Commenting on the Government’s Employment Rights Bill which has been laid before Parliament on Thursday, Peter McGettrick, Chairman of British Safety Council, said: “The reforms that have been set out in the Employment Rights Bill are a major step forwards in ensuring all workers benefit from a more certain and consistent floor of standards and protections in work. Like other successful employment reforms that came before them, if done right, this set of measures can be a win-win for businesses, employees, and the economy.”
He added: “We would like to see them being part of a new approach to growth and productivity which recognises that people’s wellbeing, health and safety are fundamental to our wider prosperity. Mental ill-health is one of the biggest causes of long-term absence in the UK workplace, and on World Mental Health Day, there couldn’t be a better time to introduce changes which should make work more secure and less stressful for many people in our country.
“Whether you work in a small start-up or a large corporate, and whatever the nature your contract, we should all get the same basic rights and protections at work, and employers should then be given the flexibility and scope to do what is right for their business. Clearly, these changes are not all going to happen immediately, and we will have to see how they will look after the Government has consulted, but we need employers to get clarity and certainty sooner rather than later, so that workers can thrive not just survive.”