The Employment Rights Bill has returned to the House of Commons after it passed its third reading in the House of Lords yesterday. Rob Moss reports on the debate where one Conservative peer described it as ‘terrible’, while another wished it well, describing it as ‘the starting point of a consensual approach to industrial relations’.
In a session lasting just over half an hour, Baroness Maggie Jones of Whitchurch began with a statement explaining the Bill’s devolution status outside England. She confirmed that the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly had passed legislative consent motions, and that Scotland had agreed an LCM for most provisions, with supplementary consent on amendments relating to the social care negotiating body expected “swiftly” following recess.
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The Labour peer and former trade union official then said it had been a “privilege” to be responsible for the Employment Rights Bill’s passage in the Lords. “The Bill is a cornerstone of our manifesto commitment to make work pay,” said Jones.
“It seeks to address outdated provisions and gaps in the current employment law framework and helps us turn the tide on the damaging trend of in-work poverty.
“It would benefit millions of people across the country, and this is particularly the case for those in insecure and low-paid employment. As just one example, over 2 million people on zero-hours or lower-hours contracts could benefit from the right to guaranteed hours and to payment for shifts cancelled, moved or cut at short notice.”
‘Terrible Bill’
Lord Andrew Sharpe of Epsom, Conservative, said: “We take a slightly different view as to the Bill. We think it is a terrible Bill. It is terrible for workers, businesses – particularly small businesses – and the economy as a whole. There is no support from anywhere in the business community for this legislation.
“The Office for Budget Responsibility has made it clear that the worst is yet to come. Unemployment has risen every single month under this government. The latest figures show that the rate is now set to reach 5%, which is the highest since the pandemic. That is not a blip − it is a trend. It is the direct result of misguided economic choices, and if this Bill proceeds, the situation will only deteriorate further.”
He added that the Bill imposes nothing new “except new costs and burdens on business”, citing a survey by HR consultancy Peninsula that suggested 68% of respondents believed it would have a negative impact on business.
“More than half expressed concern about the increased likelihood of tribunal claims—an inevitability under these provisions, with so-called day one rights and the ill-thought-out restrictions on workplace culture. Even the government’s own impact assessment confirms those risks.”
I hope that we will move forward and regard this Bill as the starting point of a consensual approach to industrial relations. We are all basically on the same side” – Lord Balfe (Con)
He said that it would take 18 months to clear the existing employment tribunal caseload before even beginning to address the new claims that will inevitably arise as a result of the Employment Rights Bill. He described the Bill as “designed less to support workers or employers and more to resuscitate the relevance of trade unions”.
“We should be mindful of the darker history that accompanies union power. In the 1970s and 1980s, communities were torn apart by the toxic culture of so-called scabbing. Workers who chose, for reasons of conscience or necessity, to cross a picket line were branded as traitors and subjected to intimidation and ostracism,” he added.
‘Punch and Judy’
However, Lord Richard Balfe, also Conservative, said: “I will probably not find a lot of favour on this side with what I am about to say. I remind the House that I am the honorary president of BALPA, the pilots’ union, a union that does not go on strike and does not regard militant industrial action as an achievement. A dispute that leads to a loss of work for our employees is a failure, not a success.”
Balfe added: “I hope that we will move forward and regard this Bill as the starting point of a consensual approach to industrial relations. We are all basically on the same side. I mentioned that 30% of trade unionists vote Conservative. In the pilots’ union, it is over 50%. They are not impressed with this ‘Punch and Judy’ approach to trade union legislation in recent years.”
He appealed to peers, the government and the opposition to work to get a “consensual basis for trade unionism”, looking across at Lord Brendan Barber of Ainsdale, former TUC general secretary and former chair at Acas.
He praised Barber’s “good work” at Acas, and said: “That is the sort of organisation that we need. It attempts to smooth out the problems that we have in industry. At the end of the day, our employees want a wage, and our employers want a successful business. We recognise that. This should help to build that up, and I certainly hope that it will. I wish the Bill well.”
The Employment Rights Bill now returns to the House of Commons with the Lords’ amendments which, given Labour’s majority, could well be rejected, commencing a round of “ping pong” between the two Houses, before ultimately receiving Royal Assent.
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