MPs begin debating the Employment Rights Bill today, which promises sweeping changes to workplace rights for millions of Brits, including a ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts
Workers have spoken of their struggles to budget on zero-hours contracts as MPs were urged to throw their weight behind a major overhaul of employment rights.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said too many people were trapped in insecure work – and said it was “time to turn the page on the low-pay, low-rights and low-productivity economy” of the last 14 years. His comments come as MPs begin debating the Employment Rights Bill today, which promises sweeping changes to workplace rights for millions of Brits.
It includes long-awaited reforms to parental and bereavement leave, sick pay, and unfair dismissal rules, as well as a ban exploitative zero-hours contracts, and fire and rehire.
Care worker Tamara Beattie, 30, struggles to budget as she can’t always get shifts that fit with when her daughter is at nursery. The single mum, from Livingston, in West Lothian, works around 20 hours-a-week for an agency but her hours can be inconsistent as she’s on a zero-hours contract.
“They keep contacting me and asking me to take on shifts but the hours they are offering me is when my little girl isn’t at nursery,” she said. “I don’t have the childcare. If I can’t fit the hours in around the hours they need, I don’t get any hours.”
Tamara added: “I’ve got to budget what I do because I don’t know what income I’m going to get each month depending on the hours I get. It’s quite difficult because I don’t know what I’m going to do on a daily basis so if I want to take my daughter out or pay for shopping or utility bills, I’ve got to really be careful with what I’m spending as I don’t know the hours I’m going to get next month.”
She said she would love to be in full-time work and have more stable hours but she can’t manage the costs of childcare. “You’re basically spending your entire wage on childcare costs,” she said.
Fraser McGuire, 21, works in hospitality in the East Midlands. Being on a zero-hours contract creates a “big power imbalance”, he said, leaving him worried he’ll lose work if he complains about his shifts.
He said: “I could get a text now from my boss saying I want you to come in at 8 am tomorrow morning – even though I’m not scheduled – and if I say no I might not be given any hours next week.
“No one ever wants to raise even a legitimate concern at work because, even if your claim is legitimate, legally your boss can make your hours disappear. They don’t need to provide a justification for why you’ve worked less hours.
“I always try and save money whenever I can because tomorrow I could stop getting hours and I might not know when I’ll get them again.”
He said his generation is getting used to work “with basically no rights and very little way of challenging stuff”. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through the insecurity I have,” he said.
The landmark Employment Rights Bill, which is expected to take up to two years to implement, is likely to face heavy scrutiny from MPs amid opposition from some business groups. The Federation of Small Businesses has argued the plan is being rushed through, and the slew of new measures will heap misery on small firms.
A string of consultations are expected to be launched on key points from the plan, such as sick pay and zero-hours contracts.
Union leaders said the plan, spearheaded by Deputy PM Angela Rayner, would improve the lives of millions of workers.
Analysis by the TUC found around 1 million workers on insecure contracts would be helped by the changes, while 7 million people will become eligible for sick pay from their first day off work. More than 8 million workers will get day one protection from unfair dismissal.
Mr Nowak said: “Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living – and to be treated with dignity and respect. The Employment Rights Bill is an opportunity to make work pay for millions and to give working people vital rights and protections.
“We urge MPs from all parties to support this bill and to be on the right side of history. It’s time to turn the page on the low-pay, low-rights and low-productivity economy of the last 14 years.”
He argued that boosting employment standards was good for everyone – and would stop decent employers being undercut by bad bosses.
Mr Nowak added: “We have too many people in jobs that offer them little or no security. It is vital Parliament improves the quality of employment in this country.”
