Draft legislative programme heralds extension of workers’ rights

Proposed new employment rights featured prominently in the government’s draft legislative programme for the next session of parliament, published in May 2008. The government announced plans for legislation to extend the statutory right of parents and carers to request flexible working arrangements, and to establish new rules for the fairer treatment of temporary agency workers. The main trade union and employer organisations welcomed the government’s initiatives.

On 14 May 2008, the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, made a statement to the House of Commons outlining the government’s draft legislative programme (428Kb PDF) for the next session of parliament beginning in November. Prime Minister Brown highlighted that the legislative programme aimed to make Britain ‘a fairer, more prosperous society’. Proposals for new employment rights featured prominently in the programme.

New employment rights proposed

Under the heading of ‘a fairer nation’, the draft legislative programme stated that:

The government believes that the country is only strong if all people are treated fairly in the workplace, so it proposes to introduce legislation to protect the rights of hard-working families – and establish fair responsibilities for those rights.

In order to ensure that temporary agency workers receive ‘appropriate protections’, the government said that it would ‘continue to pursue an agreement on the treatment of agency workers through an EU Directive incorporating the principle of equal treatment’. It is worth noting that a subsequent agreement on temporary agency work between the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) paved the way for an EU-level agreement on a directive on this issue on 10 June 2008 (UK0806039I, EU0806029I).

The draft legislative programme also proposed further measures to help working parents achieve a better work-life balance. The government had previously established an independent review headed by Sainsbury’s HR Director, Imelda Walsh, to look at how the existing statutory right of employees to request flexible working arrangements (UK0304104F) can be extended to parents of older children. The government announced it would now be consulting on how to implement the recommendations of the Walsh review (UK0806049I).

An education and skills bill, giving effect to recent proposals for the reform of England’s training system (UK0804069I), will also include measures to strengthen apprenticeships. Such measures will establish a statutory basis for the apprenticeship programme and provide a statutory entitlement to apprenticeships for all suitably qualified young people. Moreover, the government says that it also recognises that many adults who are working or looking for work do not always have the time required to go on a course or study, in order to get the skills training they need to advance their careers. To address this issue, the government intends to promote skills training for adults by creating a right for employees to request from their employer time to undertake relevant training.

These proposals will be the subject of consultation prior to the introduction of legislation during the next session of parliament.

Social partner reaction

Commenting on these proposals, the General Secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, emphasised that:

The prime minister’s statement today contains many welcome measures which will help give the government a new sense of direction and help re-establish its commitment to fairness. In particular, we welcome (...) the extension of the right to request flexible working and the important new right to request training. The recognition of the raw deal faced by agency workers will spur unions to step up their campaign for proper protection.

The joint General Secretary of the UK’s biggest trade union Unite, Tony Woodley, said:

Commitments given today that temporary agency workers will no longer be treated like a second class workforce and that young workers will benefit from training and apprenticeships show the government understands that exploitation at work must end, and recognises the value of real, lasting jobs to our communities.

On the employer side, CBI Director-General, Richard Lambert, commented:

The right to request flexible working has worked well because it is a “right to request”, not a “right to have”, enabling employers and employees to agree a practical arrangement that suits in nine out of 10 cases. Based on this successful foundation, firms are up for making [the proposed] extension work. But it is vital they have time to prepare staff, policies and practices.

On proposals to give employees the right to request training, Mr Lambert added that:

Employers will be pleased that the government has ruled out compelling them to train staff irrespective of their circumstances and opted to introduce the right to request instead.

However, the Institute of Directors (IoD) stated that new legislation on training was unnecessary:

Instead of succumbing to the regulatory urge, the government must give non-statutory solutions a fair wind.

Mark Hall, IRRU, University of Warwick