Stronger employment rights protections are not a threat

AS HUNDREDS of delegates descend on Brighton this week to attend the 157th TUC Congress this week, employment rights are firmly back in the spotlight.

- Sarah Whittle, HR and operations director at Freshwater, on new employment rights legislation

Unsurprisingly, something that is on the agenda for debate is The Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

If passed, it would be the most significant upgrade in workplace rights for a generation.

So far, much of the business lobby has dominated coverage with warnings that the Bill will bring “reckless changes” and “wreak havoc” on a fragile economy.

Those soundbites may be memorable, but they risk painting all employers with the same brush - resistant to change and reluctant to offer fairer conditions to employees. Unions and legal experts have pushed back with a different message: that the Bill does not go far enough and needs to be strengthened.

The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) warns that, in its present form, the Employment Rights Bill leaves workers vulnerable to the very practices it aims to prevent.