www.tuc.org.uk
Campaigning for
employment rights
Hannah Reed
Senior Employment Rights
Officer
www.tuc.org.uk
The Government’s aim
• Making it easier for employers to sack
people
• Making it harder for workers to
enforce their rights
• Displacement of collective rights by
individual rights
www.tuc.org.uk
• Not based on the evidence
• Not based on genuine consultation
• Based on ‘perception’ rather than fact
www.tuc.org.uk
Myths not fact
• Myth: employment rights stifle growth
• Fact: UK has one of the lightest regulated
labour markets in the world
• Fact: Economic research reveals no
correlation between employment protection
and labour market performance
• Fact: OECD: no one route to full
employment
• Fact: Less regulated economies have
higher inequality, more in-work poverty;
poorer health outcomes
www.tuc.org.uk
Myths not fact
• Myth: employment rights deter
employers from recruiting more staff
• Fact: BIS research: fewer than 6% of
SMEs think regulation restricts growth
• Fact: BIS research: unfair dismissal
rights not among top ten of employers’
employment rights concerns
• Fact: Job insecurity reduces
consumer confidence; suppresses
demand
www.tuc.org.uk
We’d like to know your
views but …
• Red Tape
challenge
• Tilting the scales
• Twitter-sphere
• Legislation
without
consultation
www.tuc.org.uk
The sackers’ charter
• Extending qualifying period for unfair
dismissal (April 2012)
– More than 3 million people lose out
– Young and BME particularly
affected
• Reducing compensation in UD cases
– Legislation without consultation
– Impact on older workers, disabled
workers, public sector workers
www.tuc.org.uk
Negotiated settlements?
www.tuc.org.uk
Beecroft lite  lawyers’ charter?
www.tuc.org.uk
‘Trading rights for
shares’
• Consultation document published 18
Oct
• Closes 8 November
• Growth and Infrastructure Bill
published 18 Oct
• Inadequate equality assessment
• No impact assessment published
www.tuc.org.uk
‘Trading rights for
shares’
• Unfair dismissal
– Except automatic UD; discrimination
• Statutory redundancy Pay
– No ability to make a claim from
Redundancy Payments Office
• Request time to train (only 250 +
employees)
• Right to request to work flexibly - except
parental leave returners
• Longer notice periods (8 to 16 weeks) to
return early from maternity leave
www.tuc.org.uk
‘Trading shares for
rights’
• Rights traded for shares valued at
£2,000 - £50,000
• No guaranteed voting rights,
dividends or assets
• Forfeited at end of employment
• Independent valuation?
www.tuc.org.uk
‘Trading rights for
shares’
• Creating new employment status
• Contracting out of rights in return for
money
• Free choice?
– Safeguard
www.tuc.org.uk
Employer response
• CBI: niche idea
• CIPD: undermine morale and productivity
• Justin King, Sainsbury:
“not what we should be doing” and
could worsen the levels of trust between
the public and businesses.
“What do you think the population at
large will think of businesses that
want to trade employment rights for
money?”
www.tuc.org.uk
Costs for business
• Not practical
• Watering down equity
• Complex administration
• Costs in voluntary exits
www.tuc.org.uk
Priced out of justice: Fees for
ETs
• Remission scheme limited - many workers on
NMW wages will have to pay fees
• For some ET fees = significant proportion /
exceed the value of their claim
Type of claim
Median
award
Total fee if
claim goes to
hearing
Wages Act
£850*
£390
Unfair dismissal
£4,560**
£1,200
Race discrimination
£5,256**
8% success
rate
£1,200
* Seta Findings 2008; ** ET & EAT Stats 2011-12
www.tuc.org.uk
Collective redundancy
& TUPE rights
• Redundancy consultation to be
reduced from 90 days to 45 / 30 days
• TUPE review:
– Making it cheaper and easier to
outsource / privatise services
– Erosion of pay and conditions post
transfer
– Better information & consultation
rights for TUs
www.tuc.org.uk
Restricting the right to
strike
• Voting thresholds: majority yes vote
+ 40% or 50% of members voting
• Limits on strike in essential services
– Maintaining minimum level of
services
www.tuc.org.uk
Countering the attacks
• TUC campaign: Employee rights stop
employment wrongs
• Agency worker rights
• Defending the right to strike in the
European Court for Human Rights
• Building stronger unions in UK
workplaces