Trade union leaders meet ministers for final talks on employment rights bill before unveiling on Thursday
Labour can use its overhaul of workers’ rights to win over disaffected Tory and Reform voters, the TUC has said, as the government prepares to introduce landmark legislation that will grant new rights to 7 million workers.
Trade union leaders met ministers on Tuesday for final discussions on the employment rights bill before its announcement on Thursday.
Continue reading...Bill is likely to include measures such as ending ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts and changes to sick pay
The boss of Tesco has called on the UK government to work with business to ensure new legislation to improve workers rights also increases productivity and growth as the retailer revealed better-than-expected profits.
Ken Murphy, the chief executive of the UK’s biggest supermarket, said he was keen to use a planned consultation on the wide-ranging employment rights bill, announced by the government in the king’s speech in July, to “make sure that whatever the government decides to put forward has the intended consequence of stimulating productivity and growth and protecting workers at the same time”.
Continue reading...Employees have lost out on holiday pay worth £2bn, according to new trade union research
Workers across Britain have lost out on holiday pay worth £2bn, with more than a million people going without a single day of paid time off, according to new research.
With unions gathering in Brighton this weekend for the first TUC conference under a Labour administration for 15 years, the body revealed new research showing the extent to which workers are being denied holiday pay. Workers are entitled to 28 days paid leave for a typical five-day week.
Continue reading...Senior figures praise repeal of law but privately some want full workers’ rights overhaul implemented without delay
Unions have welcomed the government’s move to formally scrap a “draconian” anti-strike law that would have ensured a minimum level of service during industrial action as the legislation had restricted workers’ rights.
The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, have written to government departments with sectors that were most affected by the strikes to give a “clear message” the measures will be repealed and have urged all metro mayors to start engaging with local employers on the change.
Continue reading...Migrants at Work founder Aké Achi claims police failed to act on letter sent to his home warning of harm to his family
A leading modern slavery expert who pursues employers on behalf of exploited overseas workers, recovering thousands of pounds for them in the process, has received a threat on his life.
Aké Achi, founder and chief executive of Migrants at Work, an organisation which protects workers’ rights, says the letter was posted to his home.
Continue reading...Party’s deputy leader says Fair Work Agency will have the power to inspect workplaces and levy fines
Labour will create a watchdog with “real teeth” that has the power to prosecute and fine companies that breach the rights of their employees as part of its plans to strengthen workers’ rights.
Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader, told the Observer that she would create a new body, the Fair Work Agency, to oversee her proposals. She said that millions of workers could be losing out on basic rights as a result of underenforcement.
Continue reading...Some employers emboldened by ruling against FCA manager’s claim over working at home full-time
Lawyers and HR experts expect an increase in employment tribunal cases as companies increasingly clamp down on working from home and staff become resentful that the flexibility they have enjoyed since the pandemic is being slowly rolled back.
A number of companies are now advocating a full five-day return to the office, with others enforcing a minimum number of days in the workplace. Administrative staff at Boots, who previously worked in the office three days a week, will return to the office five days a week from September. Many US banks, such as Goldman Sachs, also expect senior staff to come in for the full week, and its chief executive, David Solomon, labelled remote working an “aberration”.
Continue reading...At least two children have already been killed while working in Mar-Jac Poultry plants in the US south over the last year
A poultry plant in Jasper, Alabama, has been accused of hiring minors and could be shut down for 30 days, according to a newly released US Department of Labor lawsuit.
Mar-Jac Poultry, the largest employer in Walker county, is accused of violating federal labor laws when it hired four minors as young as 16 who were allegedly discovered working overnight at the company’s slaughterhouse.
Continue reading...Union leader Sharon Graham says Keir Starmer risks ‘limping into Downing Street’
Labour’s biggest union backer has warned it may divert election funding earmarked for the party, amid claims that Keir Starmer is diluting plans to overhaul workers’ rights.
In an interview with the Observer, Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the Labour leader risked “limping into Downing Street” if he backed down in the face of intense lobbying from businesses.
Continue reading...Ping Pong introduces 15% ‘brand charge’ months before new law will ensure workers get full share of tips
A London restaurant chain has banned customers from paying a tip by card and introduced a “brand” fee instead, just three months before new legislation makes it compulsory to give all tips to staff.
Ping Pong, which operates five dim sum outlets in the capital, said the new optional 15% charge would go towards “franchise fees and other brand-related expenditure”, and replace a 12.5% service charge, 90% of which went to staff.
Continue reading...Independent lawmaker says it’s time for workers to have a better quality of life with a 32-hour workweek without loss of pay
Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination, introduced a bill to establish a four-day US working week.
