What is a Workers' Rights Bill?

A workers' rights bill doesn’t refer to any specific Act of Parliament but more to any Act which comes through government that has a beneficial impact on the rights of workers. An example might be the bill that introduced the Minimum Wage into the United Kingdom.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries successive workers' rights bills gave more and more rights to workers and the trend was only reversed in the 1980s and 1990s. This was when Conservative governments of the time used the law to erode workers' rights in an attempt to break the Power Of The Unions.
Private Members Bill for Workers' Rights
A worker's rights bill can be originated by any MP, although they are usually initiated by someone with a cabinet seat. There is a process known as a private member's bill for a back-bencher to try to get a bill passed through Parliament and turned into an Act of Parliament. A recent example of this was a private member's bill introduced by Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme.His bill would have given agency workers new rights to sick pay, holidays, pensions and equal wages with permanent staff. Agency workers, many of them migrants but also often domestic workers, have significantly fewer rights and hiring agency workers is perceived by unions as a way for companies to exploit labour, paying less than the minimum wage to save on costs. Five of the big unions and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) backed the bill.
This bill was talked out of the house by Jim Fitzpatrick, the minister for employment relations. This is a tactic whereby someone on can effectively kill a bill because there are time limits set on discussion periods, and if those time limits expire, the bill is dead.
New Domestic Political Initiative on the Workers Front
The concept survived though, and another private member's bill, this time initiated by Andrew Miller, MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, re-introduced the idea. The bill was called the Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) bill and was voted past Parliament in February 2008. Renamed the EU Temporary and Agency Workers Directive will come into force on 1 October 2011.However, bodies representing employers, particularly those representing small businesses, fear that the increased costs and administration overheads of complying with the bill may force certain small businesses out of business. Another problem was caused by IT and engineering agency workers, who would be severely disadvantaged by going onto equal pay as permanent staff members, as they are usually paid significantly more. This was resolved by an amendment to the bill excluding professional IT contractors and similar people.
Re: The Different Types Of Dismissal And Your Rights
Hi, I have worked at my job for nearly 7 years, good worker and no problems, I called another colleague…
Re: Working Rights of Single Parents
A work colleague has being sacked during Christmas of this year.She is a single mum of four kids.Unfortunately I do not know…
Re: Working Rights of Single Parents
Hi I have been rotad until 11pm on evening of which I can only get childcare until 10pm. I notified my manager 3 weeks prior…
Re: Can an Employer Change Our Holiday Arrangements?
I get 30 days holiday plus bank holidays my employer made me use 5 holidays during furlough and reduced…
Re: Health Issues and Confidentiality
I recently had a covid test and informed my employer that i was waiting on results to see if i could return to work. I had…
Re: The Different Types Of Dismissal And Your Rights
My depot controller told us whatever is damaged and thrown off we could take once is out of the depot. A…
Re: What Are My Rights Regarding Hospital Appointments?
I have acute psoriasis and have medication every 8 weeks. I had a hospital appointment which I put a…
Re: Working Rights of Single Parents
Hi I’m a single parent working 16 hrs a week in the care sector I’ve just been given my rota and I’ve been given Christmas…
Re: Health Issues and Confidentiality
My employer is demanding every employee to provide there temperatures at the start of every shift and the staff are getting…
Re: Can a Trade Union Help You in the Workplace?
I have been suspended from work, Iv been there 13years I’m not with a union but can I join now and be ale to…