope of better days remains alive, it is in a muted form.