Responding to the Employment Rights Bill completing Report Stage in the House of Lords, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive of the BRC, said:
“The House of Lords has listened to our concerns, putting forward positive, practical and pragmatic amendments to the Employment Rights Bill which would help to protect the availability of valuable, local, part-time and entry level jobs up and down the country. To ignore these suggested changes when the Bill returns to the Commons would undermine the Government’s own plans to get Britain working again as fewer flexible, part-time jobs will be available.
“But there is further to go. Even with these amendments accepted, retailers remain worried about the consequences for jobs from other areas of the Bill. The industry has lost 350,000 jobs over the past ten years, and current proposals around Guaranteed Hours in particular could threaten the availability of local flexible part-time jobs, which support so many people from so many backgrounds into work. Of the three million people working in retail, half work part-time, which allows them to manage work alongside their other life commitments, and work as much, or as little as they are able to.
“There must now be a much more strategic dialogue between employers, unions and Government, to collectively find solutions that will work for everyone. We share the same goal – punishing unscrupulous employers who do not treat their employees fairly, delivering secure work for employees, and protecting the availability of jobs in communities across the UK.”
Notes:
- The Amendment paper can be found here: of particular note are amendments 1, 10, 51, 105 and 148 (included below for reference)
- Changing guaranteed hours from a 'right to have' to a 'right to request'
- Defining reasonable notice for shift changes as 48 hours
- Qualifying period for unfair dismissal reduced from 2 years to 6 months (was drafted in the Bill as a day one right)
- Introduction of 'seasonal work' definition which govt must consider when making regulations under the Act
- Reinstating the 50% threshold needed for a trade union to vote for industrial action
