New employment rights are a win-win
4 min read
Working people need fair pay and secure jobs that they can build a life on.
This should be possible in a wealthy nation like the United Kingdom. But even in working households, nearly five million adults and three million children are living below the poverty line.
The government has rightly made it a priority to ‘Make Work Pay’ with plans for an Employment Rights Bill.
For many workers, the last few years have been tough. Inflation spiked, job insecurity spread, and the economy grew at its slowest rate since the Second World War.
Unions see the bill as a chance to turn the page on these problems, upgrading the economy so that it is not only fairer, but stronger.
The BRC supports the overarching aims of the Employment Rights Bill too. Retailers are keen to see the detail and contribute to making sure that the legislation works in practice and avoids unintended consequences. They stand ready to be a progressive partner in employment law reform.
Good jobs are good for business. People stay in good jobs, improving their skills and experience. Employers benefit from higher productivity and lower costs from staff turnover.
Making work pay across the economy is crucial for retail. The long period of pay stagnation was hard for the sector because families cut their spending. But pay growth not only lifts the living standards of families, it also boosts spending in businesses across the economy.
Retail work is transforming, with pay growth part of that change. Retailers are creating jobs that did not exist a decade ago – particularly in digital, data, and customer service. These roles tend to be higher skilled and more productive, helping to drive retail pay growth above inflation.
A number of retailers and trade unions already work together constructively. They see benefits in areas like health and safety and workplace learning. And value having clear structures for staff engagement and negotiating pay and conditions.
Unions welcome the investment that retailers put into developing staff. This includes more than 20,000 apprenticeships each year and partnerships with trade unions on workplace learning schemes.
BRC members want to build on the leading practice in the retail industry, and to raise the floor so that good employers are not undercut by the bad.
The Employment Rights Bill is a chance for employers and unions to come together in support of progressive employment rights. We believe it can be a win-win for businesses and working people.
Strengthening protections for new parents could help employers close gender gaps and encourage a healthier work-life balance.
A new Fair Work Agency could not only provide more effective enforcement of rights for working people, it should also protect good employers from lawbreakers who undercut them.
The ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts could be complemented by the new flexible working rights. This could help both employers and workers to find the flexibility they need in fair ways.
The remit of the Low Pay Commission, which recommends minimum wage rates to government, has been widened to include greater consideration of the cost of living. But it remains independent, which is important for the confidence of both unions and employers.
As always, the devil will be in the detail. Government clarity over the timetable for decisions on the how each proposal will be developed and implemented is now crucial as uncertainty is not good for anyone. So we look forward to the Bill being published imminently.
Unions and employers have already met together with ministers to discuss the best way forward with these plans. And there will be many more discussions and consultations to come.
We are optimistic that this approach provides the basis for collaboration that can create that win-win for a better future for working people and for employers alike. A future that makes work pay, that helps our industry to thrive and that makes the foundations or our economy stronger so that living standards rise for us all.
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