The Government has published an updated Amendment Paper listing all amendments tabled to the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
A number of amendments to the Bill have been tabled as a result of consultations with business groups, trade unions and wider society. Notable examples include:
- Extending the measures in respect of zero hours contracts to agency workers. These measures are intended to give workers the right to a contract which reflects the hours they regularly work. The amendments will ensure that agency work does not become a loophole in the Government’s plans to end exploitative zero hours contracts;
- Increasing the maximum award an Employment Tribunal can make for an employer’s failure to follow the collective redundancy consultation requirements from 90 days’ pay to 180 days’ pay;
- Setting the rate of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) at 80 per cent of a worker’s average weekly earnings or the current rate of SSP – whichever is lower. The Lower Earnings Limit for SSP is to be abolished.