Employers have issued a last-ditch plea for Sir Keir Starmer to rethink a “disastrous” Employment Rights Bill after a series of changes to the planned new laws were demanded by the House of Lords. Firms were thrown a lifeline after the Lords backed amendments watering down elements of the planned legislation, but the Government could now use its Commons majority to reverse the changes.
Patrick Milnes, Head of People and Work Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce said: “We are fast reaching the end of the road for crucial changes, that businesses desperately want to see, to be made to the Employment Rights Bill. There are some elements of the government’s proposals, as they stand, which place unnecessary burdens on businesses and could stifle recruitment, productivity and investment.”
Changes introduced by the Lords included preventing the introduction of day-one unfair dismissal rights, which critics say would allow a new employee to begin at 9am and file a costly claim by lunchtime. The Lords also reversed plans to scrap the 50 per cent minimum turnout required for strike ballots, and introduced protections for seasonal work designed to ensure farms, hospitality and retail businesses do not suffer from restrictions on working hours.
Tories refer to the legislation as the “unemployment bill” and shadow business secretary Andrew Griffiths said: “These amendments were absolutely crucial to mitigating the negative economic impact of Labour’s disastrous Unemployment Bill.
“The government should listen to what the Lords and the business community are saying: compromise now before it is too late.”
Think tank the Growth Commission claimed the damage to businesses from the unamended legislation would mean a loss to GDP of between £38 billion and £76 billion and a loss of GDP per person of between £554 and £1,108.
A Whitehall source said: “We are committed to our employment rights bill, and proud to be delivering the upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. It will continue in the same substance and timetable.
“Of course we will work with unions and businesses on implementation, but it’s good for workers, good for businesses and good for the economy.”