Moved by
Baroness Burt of Solihull
174: After Clause 72, insert the following new Clause—
“Code of practice: employer’s duty of care
(1) In this section—
(a) “worker” means an individual who has entered into or works under a contract of employment or any other contract, whether express or implied and (if it is express) whether oral or in writing, whereby the individual undertakes to do or perform personally any work or services for another party to the contract whose status is not by virtue of the contract that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual; and
(b) “employer” means the person to whom the worker undertakes to perform the work or services in question.
(2) The Secretary of State must issue a code of practice (a “code”) containing provision designed to ensure that persons affected by domestic abuse who are workers receive appropriate care and support from their employer in relation to their work.
(3) A code may include provision requiring an employer to make reasonable adjustments for the purpose of ensuring that persons affected by domestic abuse are not, by reason of being so affected, placed at a substantial disadvantage in relation to their work in comparison with persons who are not so affected.
(4) The Secretary of State may revoke or amend a code.
(5) Before issuing, revoking or amending a code the Secretary of State must—
(a) issue proposals, and
(b) consult the Commissioner and such other persons as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.
(6) Failure to comply with a provision of a code does not of itself make a person liable to civil or criminal proceedings; but a code shall be—
(a) admissible in evidence in criminal or civil proceedings, and
(b) taken into account by a court or tribunal in any case in which it appears to the court or tribunal to be relevant, including (in particular) any case in which a question arises as to whether an employer is in breach of a duty of care owed to a worker.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would require the Secretary of State to issue a code of practice containing provision designed to ensure that persons affected by domestic abuse who are workers receive appropriate care and support from their employer.