The Employment Rights Bill, introduced into the Commons on October 10 last year, is being promoted as the most significant overhaul of what are legally recognised as workers' rights since the time of the Thatcher government in the 1980s. Sponsored by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the legislation completed Committee stage in January and has recently been slated to start Report stage on March 11. It purports to redress the increasingly obvious disequilibrium in the social relation between employer and employed, such as precarious zero-hour contracts and "fire and rehire" practices. Yet its deliberate limitations, delayed implementation and overall outlook expose the Bill itself to be a part of restructuring arrangements around this disequilibrium, underscoring the necessity for the workers' movement to maintain its independent agenda, rooted in the rallying cry of "Enough is Enough!"

The Bill is officially described as: "A Bill to make provision to amend the law relating to employment rights; to make provision about procedure for handling redundancies; to make provision about the treatment of workers involved in the supply of services under certain public contracts; to provide for duties to be imposed on employers in relation to equality; to provide for the establishment of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body and the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body; to amend the Seafarers' Wages Act 2023; to make provision for the implementation of international agreements relating to maritime employment; to make provision about trade unions, industrial action, employers' associations and the functions of the Certification Officer; to make provision about the enforcement of legislation relating to the labour market; and for connected purposes." [1]

It seeks to repeal parts of the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which restricted trade union activities including the right to strike. It also introduces a new Fair Work Agency to streamline enforcement.

At face value, the Bill introduces various measures that have been key issues in the workers' movement. Zero-hours workers gain entitlement to guaranteed hours after a reference period, with employers mandated to provide reasonable shift notice. Cancelled shifts now require compensation, and statutory sick pay becomes immediately accessible. Flexible working requests are elevated to a "day-one" right, with employers compelled to justify rejections. Protections against harassment will now hold employers accountable for third-party abuses, while unfair dismissal reforms remove qualifying periods. The Bill also includes a number of sector-specific provisions, such as pay negotiation bodies for school support and adult social care staff.

With regards to trade union rights, the Bill simplifies the requirements for industrial action ballots by removing certain turnout and support thresholds, and it also introduces provisions for electronic balloting, making it easier for trade unions to organise and conduct ballots. Furthermore, the bill strengthens protections for workers participating in protected industrial action.

The whole outlook of the Bill is of balancing the rights of workers against the needs of business, as if the conditions were of equilibrium. Given that the reality is profound disequilibrium, and total domination by the oligopolies, the needs of "small businesses" are used as a trojan horse for the real interests it represents: those of big business. In the parliamentary debates, the "concerns of small businesses" featured prominently, particularly regarding unfair dismissal rights and flexible working demands [2].

This outlook reflects the role the Labour government is playing: to continue the anti-social offensive in the face of all-round crisis and growing opposition, particularly amongst the organised workers. This the is what Starmer calls "partnership", of making reasonable accommodations, when the reality is anything but.

The Bill therefore contains many loopholes, with exemptions inserted allegedly in support of small businesses, which simply highlights the inability to harmonise interests by posing their needs in opposition to the rights of workers, and ambiguous "reasonable grounds" for rejecting flexible work.

The lack of meaningful enforcement is for all practical purposes another get-out clause. In opposition, the TUC's five-point plan demands a single enforcement body, recycled fines funding inspections, and sector-wide licensing [3].

The Bill's staggered implementation - most measures deferred until 2026 - has also come under fire.

The Bill originated in the machinations of the Labour Party in using its "New Deal for Working People" to try to bring the workers and their organisations on side in the lead-up to last year's election, and to divert workers from fighting for their own interests [4].

Nevertheless, the existence of the Bill at all is testament to the strength of the movement and of the workers forcing their interests onto the political agenda. It is also an act of self-defence in the face of the onslaught workers face.

Just as during the election, the workers need to have their independent programme, and organise to stop of paying the rich and increasing investments in social programmes, which is the only basis of the alternative; the Bill is no substitute. The issue is to change the direction of the economy. This can only be achieved by the workers working out solutions which favour them.

Workers must renew and strengthen their organisations for the challenges of the present and adopt their own outlook and programme to build their opposition to the continuing anti-social offensive. This workers' opposition is crucial, and why the "Enough Is Enough" movement - laying claims on society - is significant, pointing in the direction of the need for political empowerment of the working class and people themselves. This is a crucial struggle of the workers in defending their dignity and pointing the way forward.

Notes
1. Employment Rights Bill, UK Parliament, as of February 27, 2025
https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3737
2. Employment Rights Bill Volume 755: debated on Monday 21 October 2024
https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-10-21/debates/DC4CA46C-E3A4-4A75-A0AA-5143E3E12585/EmploymentRightsBill
3. "TUC Congress 2024: TUC Aims to Hold Government to Account over Workers' Rights", Workers' Weekly, September 21, 2024
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-24/ww24-23/ww24-23-02.htm
4. "Condemn Labour Using its New Deal to Bring Workers On Side", Workers' Weekly, June 8, 2024
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-24/ww24-13/ww24-13-03.htm

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