The ministry has decided to remove its central proposal from the workers’ rights act, swapping the right to protection from wrongful termination from the commencement of work with a half-year threshold.
The move comes after the business secretary informed companies at a prominent conference that he would consider apprehensions about the impact of the legislative amendment on recruitment. A worker organization insider remarked: “They have backed down and there may be more changes ahead.”
The worker federation said it was ready to endorse the compromise arrangement, after extended talks. “The absolute priority now is to get these rights – like day one sick pay – on the legal record so that employees can start profiting from them from April of next year,” its lead representative declared.
A worker representative noted that there was a view that the half-year qualifying period was more workable than the less clearly specified nine-month probation period, which will now be scrapped.
However, parliamentarians are likely to be unnerved by what is a clear violation of the administration’s manifesto, which had vowed “immediate” safeguards against unfair dismissal.
The recently appointed corporate affairs head has replaced the earlier office holder, who had overseen the act with the second-in-command.
On the start of the week, the minister pledged to ensuring companies would not “be disadvantaged” as a result of the modifications, which included a ban on zero-hour contracts and first-day rights for staff against unfair dismissal.
“I will not allow it to become win-lose, [you] benefit one at the expense of the other, the other suffers … This has to be implemented properly,” he stated.
A labor insider explained that the amendments had been approved to allow the act to move more quickly through the House of Lords, which had greatly slowed the bill. It will result in the minimum service period for wrongful termination being lowered from 24 months to six months.
The bill had earlier pledged that duration would be abolished entirely and the government had proposed a more flexible trial phase that businesses could use as an alternative, limited in law to three quarters of a year. That will now be scrapped and the statute will make it impossible for an employee to pursue unfair dismissal if they have been in post for fewer than 180 days.
Worker groups maintained they had won concessions, including on financial aspects, but the step is expected to upset radical parliamentarians who regarded the employee safeguards act as one of their primary commitments.
The bill has been altered repeatedly by rival peers in the second chamber to satisfy key business requirements. The secretary had stated he would do “whatever is necessary” to overcome parliamentary hold-ups to the legislation because of the Lords amendments, before then reviewing its enforcement.
“The voice of business, the opinions of workers who work in business, will be considered when we delve into the details of enforcing those key parts of the employee safeguards act. And yes, I’m talking about flexible employment terms and immediate protections,” he stated.
The opposition leader described it “another humiliating U-turn”.
“They talk about certainty, but govern in chaos. No company can prepare, allocate resources or hire with this degree of unpredictability hanging over them.”
She added the act still included measures that would “damage businesses and be detrimental to prosperity, and the opposition will fight every single one. If the ministry won’t abolish the least favorable aspects of this problematic act, we will. The country cannot foster growth with growing administrative burdens.”
The relevant department announced the outcome was the result of a settlement mechanism. “The administration was satisfied to facilitate these talks and to demonstrate the merits of working together, and stays devoted to further consult with worker groups, industry and employers to improve employment conditions, help firms and, importantly, achieve prosperity and decent work generation,” it commented in a announcement.
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