Labour’s employment rights bill will finally become law after a battle in the House of Lords, paving the way for significant new rights for workers on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts.
Trade unions hailed a “generational shift” for workers’ rights after Tory peers conceded at the 11th hour on the legislation, which the government had promised to pass by Christmas. Royal assent is expected by Thursday.
The struggle to pass the law, which faced significant opposition from the Conservatives and business groups, meant the government made a number of concessions to secure its passage.
Trade unions agreed earlier this month to remove day-one rights to unfair dismissal from the package of reforms, in return for the lifting of the compensation cap, to get the bill through parliament in time to start implementing new rights from April.
Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said: “This landmark legislation, now soon to be in law, will drag Britain’s outdated employment laws into the 21st century and offer dignity and respect to millions more in the workplace.”
The bill will introduce rights to guaranteed hours and payment for short-notice cancellation of shifts, bar fire-and-rehire practices in most circumstances, grant paternity and parental leave from day one, and strengthen workplace trade union rights.
The day-one right to protection against unfair dismissal has been removed as a concession to business and replaced with a shortened qualifying period of six months, down from two years.
The process of passing the bill – which contains key manifesto pledges – has renewed anger among a significant number of MPs and ministers towards the House of Lords, after repeated obstructions from Conservative and crossbench peers.
The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “This is a historic day and early Christmas present for working people across the country, and the trade unions who represent them.
“Unions and workers have long campaigned for these vital rights. Together, we have broken a decades-long economic status quo defined by insecurity, weak rights and poor pay. Finally, working people will enjoy more security, better pay and dignity at work thanks to this bill.
“It’s now vital that workers start feeling the benefits of this legislation in their lives as soon as possible. That means the legislation must be implemented in full, and at speed – with watertight secondary legislation to ensure there are no loopholes for bad bosses to exploit.”
Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University, said women, disabled people, ethnic minorities and young people stood to gain most from changes to unfair dismissal, zero-hours contracts and day-one rights.
He said there were still obstacles ahead as the government devised codes of practice and secondary legislation.
“It’s vital that as government works with employers and unions to shape these, the reforms deliver on the spirit of the bill as originally intended,” Harrison added.
The Conservatives said the bill would fuel already rising unemployment. Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said: “It will pile costs on to small businesses, freeze hiring, and ultimately leave young people and jobseekers paying the price for Labour’s capitulation to their union paymasters.
“The Conservatives will scrap the most disastrous elements of this bill and get Britain working again.”
