Equity is pleased to see the government bolster key aspects of the Employment Rights Bill of importance to the trade union movement, including extending zero-hours protections to agency workers, strengthening rights in cases of fire-and-rehire and beginning to roll back decades of anti-union legislation.
In some 250 amendments laid this week, the government has by and large avoided attempts by business lobby groups to water down its long overdue and wide-ranging package of reforms to employment rights.
The amendments make further inroads into the mesh of complex rules governing industrial action, which have long hamstrung unions from taking effective strike and other industrial action. These measures come off the back of the government’s consultation on the topic late last year, to which Equity responded emphasising the need to simplify notice requirements and introduce e-balloting. We are pleased to see the government now laying measures to push ahead with both. We understand the government will establish a working group on introducing e-balloting and we look forward to engaging in that forum. Measures to extend the expiry of a mandate for industrial action, from 6 to 12 months, and shorten the notice period for industrial action will also go some way in easing anti-union measures hampering effective industrial relations.
Although we are encouraged by these bolstered measures, they represent only the first step in undoing decades of anti-union legislation. Equity would like to see further simplification of the complex rules on strike balloting and information to be provided to an employer, alongside an end to the ban on secondary action, which has long been maintained in breach of international law.
In the realm of individual rights, all workers will be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), no matter how little they earn. At the moment, workers get nothing in SSP if they earn less than £116 per week. Under the new scheme, where their income falls below the standard level of SSP, they will now receive SSP, but at a rate of 80% of their normal wage. However, Equity had urged the government that there was no good reason to pay this group less than their normal wage, in other words, a 100% replacement rate.
Beyond the Bill, Equity continues to raise our demand for an end to upfront fees charged by casting directories with ministers and parliamentarians. We welcome the regular engagement from the Minister for Employment Rights on this issue. We also continue to highlight the need for reform to holiday rights, so that members working six days a week get holiday which reflects their longer working week.
We await detail on the long-planned single enforcement body for employment rights. We will be urging the government to accompany the amalgamation of disparate enforcement bodies with significant upgrades to their resources and powers, so that they have a real ability to investigate and take action against illegal and reckless behaviour in our industry.
