Employment Rights Bill risks undermining key worker protections, warns IER

On International Workers’ Day – a global celebration of workers’ rights – the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) has warned that the Employment Rights Bill risks falling short of its promises and failing to meet the UK’s international commitments on workers’ rights.

Currently making its way through Parliament, the Bill has been hailed by ministers as a landmark moment for working people.

However, the IER – a think tank supported by academics, lawyers and trade unions – warned that, in its present form, it leaves workers vulnerable to the very practices it aims to prevent.

The IER’s analysis highlighted major shortcomings in the draft legislation.

It argued that the so-called ban on fire and rehire would still allow employers to dismiss and re-engage staff under vaguely defined ‘likely financial difficulties’, without any requirement for independent verification of those claims.

Similarly, proposed measures on zero-hours contracts leave loopholes that could allow insecure work to continue through bogus self-employment and short-term contracts.

The think tank warned that, without strong enforcement mechanisms and meaningful penalties, bad employers will treat any fines as a cost of doing business.

Labour economists and legal experts recently issued a public letter backing stronger employment protections, rejecting the business lobby claims that the Bill would harm economic growth.

On the contrary, they argued, fairer labour laws boost productivity, consumer demand and economic resilience.

Without substantial improvements, the UK risks remaining an international outlier on workers’ rights and falling short of its obligations under International Labour Organization (ILO) and Council of Europe standards.

James Harrison, director of the IER, said: “International Workers’ Day serves to remind us of the need for greater power distributed to working people, which happens through a trade union movement that is free to organise in workplaces and bargain collectively on behalf of workers.

“The Employment Rights Bill unfortunately doesn’t appear to deliver on the significant promises originally made by the Labour Party’s Plan to Make Work Pay. Unless the legislation is tightened or significantly built upon, it’s future generations of workers who will pay the price.

“Improving workers’ rights in a meaningful way, and making the UK compliant with International Labour standards already ratified by Parliament, should not be contentious issues for the UK Government.”