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.”
-ENDS-
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
