Myth buster - Employment Rights Bill
We take you through a few key sections of Labour’s flagship employment legislation with PCS views on how this bill can be improved to support our members across the union.
MPs yesterday (26) began a line by line run through of the employment rights bill, which was published in October. This bill was a result of promises within Labour’s New Deal for Working People, which was the cornerstone legislative reform pushed during the summer election campaign. The bill has received a mixed reception across the movement, with many angered by the extensive timeline before the legislation becomes law, likely to be early 2026, as well as the numerous loopholes and grey areas in relation to zero-hours contracts and fire and rehire.
PCS argues that the bill does not go far enough in terms of the UK’s obligations under both the ILO convention and the European Social Charter. We have submitted written evidence to the parliamentary public bill committee (link opens in PCS Knowledge) setting out our concerns and where we believe the UK Government could go further to support our members. Below we set out what we believe are the key parts of the legislation, what is currently proposed and how we think it can be improved.
Minimum Service Levels - The ER bill fully repeals the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, and many of the provisions of the Trade Union Act 2016.
We believe that this doesn’t go far enough, and the government should seek to work with unions to review and reform many of the restrictions within Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 92 Act, imposed by the then Tory government.
Fair work agenda and enforcement – The bill seeks to establish a Fair Work Agency, a single enforcement body to guarantee workers' rights. This body would merge existing regulatory bodies, including the National Minimum Wage enforcement unit, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) and the Statutory Payments Dispute Team. The HSE and ACAS would likely continue to provide advisory services to a new body.
PCS is urging the government to liaise with us to discuss the fair work agenda and what they envisage for the agency. We currently represent staff in all existing agencies which are likely to be impacted by its creation. Members across these units and departments are concerned about information sharing and collaboration as well as how this agency will be staffed, where its offices will be located and if the union will have a seat on its supervisory board. We also believe that the remit of certain existing units, such as the GLAA should be expanded within the unit to ensure a broad range of sectors are covered.
Outsourcing – Section 25 of the ER bill aims to increase protections for workers who are outsourced, improve the code of practice for companies who bid for government contracts, as well as extending gender pay gap reporting to include outsourced workers.
There are many grey areas within this section of the bill and many ways in which it can be improved. PCS fully supported Labour’s manifesto commitment which promised ‘the biggest wave of insourcing’ in a generation. This bill falls short of this. We are therefore urging ministers to review and extend this part of the legislation by including trade union recognition as part of any contract, including ethnicity in pay gap reporting but essentially committing to insourcing as a first option, in line with their manifesto commitments.
Collective bargaining – Legislation indicates government support for sectoral collective bargaining, establishing this for care workers and school support staff.
PCS believes that this area of the legislation does not, however, go far enough and that government should show its willingness to truly adopt this practice by introducing it for its own staff in the civil service. More than 200 bargaining units proves costly and leads to vast inequality in relation to pay.
Trade union rights, electronic balloting and access to workplaces – We welcome clause 46 of the bill which enhances access rights for unions for the purposes of collective bargaining and recruitment. Clause 47 of the bill makes provision for the simplification of trade union recognition in the workplace, which PCS welcomes. Employers should see recognition as a positive for relations with staff. Clause 56 of the bill makes provision for secure electronic balloting and again, we and our members, welcome this step.
Clause 46 does not go far enough, instead it could prove ineffectual with hostile employers, with reliance on the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) to find in favour of a union, should a union challenge an employer who has refused access. The CAC decision could take many years and, if they decide to find in favour of the union, any financial penalties will be paid to the treasury, not the union. We also think that the access provisions have significant ‘grey areas’ in relation to organising and the potential for workplace balloting and we urge the government to amend this legislation accordingly. Electronic balloting has been floated for many years and PCS welcomed the opportunity to speak to officials in DBT to discuss how electronic balloting could positively support our members. We believe that this can be enacted quickly and does not, therefore, require the full passage of this legislation which would lead to it becoming law in two year's time.
View the full PCS submission to the public bill committee.
PCS is working with members of the PCS parliamentary group, including John Hendy KC, to draft amendments to the bill which support better rights, pay and terms and conditions for our members across government.
We will continue to monitor the bill’s progress in parliament and update members throughout. We continue to collaborate with other unions, the TUC, IER and Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, to ensure trade unions are at the heart of this legislation, building a future world of work the movement can be proud of.