Employment Rights Bill: Ministers won't 'water down' day-one rights
The government will not 'water down' day-one rights for unfair dismissal in the Employment Rights Bill and will reject an amendment from peers calling for a six-month qualifying period.
The Bill reaches its final stage in the House of Lords this afternoon (28 October) after the Resolution Foundation, a left-leaning think tank, said the government should rethink the right to claim unfair dismissal from the first day of employment, as it offered "little obvious gain".
Last month, MPs rejected Lords' amendments on unfair dismissal with the reason: "Because it is appropriate for protection from unfair dismissal to apply from the beginning of a person's employment."
Yesterday, the TUC published new analysis suggesting that more than 2 million workers would be denied protection from unfair dismissal if a six-month qualifying period were implemented.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said Lords blocking the Bill should "step aside" to allow it to improve the lives of millions of workers - a key Labour manifesto commitment at the last election.
He highlighted that the UK has "some of the weakest unfair dismissal protections" in the developed world - "leaving workers to shoulder all the risk while bad bosses get a free pass".
The UK currently has by far the longest qualifying period for unfair dismissal protections among OECD countries. Only the US and Canada offer less, with no protections at all. The Employment Rights Bill would see the UK join Japan, Israel and Poland in offering protections from day one.
Nowak said: "The statutory protection period will do exactly what it says - protect workers from being sacked unfairly. This is just old-fashioned common sense.
"Employers can still have probation periods for new staff - they just won't be able to fire them unfairly, at will, for no good reason. No one will be surprised that Tory peers are voting against the best interests of working people. But peers across the opposition benches should be wary of looking out of touch."
Ministers say the details would be established in secondary legislation, following consultation with businesses and the public, that would introduce a "light-touch" probationary period of up to nine months - the "initial period of employment".
A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: "Our reforms to the labour market and employment rights are crucial for our plans to drive economic growth because better rights at work and a strong economy go hand in hand."
The TUC said that Liberal Democrats and Conservatives are defying the will of the public - and their own supporters - by attempting to water down the Bill. A poll of more than 21,000 people found that 71% support workers being protected from unfair dismissal from the first day in the job, including 64% of Tory supporters and 74% of Lib Dem supporters.
'Additional burdens'
Analysis published today by the Growth Commission, a think tank backed by former prime minister Liz Truss, concluded that, within 10 years, GDP per capita will be 1.4% to 2.8% lower as a result of the Employment Rights Bill. This would equate to a loss of GDP of between £38bn and £76bn, and a loss of GDP per person of between £554 and £1,108.
Shanker Singham, chairman of the Growth Commission, said: "The UK is trying to escape sluggish growth and the Prime Minister has rightly identified growth as his government's 'number one priority' - but the evidence is clear from our calculations that the Employment Rights Bill will further harm the UK's economic prospects.
"Now would be a particularly bad time to impose additional burdens on a labour market which is still struggling with the recent sharp rise in the minimum wage and the rise in employers' national insurance contributions.
"If the government is serious about prioritising growth, it should drop the Employment Rights Bill from its legislative agenda as a matter of urgency."
Other subjects under consideration in the Lords today include:
- zero-hours contracts, qualifying criteria for guaranteed hours, and payments for cancelled work
- fire and rehire
- flexible working
- confidentiality relating to harassment and discrimination
- regulations to protect whistleblowers
- and the definition of seasonal work.
Bar Huberman, content manager for HR strategy and practice at Brightmine, said: "As the Employment Rights Bill passes through the final stages of parliament, HR professionals are set to face the most significant overhaul of employment law in decades, with over 30 legislative changes due in the next two to three years.
"The sheer complexity of the Bill, which has doubled in size since it was first introduced, is causing concern for many organisations. However, the impact will differ depending on a variety of factors, including the nature of their business, their workforce and how they operate.
"It is essential for HR to start thinking strategically about how they are going to deal with these many reforms. The HR profession will need to prioritise effectively as never before by aligning the activities of their HR team with the expected roll-out dates, many of which have already been announced via the government's implementation roadmap."
The Employment Rights Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent next month. Last week, the government launched four consultations on bereavement leave and pregnancy protections, trade union access and the duty to inform workers of their rights to join a union.
