Reports that the long-awaited Employment Bill will not be announced during the Queen’s Speech in May have been met with frustration by trade unions. When asked if the Bill would be included in next month’s speech, a government official has said: “No. Not everything we want to do can we find space for in one season, we can’t do everything we want to do immediately.”

The government pledged a series of employment reforms including a day-one right to flexible working and more stable contracts of employment for gig workers in December 2019, in response to recommendations made in the Good Work Plan.

In the notes to the 2019 Queen’s Speech, the government said it would bring forward the Employment Bill to:

• Protect and enhance workers’ rights as the UK leaves the EU, making Britain the best place in the world to work.
• Promote fairness in the workplace, striking the right balance between the flexibility that the economy needs and the security that workers deserve.
• Strengthen workers’ ability to get redress for poor treatment by creating a new, single enforcement body.
• Offer greater protections for workers by prioritising fairness in the workplace, and introducing better support for working families.
• Build on existing employment law with measures that protect those in low-paid work and the gig economy.

Other proposed protections include family-friendly rights such as carer’s leave and enhanced protection from dismissal for employees returning from maternity leave. Both of these have been promised “when parliamentary time allows”, but no timeline has been confirmed yet. A proposal to allow flexible working from day one of employment, as opposed to the current 28 weeks, has also been mooted.

Writing to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, said:

“If the government ditches the employment bill it will be sending a green light to rogue employers to treat staff like disposable labour. After the scandalous events at P&O, which have exposed gaping holes in UK employment law, the need for new legislation has never been clearer or more urgent. There is no excuse for delay. If the government breaks its promise to enhance workers’ rights working people will have been conned and betrayed.

“It’s vital ministers come clean about their plans. In the wake of P&O the government can stand on the side of workers and legislate new protections. Or it can side with bad bosses and abandon its long overdue employment bill. But let’s be crystal clear – without new laws to protect people at work there is nothing stopping P&O type scandals from happening again in the future. And the use of exploitative practices like fire and rehire and zero-hours contracts will continue to soar. Tinkering around the edges with feeble statutory codes is not going to rein in unscrupulous employers. We need proper legislation for that.”