Shirkers' rights bill a nail in the coffin of British business

TIME off for bereavement is to be extended to a week for distant relatives, under Labour’s workers’ rights bill; it’s another excuse for the workshy to cost businesses yet more time and money.

- Tim Newark

Disgraced Angela Rayner championed the controversial workers' rights overhaul

The latest addition to the Employment Rights Bill — championed by discredited former deputy PM Angela Rayner = seeks to impose a whole raft of measures that supposedly improve working lives.

In reality, it’s a cynical ploy by trade unions to increase their power and influence at the expense of businesses — and is practically a skiver’s charter.

Bereavement leave is currently only available for parents who lose a child under 18 or experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks. However, Labour wants to widen its scope to include close friends and extended family, such as in-laws, cousins, uncles and nieces.

Defining a loved one as virtually any personal relationship in someone’s life could create an enormous cost for employers in covering the additional time off. It is also ripe for exploitation, especially when the mandatory leave is taken without notice.

The government says its proposals are needed to reflect the more “diverse” nature of British society — hardly surprising considering the rise in extended immigrant families.