Ceann Comhairle, in February I identified four key objectives, one of which is to increase the proportion of the working age population in Good Jobs.
Ensuring that workers and their families can rely on a decent and secure income is important in its own right.
Good Jobs also help to attract and retain people in the workforce, thereby reducing our high level of ‘economic inactivity’.
And there is compelling evidence that Good Jobs boost workers’ productivity and health.
Today I am launching a consultation on how to ensure our employment framework supports Good Jobs.
This consultation seeks views on four aspects of a Good Job, as defined by the Carnegie Framework:
Terms of employment
The first theme is ‘Terms of Employment’.
Over recent years we’ve seen the growth of insecure and precarious forms of employment.
An extreme example are zero hours contracts which don’t guarantee the worker any hours at all.
Some businesses do have a genuine need for short-term or emergency cover.
However, zero hours contracts deny workers many of the rights provided by a regular employment contract.
They do not ensure a stable income for workers and their families.
Nor do they provide workers with certainty over when, and how many hours they will work, so that they can plan their finances and their family responsibilities.
The consultation therefore seeks views on how to ensure that flexible contracts meet the interests of the employee, as well the employer.
There are potential lessons from the south of Ireland.
Legislation there restricts the use of zero hours contracts to very specific circumstances where the work is of a casual nature; done in emergency circumstances; or needed to cover routine absences of staff.
People who regularly work more than their contracted hours can be placed on a contract with a band of hours that reflects their actual working pattern.
And people are paid compensation when they are called into work but do not receive their expected hours, or if they are required to be available but are not called into work.
I am seeking the public’s view on these and other potential ways of tackling the problems associated with zero hours contracts.
I also want views on tackling bogus self-employment.
This refers to a situation in which a person is to all intents and purposes a worker, but is contracted on a self-employed basis.
This mis-categorization denies the worker basic protections such as holiday pay, the national minimum wage, family related leave and pay, and redundancy rights.
The consultation seeks evidence on the sectors where this is a problem, and the best way to deal with it.
Members should be aware that this is a complicated issue which interacts with tax law, including reserved matters, so the co-operation of the British Government may be necessary.
Agency workers are another category of people who are often called upon to fill short term absences or to react to peaks in demand.
The casual nature of this employment relationship means that it is important to have checks and balances in place.
My Department is seeking views on closing the so-called ‘Swedish Derogation’.
This is a legal loophole that permits agency workers to be paid less that their permanent counterparts, even after twelve weeks in the job.
The consultation also invites submissions on how to strengthen the enforcement powers of the Employment Agency Inspectorate, which regulates the private recruitment sector.
Members will be familiar with the disgraceful practice of ‘fire and rehire’.
Some employers use this tactic to put pressure on workers to accept reduced terms and conditions in order to keep their job.
I want to hear views on what action could be taken to combat this practice here.
Pay and Benefits
The second theme is Pay and Benefits.
Minimum wage legislation is currently reserved in London.
In preparation for this power being transferred to the Assembly, I have commissioned research on how it could be used to promote the Living Wage.
In terms of our existing powers, I am consulting on legislation which would ensure tips are passed to workers in full.
Calculating holiday pay entitlements can be complex, particularly for people who work irregular hours or seasonally.
This creates a risk that individuals won’t receive their correct entitlement.
The calculation of holiday pay has been the subject of several high-profile court cases over recent years.
I am therefore seeking views on how to make it easier for employers and workers to calculate holiday pay.
While remote working has many benefits, it has also muddled the line between when someone is working and when they are not working.
It is important that people can properly ‘switch off’ outside of their working hours, and get proper rest and relaxation.
I am therefore consulting on how to strengthen workers’ ‘right to disconnect’.
Voice and Representation
The Voice and Representation chapter of the consultation seeks views on how to ensure workers have a voice in the decisions that affect them.
Trade unions play a critical role in articulating the interests of workers, and ensuring that workers share in the benefits of economic growth alongside employers and society as a whole.
However various outdated restrictions make it difficult for labour to organise.
The consultation seeks views on:
- Lowering the bar on Trade Union recognition from 21 to 11 workers.
- Making it easier for Trade Unions to enter workplaces.
- and reducing the notice period for industrial action from 7 to 5 days.
In addition, Trade Unions can only use postal ballots to survey their members.
I am therefore consulting on allowing Trade Unions to ballot their members using modern technology.
Work-Life Balance
The fourth theme of the consultation is promoting a healthy work-life balance.
A Good Job allows an individual to balance their work with their family and private life.
The consultation seeks views on allowing a statutory request for flexible working to be made on the first day of employment, rather than having to wait 26 weeks, and to enable two statutory flexible working requests to be made in a rolling 12 month period.
It also asks how we can support workers who need to take time off work to care for a loved one.
The consultation proposes giving carers the right to take up to one week of unpaid leave per year.
It is also my goal to ensure carers can avail of paid leave.
My officials initially estimate that this could cost £6m for the HMRC system change costs, an annual administration fee payable to HMRC to administer the statutory payment, plus up to £60m per year in payments which would have to be funded from the block grant.
This would be a significant level of funding in the context of the financial constraints imposed on the Executive. I am committed to working with my Executive colleagues to make sure we find the best way to support our carers.
The consultation will therefore be used to seek further views on the role that carer’s leave could play in any wider support that the Executive can offer carers.
Currently, there is no distinct right to leave and/or statutory pay for working parents whose newborn requires neonatal care.
The consultation therefore proposes to give working parents of newborns admitted to neonatal care an additional week of statutory leave and/or pay for each week that their child is in hospital, up to a maximum number of 12 weeks.
The leave element would be a day-one right.
The consultation also proposes stronger protections for pregnant women against redundancy, as well as extending the current “protected period” from the date a woman returns to work after maternity leave to 18 months after giving birth. It proposes similar protections for parents taking Adoption Leave or Shared Parental Leave. Before making any such employee redundant, an employer would be required to offer a suitable alternative vacancy where possible.
Under the current law, employees can take either one or two consecutive weeks of paid paternity leave within the first eight weeks of their child’s life or adoption placement.
This leave must be taken in a single block and cannot be split.
The consultation proposes to allow paternity leave to be split into non-consecutive weeks of leave, so that leave can be used in a way that best serves the needs of the parents.
It also proposes to abolish the 26 week qualifying period and to make paternity leave a day-one right.
Conclusion
Ceann Comhairle, this package of measures promotes Good Jobs through a comprehensive modernisation of employment law.
- Tackling zero hours contracts.
- Protections for agency workers.
- Proper holiday pay.
- The right to disconnect.
- Better trade union representation.
- More flexible working.
- Better leave entitlements for carers and parents whose newborns are in neonatal care.
These changes, and others included in the consultation document will benefit workers, businesses, and society as a whole.
In implementing these changes we need to be mindful that micro and small businesses, many of which operate on tight margins, make up the vast majority of our businesses.
My Department will therefore use the consultation to period to assess the impact of changes on smaller businesses, in order to ensure that they can continue to thrive as part of a Good Economy with Good Jobs.
And given the wide ranging and detailed nature of this package, I have extended the consultation period from the standard eight weeks to 13 weeks.
It is important to note however that we only have two and a half years left in this mandate.
So my Department, the Committee, and the Assembly will have to work at pace to ensure this Bill is delivered within the time available.
The purpose of my Good Jobs agenda is to ensure that working people can provide their families with a decent and secure income, and meet their family and caring responsibilities.
This consultation will help us draft a Bill that furthers that Good Jobs economy.
I look forward to working with Members, the business community, and trade unions as we design and implement this important Bill.
Thank you.