The Employment Rights Bill has passed all its stages in the House of Commons and second reading in the House of Lords. It is now going through detailed scrutiny in committee by Peers. The legislation seeks to end unfair employment practices and make work more secure.
In his opening remarks on the Bill on behalf of the Conservative Party, Andrew Griffiths MP – shadow business minister said: “The Employment Rights Bill is an egregious example of red tape”.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “This historic legislation will help end years of low-paid, insecure employment which failed our economy, businesses and working people. The Employment Rights Bill will help secure economic growth by improving productivity after years of stagnation. It will help stop rogue employers undercutting those who treat their staff properly, while giving workers security, respect and the decency of an income they can live on.
“The Conservatives in government promised to improve employment rights and failed, which is one of the reasons they lost the general election. It is shocking that they now describe the Employment Rights Bill as ‘red tape’, which is fundamentally wrong. Making work more secure and ensuring that it provides a wage the people can live on is fundamental to turning our country round and recovering from the mess the Tories left behind.”
The Employment Rights Bill will:
- Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and provide a right to a regular-hours contract.
- Make Statutory Sick Pay available from day one of absence and to all workers, regardless of income.
- Day-one access to employment rights, including challenging an unfair dismissal.
- Require employers to protect staff from customer harassment.
- Give trade unions the right to access workplaces, to recruit and organise workers.
- Simplify the trade union recognition process to give workers a voice.
- Introduce statutory rights for workplace equalities representatives.
- Limit the use of fire and rehire.
- Create a fair work agency to put enforcement of employment rights into a single body.
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 trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk
Employment Rights Bill: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3737
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Bluesky @usdawunion.bsky.social and Twitter/X @UsdawUnion