The ‘outdated legal construction of work’ is preventing people from seeking employment, according to MPs who have urged the government to reconsider the need for an Employment Bill in the King’s Speech.
In a report published this week, a cross-party group of MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee, highlighted the difference in rights and protections afforded to those in full- and part-time employment, and those who work more flexibly or on a freelance basis. This is preventing many who wish to be economically active from doing so.
The Post-pandemic economic growth: UK labour markets report calls on the government to ensure the long-promised Employment Bill is announced in the upcoming King’s Speech, “so that legislation can be brought forward to, among other things, create new, more flexible constructions of work that include appropriate rights and protections for workers”.
No date for the King’s Speech, which signifies the opening of Parliament, has been set.
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It also calls for the creation of a single workers’ rights watchdog to be brought forward, to address weak enforcement that is leaving workers vulnerable to “unscrupulous” employers. This should be backed up with a long-term financial plan.
Committee chair Darren Jones said: “Weak or absent enforcement means workers can be exposed to exploitative practices without any consequence, rendering their rights worthless.
“Regulatory bodies are doing the best they can with what they have but the government really must get a move on and create the single enforcement body promised back in 2019. A one-stop shop for workers and businesses would provide the clarity, security and effective oversight that is needed.”
The report says that policies should be introduced to ensure people on low pay are given more good-quality flexible job opportunities. The committee wants to see a default right to a secure contract after 26 weeks’ of work, a right to four weeks’ notice of working schedules and a right to compensation for cancelled shifts.
Furthermore, it suggests more must be done to protect pregnant women or those returning from maternity leave from redundancy, as well as encourage take-up of shared parental leave.
It says: “We note that many parents are disincentivised at work from having children, at a time when the country needs more young people to work and pay taxes to cover the costs of our ageing population. We therefore ask the government to consult on what more can be done to create the conditions to incentivise parents to have children whilst offering suitable protections at work so that time out of work does not impact their career and pay opportunities in the future.
“There is evidence to suggest that we cannot be complacent about the effectiveness of existing law in protecting women who are pregnant from redundancy, or who are on maternity leave, or who return to work after pregnancy. We welcome the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill as a small step, but the government may need to return with stronger protective measures if evidence of discrimination persists.”
Another area that MPs highlighted needed attention was protections from the damaging effects of night-time work, including the increased risk of serious physical and mental health conditions.
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Other recommendations in the report include:
- developing an action plan to clear the employment tribunals backlog
- piloting menopause leave with a large public-sector employer
- developing a dedicated resource to support older people to find relevant job opportunities
- consideration of a scheme, similar to the mid-life MOT programme for older workers, for those just starting their careers, not at least to highlight the importance of pension auto-enrolment
- introducing employer incentives for ‘returnerships’, which were announced in the Budget, such as national insurance subsidies.
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