Employment Rights: Government Plans

Sarah Olney Excerpts

Monday 25th January 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Olney (Richmond Park) (LD) [V]]

It is a pleasure to welcome the new Secretary of State to his role this evening, and it is also good to hear his commitments at the opening of tonight’s debate that the Government have no plans to scrap the 48-hour working week, or any of the other employee entitlements that the UK has now taken back control of. It will be an immense relief to many employees to hear that commitment from the Government at this time of intense anxiety to so many households in this country.

It is not just the extreme precariousness of our current situation that is keeping millions of workers awake at night: it is the future prospects of many industries once the shadow of coronavirus has lifted. Encouraging though the news of the vaccine roll-out is, we all know that the huge disruption of the past year will not miraculously resolve itself overnight. Hundreds of businesses will not survive, despite Government support, and thousands of jobs will disappear. This is why it is so important for the Government to make a clear statement now about valuing our workers, whatever sector they are employed in. We cannot rebuild our economy if workers are employed in low-paid, precarious work. On low wages, there will be no money left over for discretionary spending after people have met the punishingly high cost of housing. Without permanent contracts, workers cannot make long-term plans, whether for holidays or for moving house.

Like the Secretary of State, I have many constituents employed by British Airways who have been threatened with fire and rehire. They will be disappointed tonight not to hear a commitment from the Secretary of State to outlaw this appalling practice. The message this sends is that businesses are more important than people. The role of the Government is to steward an economy that works for everyone; if a business cannot provide a decent standard of living to its workers, it should free up its capital for one that can. I call upon the Government to outlaw fire and rehire at the earliest possible opportunity, to send the clearest signal that this Government value workers. That would give real substance to the claims from Members on the Government side of the House that the UK has the highest standard of working rights in the world, and that leaving the EU does not affect those rights.

Given the length of time between the referendum and the final deal, it remains a source of amazement to me that the Government still struggle to articulate what the benefits of Brexit are, and how they plan to use all this lovely new sovereignty to deliver for the people of the UK. The Government should start this evening by using their new-found powers and committing to outlaw fire and rehire.