Employment Rights Act 1996 (Protection from Detriment in Health and Safety Cases) (Amendment) Order 2021

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Tuesday 27th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Non-Afl) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Hendy, who is very knowledgeable from his legal background in employment law. I thank the Minister for her explanation of the regulations, which I welcome. I welcome the extension of the protection to workers as well as employees, but, like the noble Lords, Lord Hendy and Lord Blunkett, I believe there is a need to go further.

There is a belief that by making only this limited change the Government have failed to address other, similar shortcomings in the law that disadvantage a vulnerable group of workers. While supporting these regulations, I, like other noble Lords and the TUC, believe that the Government need to go further. They should also remedy the improper exclusion of workers from other key rights, which should include protections when a business is taken over and rights to collective consultation in redundancy situations that have been the subject of legal cases.

There is now an important opportunity to remedy some key unfairnesses in UK employment law that disadvantage many of the most exposed members of our workforce. Limb (b) workers should be accorded the same basic rights as employees. What steps will the Government take to remedy this anomaly in future legislation—perhaps bringing forward an employment Bill in the Queen’s Speech? This issue has become more apparent during the pandemic because many limb (b) workers have limited employment rights. They include carers, food delivery workers and parcel delivery workers. Many of these people have been the backbone of our economy during the pandemic and have been most exposed to the risks of Covid. They took many risks and placed their health and security in jeopardy. It is important that they are not forgotten as the UK rebuilds its society and economy.

It is worth noting that an employment tribunal recently found, in a non-binding judgment, that a limb (b) worker falls within the scope of “employee” for the purposes of TUPE, something that has already been referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Blunkett. What legislative steps will the Government take to address this anomaly in relation to the TUPE rights highlighted by that tribunal?