The government has opted to drop its central policy from the employee protections legislation, replacing the safeguard from wrongful termination from the commencement of work with a six-month qualifying period.
The step is a result of the business secretary addressed firms at a major conference that he would heed worries about the impact of the legislative amendment on employment. A worker organization source commented: “They have given in and there could be further to come.”
The national union body said it was ready to endorse the negotiated settlement, after prolonged talks. “The primary focus now is to implement these measures – like day one sick pay – on the official legislation so that working people can start profiting from them from the coming spring,” its general secretary commented.
A worker representative added that there was a view that the half-year qualifying period was more workable than the vaguely outlined extended evaluation term, which will now be eliminated.
However, parliamentarians are expected to be unnerved by what is a clear violation of the government’s manifesto, which had vowed “immediate” safeguards against wrongful termination.
The recently appointed industry minister has replaced the earlier minister, who had overseen the bill with the second-in-command.
On the start of the week, the secretary vowed to ensuring businesses would not “lose” as a result of the modifications, which encompassed a restriction on non-guaranteed hours and day-one protections for staff against wrongful termination.
“I will not allow it to become one-sided, [you] benefit one at the expense of the other, the other suffers … This has to be got right,” he stated.
A union source explained that the amendments had been agreed to enable the act to advance swiftly through the House of Lords, which had greatly slowed the act. It will lead to the minimum service period for unfair dismissal being lowered from 24 months to six months.
The bill had originally promised that duration would be removed altogether and the government had put forward a lighter touch trial phase that firms could use instead, capped by legislation to nine months. That will now be eliminated and the legislation will make it impossible for an employee to file for wrongful termination if they have been in position for less than six months.
Labor organizations insisted they had won concessions, including on expenses, but the step is likely to anger leftwing MPs who considered the worker protections legislation as one of their main pledges.
The legislation has been altered repeatedly by opposition peers in the Lords to accommodate major corporate requirements. The secretary had declared he would do “all that is required” to overcome legislative delays to the bill because of the second chamber modifications, before then consulting on its enforcement.
“The corporate perspective, the opinions of workers who work in business, will be considered when we delve into the details of applying those key parts of the employment rights bill. And yes, I’m talking about non-guaranteed work agreements and day-one rights,” he commented.
The opposition leader described it “another humiliating U-turn”.
“They talk about predictability, but govern in chaos. No company can prepare, spend or employ with this level of uncertainty hanging over them.”
She stated the act still contained provisions that would “hurt firms and be harmful to economic growth, and the critics will oppose every single one. If the government won’t eliminate the worst elements of this flawed legislation, we will. The state cannot achieve wealth with increasing red tape.”
The concerned ministry stated the result was the product of a settlement mechanism. “The ministry was satisfied to facilitate these negotiations and to demonstrate the merits of cooperating, and remains committed to further consult with worker groups, business and firms to make working lives better, support businesses and, importantly, realize economic expansion and quality employment opportunities,” it said in a announcement.
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