Workers’ families and estates could be awarded compensation after their death if businesses breach a ban on zero-hours contracts under a government amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, now being considered in the House of Lords.
It is already the case that employment tribunal claims can be brought in some cases after the worker or boss has died, usually if it involves unfair dismissal, redundancy or other individual rights. Now, the principle is being extended as part of ministers’ Make Work Pay agenda.
The amendment will allow a representative, usually a close family member of the worker, or to act on the deceased worker’s behalf, with compensation being decided on the basis of financial loss, as with other claims.
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Government whip Lord Leong told the Lords that the amendment would “ensure that, in the event of a worker’s death or the employer’s death – or the death of another respondent in the case of agency workers – tribunal proceedings under the zero-hours provisions can still be instituted, continued or defended as appropriate by a personal representative of the deceased”.
A government spokesman said: “It’s already the law under the existing Employment Rights Act that tribunal proceedings can continue on behalf of a deceased worker or employer. These minor changes to our new zero-hours measures ensure they are in line with existing employment rights.”
‘Wrecking ball for the part-time economy’
Meanwhile, some peers criticised the government for late changes to the bill, with Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, head of clothing retailer Next, said the attempt to buttress the rights of workers on zero-hours contracts would be a “wrecking ball for the part-time economy”.
He said: “My concern is the requirement to offer additional contract hours to those who voluntarily work extra hours will inadvertently prevent those additional hours being offered at all.
“I am not exaggerating when I say that, if the threshold for low-hours contracts is set too high, it will take a wrecking ball to the UK’s part-time economy. It will deprive millions of people of a valuable source of flexible income and multiple industries of the flexibility they need to offer excellent services in sectors where demand is variable and volatile.
“My worry is that the bill will make it almost impossible for businesses to offer additional voluntary hours to workers with contracts below the low-hour threshold.”
Other peers, such as Lord Fox, a Liberal Democrat peer, and Lord Hunt of Wirral, the Conservative shadow business minister, were critical of the number of amendments being made to the Bill, suggesting that the legislation had not been properly prepared.
‘Time to get behind the Bill’
However, Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway, the former general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, defended the proposed reforms. She said: “It is time to get on with and get behind this bill so that Britain takes the high road to improving business productivity by treating workers fairly as human beings and not just commodities.”
Liz Stevens, professional support lawyer in the employment team at Birketts LLP, told Personnel Today that the posthumous claim amendment was “only bringing the new provisions in line with existing legislation”.
She added: “In practice, it is very rare indeed for a claim to be pursued on behalf of a worker after they have died. It raises many practical issues in terms of the evidence available, and it is unlikely to be a priority for the individual’s family in most cases. There are a few reported examples of cases where an employee has died during the course of proceedings and personal representatives chose to continue it on behalf of the estate. This might be more likely in circumstances when most of the preparation (including disclosure of evidence) has already been done.
“The significant backlog of claims in the employment tribunals continues to rise, meaning that hearings are sometimes being listed several years after the events in question. Coupled with an ageing workforce, it is possible that we will start to see more claims being pursued by personal representatives in the future, but it is unlikely to represent a significant issue in practice for most employers.”
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