Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to strengthen employee rights for those who were employed by an employer that has become insolvent.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
When an employer enters insolvency, the Government’s Redundancy Payments Service (RPS) can pay statutory amounts owed to employees from the National Insurance Fund. These include redundancy pay, holiday pay, arrears of pay, compensatory notice pay and pension contributions.
In 2023-24 RPS paid out more than £490 million in redundancy and related payments, with claims processed in an average of 10 days.
It is important to ensure that employees are not left in vulnerable situations where their employer has become insolvent. It is also important to ensure that the framework provides good value for taxpayers.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to increase the time limit for access to the Employment Tribunal from three months to six months after an incident of workplace discrimination.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to increasing employment tribunal time limits from 3-6 months, which is in line with the Law Commission recommendation from 2020. Measures to extend the time limit for bringing claims to Employment Tribunals will be added via amendment during the passage of the Employment Rights Bill.
Asked by: Simon Opher (Labour - Stroud)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will hold discussions with Amazon on the operation of trade unions in that company.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to bringing a new era of partnership that sees representatives of employers and unions working together in co-operation and through negotiation. The Government is always willing to speak to the representatives of employers and trade unions about how to deliver this partnership.