Labour has also pledged to make parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day on the job…reports Asian Lite News
British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said on Sunday the government would introduce new legislation intended to give workers more rights next month.
The government is trying to balance demands from trade unions, who traditionally fund the governing Labour Party, and business leaders, who are concerned about some of the changes.
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The Employment Rights Bill will include measures such as prohibiting zero-hour contracts, with about 1 million people in Britain on employment contracts that do not specify a minimum number of hours they can work and pay only for the hours they are on shift, and outlawing fire and rehire tactics.
Labour has also pledged to make parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from the first day on the job, although probation periods would remain in place.
“We’ll be putting the legislation forward next month,” Rayner told the BBC. “People will see better workers’ rights, the most improved workers’ rights for a generation.”
The government has promised to produce legislation within 100 days of the July national election. Some businesses say it is unclear what the government is planning.
Rayner was speaking at the start of the Labour Party’s annual conference in the northern English city of Liverpool where ministers were under pressure over the decision to limit winter fuel payments to the elderly and donations for clothing and hospitality.
Earlier this week, Rayner and business secretary Jonathan Reynolds met businesses and trade unions to discuss how to end zero-hour contracts, following Labour’s pledge to end the “one-sided” flexibility such contracts offer and making sure that workers get reasonable notice of any changes in their shifts.
The deputy prime minister reiterated her party’s plans to improve renters’ rights, including ending no-fault evictions “for good”, as well as promising a “devolution revolution” in the north of England, and the “biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation”.
But some of the biggest cheers from delegates came over her long-trailed plan to increase workers’ rights across the country, with her promising to bring the Employment Rights Bill to the Commons in October.
Concerns have been raised over the legislation by some in the business community, with an Institute of Directors’ survey earlier this month citing the bill as a reason for pessimism among firms who fear the impact on their operations.
But the government has sought to play down any divide, and held several roundtables with company leaders in recent weeks to allay their fears.
Championing the bill, Rayner said: “They said we couldn’t do it. Some tried to stop it in its tracks. But after years of opposition, we are on the verge of historic legislation to make work more secure, make it more family friendly, go further and faster to close the gender pay gap, ensure rights are enforced and trade unions are strengthened.
“That means repealing the Tories’ anti-worker laws and new rights for union reps too. A genuine living wage and sick pay for the lowest earners, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts and unpaid internships, ending fire and rehire. And we will bring in basic rights from day one on the job. This is our plan to make work pay, and it’s coming to a workplace near you.”
Concluding her speech, the deputy prime minister said: “On 4 July, the people entrusted us with the task of change and hope won. Now is our moment, not just to say, but to do.
“Labour governments of the past took on this same challenge at a time when Britain desperately needed change. They delivered a better Britain when the odds were stacked against them. And that is exactly what this Labour government must deliver once again. So conference, let’s get on with it.”
But the Conservatives accused Rayner of “spouting what the British people want to hear, whilst doing the exact opposite”.
A party spokesperson added: “While promising to tackle the housing crisis and introduce a ‘devolution revolution’, Rayner has refused to be transparent about housing targets and ended devolution in the East of England, with new plans underway to take power away from locally elected representatives and back to Whitehall.
“Instead of criticising the Conservatives, they should look at our record. In government, we devolved power to local mayors across England, began levelling up in the North, and delivered 2.5 million homes.”
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