Workers across the country are set to be given greater rights and protections regarding several aspects of their employment as part of a new Bill supported by the government.
Blackpool South MP Scott Benton’s Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill is set to bring “huge changes” for tens of millions of workers across the UK in an effort to address the “one-sided flexibility” between employers and employees.
The package of policies includes the following changes:
- Supporting parents of babies who need neonatal additional care with paid neonatal care leave.
- Offering pregnant women and new parents greater protection against redundancy.
- Entitling unpaid carers to a period of unpaid leave to support those most in need.
- Providing millions of employees with a day one right to request flexible working, and a greater say over when, where, and how they work.
This comes as the separate Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill recently passed through the House of Commons. Should it make its way through the Lords, the Bill will prevent employers making women redundant from the moment she discloses her pregnancy until the child reaches 18 months old.
Women are currently only protected from redundancy while on maternity of parental leave, and as such some 54,000 women are pushed out of the workforce following pregnancy each year, according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
