Unions set to welcome employment measures in King’s Speech

Unions are expecting the King’s Speech to deliver a huger boost to workers’ rights and other employment measures promised by Labour in the run-up to the general election.

An Employment Bill is set to feature in the raft of planned legislation unveiled by the new government on Wednesday.

Measures are expected to include a ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire policies, improvements to statutory sick pay and the minimum wage, and day-one rights to protection from unfair dismissal.

The Bill will largely be based on the New Deal for Working People, a policy document Labour promoted in the run-up to the general election.

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), said: “It’s vital that the King’s Speech contains substantial and ‘oven ready’ legislation to deliver Labour’s New Deal for Working People. Words alone are not enough.

“Working people rightly expect Keir Starmer to use the King’s Speech to clearly map out a specific timescale for fulfilling the manifesto commitment and repeated promises made ahead of the general election on workers’ rights.”

Mr Wrack also stressed the importance of Labour repealing the Minimum Service Levels Act, which the previous Conservative Government introduced with the aim of ensuring a minimum level of service during strikes in sectors such as transport and the NHS.

He added: “Unions have been working with Labour officials and shadow ministers for years to prepare the New Deal ahead of Labour entering office. Labour must use its massive Commons majority to get these pernicious laws off the statute book quickly.”

Paddy Lillis, general secretary of the shopworkers union Usdaw, said: “We now have a government that will make a real difference to the lives of our members and all workers.

“Usdaw would like to see an employment bill that delivers the promised new deal for workers to make work pay, which includes transformative policies to turn the minimum wage into a genuine living wage, remove discriminatory age bands and deliver new rights to make work more secure.

“The Tories’ dither and delay on retail crime left thousands of shop workers needlessly suffering physical and mental injury.

“We look forward to Labour delivering a much-needed protection of shop workers’ law, ending the indefensible £200 threshold for prosecuting shoplifters, which has effectively become an open invitation to retail criminals; and funding more uniformed officers patrolling shopping areas along with town centre banning orders for repeat offenders.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said the measures will “re-set” the workplace and lead to improved productivity.

He told the PA news agency the Bill would be “transformative” for workers and was supported by the public and good employers.

“Most good employers don’t use zero-hours contracts or hire and rehire staff, so this will level the playing field,” he said.

Ruth Wilkinson, head of policy at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), said: “The Government’s move to strengthen workers’ rights will provide hope and reassurance for many millions of people.

“A ban on zero-hours contracts is long overdue.

“Such contracts make workers increasingly vulnerable in terms of their physical and mental health, as they add a huge degree of uncertainty around the duration of employment and unpredictable working hours.

“Meanwhile, improvements to statutory sick pay will go a long way to preventing people from returning to work too soon which can also contribute to long-term impacts on their health.”