My Lords, before I move on to the detail of the Bill, I put on record that today marks seven years since we lost Jo Cox, our friend in the other place. It is important to recognise that today. She celebrated that we have more in common than that which divides us. I hope this Bill demonstrates that to be the case. I thank Scott Benton MP, the Member for Blackpool South, for steering this Bill through its various stages in the other place.
Trade unionism is in my blood. Securing a better deal for working people is one of the reasons I joined the Labour Party and first ran for election. I come from a family of proud trade unionists. My great-grandfather was the founding member of his Yiddish branch of cabinet makers in the East End of London, my grandfather was a blacklisted steel worker who became a miner, my father was the first trade unionist to lead industrial action in the insurance sector—he was then also duly blacklisted—and my wonderful mother was the deputy general secretary of Amicus before her retirement. It should surprise no one that I followed in these footsteps and became a trade union officer too. This is why legislation giving more rights to people at work is so important to me and why I am proud to be able to promote this Bill today. It is another chapter, albeit a limited one, in the journey of empowering workers and rebalancing power in the workplace.
There is some technical detail to cover today, but I invite noble Lords at the back their minds to remember that there are over 3.7 million people working on insecure contracts and 1.1 million on zero-hours contracts. It is easy to get lost in the scale of those numbers, but
behind the statistics are families struggling to make ends meet and working people in dire need, not knowing how much will be in their pay packet at the end of the month. In the 21st century in the UK, there is no excuse for our fellow citizens to be experiencing that level of fear and the onus is on us to help them.
The 2017 Taylor review of modern working practices found that workers on zero-hours contracts, agency workers and temporary workers struggle where flexibility is one-sided in the employer’s favour. We know that some employers misuse flexible working arrangements to create unpredictability, insecurity of income and a reluctance among some workers to assert basic employment rights—rights that many of us take for granted. This one-sided flexibility means that workers need to be available to their employer with no guarantee of work. Employers can also schedule or cancel shifts with very little notice, leading to insecurity of hours and income for workers or, in the case of temporary or agency workers, dismissal at short notice. Many individuals working unpredictable patterns experience an imbalance of power with their employers, which leaves them afraid to ask their employer for more fixed conditions for fear of being dismissed or denied future shifts.
To address the issue of one-sided flexibility, the Taylor review recommended a new right to request a contract with guaranteed hours for zero-hours contract workers. This, in part, is why we are here today. The successful passage of the Bill will create a new right for workers to request a more predictable working pattern. A qualifying worker will be able to make a request if their existing working pattern lacks predictability in the hours and times they work or if it is a fixed-term contract for less than 12 months.
Both workers and employers will be able to retain the benefits of atypical forms of work, if that is what works for them, such as zero-hours contracts, temporary contracts and agency work, as this is a right to request more predictable working, not an entitlement to it. That will have to be the next step.
We know that atypical employment suits some, not all, groups, such as those working around their studies or caring responsibilities. Workers who are content to work in these circumstances will be able to continue to do so and employers will be able to decline requests on specific, statutory business grounds. The Bill will begin to address the unfair imbalance of power which exists between some employers and workers, empowering workers to talk to their employer about their working pattern, safe in the knowledge that starting the conversation should not affect their standing in the workplace.
Where this legislation is embraced by employers as a force for good it will give workers additional predictability and security of both hours and income, at a time when we know that too many people with unpredictable or varying levels of income are struggling with the cost of living.
The powers outlined in this legislation, if embraced by employers, will work for everyone. Workers will be better able to secure employment which suits their individual circumstances, increasing job satisfaction and helping many with their work/life balance. Businesses which accept their workers’ requests will reap the
benefits of improved retention, as workers will not have to look for a new role to secure a working pattern which meets their needs.
The four clauses of and one schedule to the Bill will both introduce this important new right and ensure that it can be properly enforced. The Bill sets out the eligibility criteria for the new right. To ensure that as many workers as possible who have an unpredictable working pattern can benefit from this new right, all workers and employees will be eligible after an expected period of 26 weeks, subject to the secondary legislation. Given that the Bill targets workers with unpredictable working patterns, they are not required to have worked for their employer continuously over that period.
Specific provisions are also made for the eligibility of agency workers, given the unique way in which their working relationships function. Agency workers who make applications directly to hirers will be required to have worked for their hirer for at least 12 weeks continuously during the proposed 26-week period. This replicates the provision in the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 which states that, after 12 weeks’ continuous service, an agency worker will gain entitlement to a set of employment rights which are the same as if they had been recruited directly.
Employers’ responsibilities are also prescribed to support employers when they receive a request and to ensure that workers know what they should expect from their employer. Employers must deal with the request in a reasonable manner and notify the worker of their decision within a month.
The Bill also details the grounds on which workers may make a complaint to an employment tribunal. This will protect workers effectively if, for example, their employer does not consider their request in a reasonable manner, wrongly treats the application as withdrawn, dismisses or treats a worker poorly because of their request, or rejects an application on the basis of incorrect facts.
Workers will be permitted to make two requests for predictable working per year, in recognition that workers’ and businesses’ circumstances can change over the course of a year. If we have learned anything over the last five years, we know that the world can change beyond all recognition, seemingly overnight. This will mirror the number of flexible working requests which will be allowed under the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which has recently passed its Second Reading in this House. As a package, this Bill’s clauses create an important new right to request a more predictable working pattern, which will carefully balance the needs of workers in unpredictable work with the needs of their employers.
In conclusion, I thank the Minister for indulging me today, and thank his officials, who have been so incredibly helpful and supportive. I also thank the policy teams at UNISON, the TUC and the GMB for providing briefings on the Bill; I look forward to working with them in the years ahead to make sure that our employment legislation really does balance power in the workplace and help drive both economic growth and enhanced wages. I thank all noble Lords
who plan to speak on this important matter today. I am sure I will see support from across the House for action to tackle the issue of one-sided inflexibility.
This Bill is a starter for 10. There are many tweaks we could make to make this legislation better for workers, but I do not believe in allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good. I hope your Lordships’ House will embrace my pragmatism and support the Bill. I beg to move.
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