Championing all workers in Employment Rights Bill

5th March, 2025

By Jenny Herrera, CEO of Good Business Charter

Yesterday, the Department for Business and Trade announced the amendments being tabled for the Employment Rights Bill.  Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, who recently spoke at our anniversary celebration said:

“For too long millions of workers have been forced to face insecure, low paid and irregular work, while our economy is blighted by low growth and low productivity.   

“We are turning the tide – with the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, boosting living standards and bringing with it an upgrade to our growth prospects and the reforms our economy so desperately needs.”

She was delighted to find herself at our anniversary event in the company of many businesses who are broadly supportive of the measures to make work pay and champion the people who work for them, without which they of course could not function.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds recognised this in the press release with his comment that “many businesses already have worker friendly practices in place and can attest to the positive impact they have on retention, productivity and job satisfaction.”

That is our experience and the experience of the more than 1,000 organisations that are accredited with the Good Business Charter. It makes good business sense to treat your workers well – there is a clear link to improved retention and productivity.

We were delighted to see in the amendments the commitment to include agency workers in the ban on exploitative zero-hours contracts.  Of course those who wish to work in that way – and we recognise that there are some who do – should not lose that ability to enjoy the flexibility afforded them by an opportunity to pick and choose when they work and for how many hours each week.

But, when we talk to businesses and really understand the mechanisms within their place of work, we are aware of some where there is a kind of subset of workers – the casual workers, the agency workers – who are seen as somehow separate from the business.  That is why we are passionate about the real living wage, fair hours and contracts and well-being, representation and EDI policies covering everyone on a company’s payroll, not just the permanent staff.

Some people choose agency work.  Many don’t, and if an agency worker has been working for an organisation for a significant amount of time – 12 weeks is the period bandied around to agree those regular hours – then we would argue that colleague is needed by the business and should be covered by legal requirements set out in the Employment Rights Bill.  Commitments to reasonable notice of shifts and proportionate pay when shifts are cancelled is also very important and aligns with our Fairer Hours and Contracts requirements that we have had in place since the GBC launched in 2020 – our definition of ‘reasonable notice’, agreed with the TUC and CBI in 2020, is two weeks.

The focus of the Employment Rights Bill is firmly on the low paid and ensuring work pays – agency workers on low pay are already struggling to make ends meet in the UK with the high cost of living – it is a question of dignity and respect to then ensure that they have security of hours, if that is what they wish (which Living Wage Foundation and TUC research would strongly suggest they do).

Great to see increased support for those same low workers when it comes to statutory sick pay too!

Paul Nowak, who also spoke at our event in February, underlined what we too believe at the Good Business Charter – that all businesses should be operating on a level playing field (and not just businesses but public and third sector organisations too):

“This is about creating a modern economy that works for workers and business alike. Driving up employment standards in Britain will stop good employers from being undercut by the bad and will mean more workers benefit from a union voice.”

The CEO of Good Business Charter accredited, Richer Sounds, Julie Abraham, summed it up nicely:

“At Richer Sounds, we have always put the treatment and wellbeing of our colleagues at the forefront of everything we do.  Any responsible business will know that well-treated and well-paid colleagues will be beneficial in numerous ways.  

Happy colleagues are likely to be more productive. This also leads to reduced stock loss and higher staff retention, which in turn, minimises recruitment and training costs, not to mention disruption to established teams.  We support any government legislation that will help end exploitative working practices and improve the lives of working people.”