Usdaw believes that women workers deserve:
- Fair and equal pay.
- Safe workplaces free from sexual harassment and violence.
- Gender-sensitive risk assessments.
- Better support for the menopause at work.
- Well-paid and enforceable pregnancy and maternity rights.
- High-quality, affordable and accessible childcare.
- Access to flexible working options and meaningful family-friendly policies.
Joanne Thomas - Usdaw General Secretary says: “On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women’s contribution to society, the economy, family life and workplaces. We also continue our all-year-round campaigns to tackle women’s inequality by addressing discrimination and improving workplace rights. This year sees important new measures from the Employment Rights Act starting to come into force.
“The new Act is the biggest upgrade in women’s workplace rights in a generation and will tackle the low-paid and insecure work that women are disproportionately impacted by. Alongside this, the Government has significantly increased the minimum wage, ended the two-child cap on in-work benefits, and extended free childcare and breakfast clubs in schools. Much done, but there is more to do, and we look forward to the Government acting on their reviews of Universal Credit and parental leave and pay.
“The most effective way to deliver these new rights and achieve better pay, decent work and fairness for women is for employers to recognise trade unions. Women in unorganised workplaces face particular problems asserting their rights, so strong trade unions and workplace reps are crucial to ensure women are not missing out.”
The Employment Rights Act will:
- Require employers to protect staff from customer harassment.
- Make paternity, parental and bereavement available from day one.
- Require employers to give reasonable notice of shift changes and cancellations.
- Make flexible working the default, unless the employer proves it is unreasonable.
- Provide statutory rights for workplace equalities representatives.
- Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, with a right to a regular-hours contract.
- Make Statutory Sick Pay available from day one of absence for all workers.
- Challenge unfair dismissal after 6 months in a job, instead of 2 years.
- Improve redundancy consultation.
- Introduce fair and reasonable access to workplaces for trade unions.
- Give workers an effective voice by simplifying trade union recognition.
- Ban fire and rehire in all but the most extreme circumstances.
- Put enforcement of employment rights into a single fair work agency.
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest with around 370,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also represents many workers in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Employment Rights Act 2025: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/36/contents
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion