Government plans will deliver improved job security and other benefits
UK workers are to get more job security and improved access to sick pay under new plans announced by the government. The measures have been welcomed by the British Chambers of Commerce, but the Federation of Small Businesses has warned that they could be detrimental for small firms.
The government has tabled amendments to the Employment Rights Bill in line with its plan to ‘make work pay’. It means that new rules will be introduced on zero hours contracts, statutory sick pay, umbrella companies and redundancies.
The British Chambers of Commerce has described the measures as ‘sensible moves’, but the Federation of Small Businesses says the plans are a ‘threatening approach to hundreds of thousands of small employers’.
A government impact assessment suggests that the reforms will ‘help to raise living standards across the country and create opportunities for all’ and they're also likely to have ‘a positive but small direct impact on economic growth’. The government describes the reforms as both ‘pro-business’ and ‘pro-worker’.
New employment rights for UK workers
The proposed employment rights amendments include:
- Sick pay: statutory sick pay will become a legal right for all workers for the first time. Up to 1.3m employees on low wages who find themselves unable to work due to sickness will either receive 80% of their average weekly earnings or the current rate of statutory sick pay – whichever is lower. Employees will also have a right to statutory sick pay from the first day of sickness absence.
- Zero-hours contracts: In a crackdown on zero-hours contracts, all workers, including up to 900,000 agency workers in the UK, will be able to access a contract which reflects the hours they regularly work. This will improve job security for working people and give them reasonable notice of shifts and proportionate pay when shifts are cancelled, curtailed or moved at short notice. The government also promises to retain the ‘necessary flexibility for employers in how they manage their workforces’.
- New rules on collective redundancy: The government will increase the maximum period of the protective award from 90 days to 180 days and issue further guidance for employers on consultation processes for collective redundancies. An Employment Tribunal will be able to grant larger awards to employees for an employer's failure to meet consultation requirements.
- Umbrella companies: The government will act to ensure that workers can access comparable rights and protections when working through an umbrella company as they would when taken on directly by a recruitment agency.
The Fair Work Agency will take action against rogue employers and provide support to the majority of businesses who want to do right by their staff.
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