Studies and pilot programmes have shown that four-day workweeks can increase productivity and happiness. Given Republican control of the House and a Senate split 51-49 in favour of Democrats, however, the legislation stands little chance of success.
Continue reading...Unions and workers’ groups say return of fees, scrapped in 2017, will send wrong message to employers
Unions and workers’ rights groups are urging the government to reconsider plans to reintroduce fees for employment tribunals amid fears it will encourage exploitation.
A coalition of 48 organisations, including the TUC, Citizens Advice, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Fawcett Society and Maternity Action, said bringing back fees, which were ditched in 2017, meant “bad employers are being given the go-ahead to undercut good ones”.
Continue reading...Costs protection bill would tilt balance in favour of accusers and move financial risk to accused, legal body says
The Law Council of Australia has warned that proposed changes removing cost barriers for applicants in sexual harassment and discrimination cases could result in “arbitrary and unintended consequences” such as clogging the courts with “unmeritorious” claims.
Before a parliamentary inquiry hearing into the bill next Wednesday, the peak legal body said in its submission it was concerned Labor’s bill too heavily tilted the balance towards those accusing sexual harassment and placed the burden of financial risk on those being accused.
Continue reading...President of the largest human resources organization in country says national shift following George Floyd’s 2020 murder is fading
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within US companies will “come under full-out attack in 2024”, the president of the largest US human resources organization in the US has said.
“It’s going to become a hot-button issue this year,” Johnny C Taylor Jr, president and chief executive of the Society of Human Resource Management, told reporters. The national shift to be more inclusive that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, is already fading, he said. “We’re already seeing companies go away from it.”
Continue reading...Unison says decision affects other types of employee payments and is ‘victory for underpaid workers’
Many UK workers could be entitled to thousands of pounds “unfairly” deducted from their pay after a supreme court decision, according to unions.
The judgment relates to a long-running row about holiday pay but Unison, which participated in the case, said the ruling affected all other types of payment to employees and called it a “victory for underpaid workers”.
Continue reading...Lord Frost, Brexit negotiator for former PM, tells House of Lords that government never wanted ‘unsatisfactory’ protocol to work
Rayner says Labour will update trade union laws to make them fit for the 21st century.
The laws affecting union reps and officials do not take into account technological advancements, she says.
First, we will update regulations to outlaw the use of predictive technologies for blacklisting and safeguard against singling out workers for mistreatment or the sack without any evidence of human interaction.
Second, we will act to end the loophole that allows employers to pass the dirty work down to third party contractors, so that any third party found to be carrying out blacklisting can legally be held to account.
The Tories pushed through the 2016 Trade Union Act, preventing fair bargaining and holding back living standards.
And this year they gave us the minimum service levels bill [the Strikes Act] …
Continue reading...Prime minister says he told Li Qiang, the Chinese prime minister, at G20 that Chinese interference with the work of parliament will ‘never be tolerated’
Simon Clarke, who was the levelling up secretary during the Liz Truss premiership, has defended the government’s decision not to explicitly label China as a threat. In posts on X, or Twitter as many of us still call it, he said:
There are legitimate reasons why it is difficult for ministers to say China is a threat – that’s the nature of international relations. What matters more than words is that our policy choices change to reflect the undoubted danger of China’s actions.
Here I think the Government’s record stands up pretty well. You have the soft power of our new Pacific trade bloc membership in the CPTPP (which notably does not include China) and you have the hard power of the new AUKUS alliance - itself a response to Chinese aggression.
Continue reading...ACT senator wants to move forward with workers’ compensation for PTSD and banning discrimination against employees experiencing domestic violence
Employer groups and the Coalition have backed calls from David Pocock to split Labor’s industrial relations bill and deal with uncontentious parts this year, including workers’ compensation and discrimination law reforms.
The influential crossbencher is considering moving a private senator’s bill to move forward with provisions improving access to workers compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder in the ACT as a priority.
Continue reading...WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos among more than 200 firms that failed to pay workers legal minimum wage
Some of the UK’s best known retailers including WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Argos and LloydsPharmacy are at the head of a list of more than 200 companies collectively fined £7m for failing to pay the legal minimum wage.
The businesses were also forced to pay out £4.9m to about 63,000 workers left out of pocket after violations of the rules were uncovered by inspectors at HMRC, varying from breaches related to asking workers to pay for aspects of their uniform to paying the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
Continue reading...Lawyer for Covid inquiry announces ‘regrettable’ delays in handing over of information by government
Q: What would the minimum wage for workers be under your fair pay agreement for care workers? (See 10.47am.)
Starmer says his sister is a care worker. He knows how hard the job is.
Continue reading...