Spotlight on the Employment Rights Bill
UNISON
© JLco - Julia Amaral via Getty Images
Spotlight on the Employment Rights Bill
In a detailed look at the Employment Rights Bill , UNISON ’ s legal team considers the impact of the proposed legislation on workers and the workplace .
The government ’ s Employment Rights Bill for Great Britain is now on its journey to become law .
As a union representing over one million women working in public services , UNISON believes there is huge potential for the bill to be life-changing for women , who make up most low-paid workers .
Key provisions for flexible working , parental leave and protection from discrimination and harassment will enable more women to stay in the workplace while balancing care responsibilities .
The government also plans to use the new legislation to rebalance the scales of zero-hours contracts , the majority of which are worked by women .
Flexible and family-friendly working
The government intends to make flexible working a day one right for all workers , by default , which means that it ’ s available from the moment someone starts a job .
Flexible working for all will make the workplace more secure for parents , particularly women , who take on the bulk of care responsibilities within their families .
UNISON ’ s joint research with The Work Foundation found that people working insecure jobs often did so to try and balance work around other factors in their lives , such as caring responsibilities .
Working from home , and working flexibly , allows women to balance their care commitments . Research from the Fawcett Society has found that 40 % of women say access to flexible working means they can take on more paid work .
Parental and paternity leave will also become day one rights ; the government has also committed to review parental and carer ’ s leave . UNISON welcomes this review and hopes that it will pave the way for a new right for paid carer ’ s leave .
The bill will also expand bereavement leave for all , introducing a new day one right to protected time off for employees to grieve the loss of a loved one . Bereavement can have a significant impact on a person and their work . If workers are not adequately supported with appropriate ,
14 OTnews January 2025