Lawyers warn that the Employment Rights Bill may’swamp’ business

The professional association of employment lawyers told the government, that without amendments to its Employment Rights Bill it would’swamp’ business and could not achieve better working conditions for employees.

Employment Lawyers Association said that enforcing zero-hour contracts that exploit workers could be difficult.

Businesses have been warning for weeks that this proposal, as it was originally drafted, could make it harder to hire employees and threaten business growth.

Kathleen Healy is the deputy chairwoman for the ELA. She said: “Government was keen to emphasize that the reforms proposed are intended to have a beneficial impact on business and employees.” There is still more to do to make sure that the new rules are simple to understand and easy to enforce, and they don’t result in contradictory obligations or disadvantage employees.

The ELA questioned the scope of the new Fair Work Agency and if it would have real powers to reduce pressure on tribunals.

The government has warned that the number of employment tribunal claims could increase, especially after last week’s amendments to the Bill which increased the time limit for workers to file a claim with an employment tribunal from 3 to 6 months.

The ELA stated: “The Tribunal cannot handle the work it has. It will not be able to handle the work produced by this Act without a significant increase in its judicial capability.

The Lawyers’ Association also criticised the provisions of the Bill regarding reasonable notice for shifts. The group said it was unlikely anyone would file a claim for last-minute shift changes, as the compensation would be only about PS70 and could take up to 2 years to resolve.

The association stated: “Lawyers can be expensive for both workers and businesses. The cost of enforcement of rights often does not justify the transactional costs. A net PS70 per cancelled shift? Who will bother to enforce that?”

Last week, the independent Regulatory Policy committee of the government warned that eight out of 23 impact analyses of the Bill did not meet its intended purpose.

The committee wrote that: “Given their number and scope, it would be proportionate to include macro-economic and labour market analysis in the impact assessments, to understand the overall impacts on employment, wages, and output and, particularly, the passing-on of employer costs to workers and other dynamic effects.”

A government spokesperson said: “It is important that our Employment Rights Bill benefits both employees and employers. We will continue to consult both sides as well as industry experts in order to find the right balance.

We will make sure that employment tribunals are equipped with the necessary resources to ensure workers’ rights, and we will create a new Fair Work Agency which will enforce policies like holiday pay. This will relieve pressure on the tribunals.

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