With four technical consultations on the Employment Rights Bill closing in early December, UKHospitality is urging the Government to ensure the unique circumstances of the hospitality industry are reflected in any changes.
The leading trade body has submitted responses to each consultation, building on the evidence that it provided to the Employment Rights Public Bill Committee last week when it shared extensive operator feedback and reiterated the need for legislation to reflect the unique circumstances of the sector compared to office jobs.
In its extensive written submissions UKHospitality has highlighted the following:
- That the proposed changes to statutory sick pay – in which statutory sick pay will be payable from the first day of absence rather than the fourth – will have the unintended consequence of incentivising absenteeism. It is also supporting the removal of the Lower Earnings Limit so that all workers are entitled to it, at a proposed rate of 50% of the individual’s earnings.
- UKHospitality does not agree that agency workers who have worked regularly for a business should be given guaranteed hours contracts. This proposal is impractical and unworkable and does not reflect the nature of agency work.
- While the Government’s proposal to changes around ‘fire and rehire’ are broadly welcome, as they stand the plans are too broadly drawn and that should apply to fixed term contracts only, not seasonal ones.
- There is no support from the hospitality sector for the lowering of thresholds for union recognition. Thresholds need to be maintained to allow for a properly democratic process to take place.
Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality said:
“We are pleased to provide our recommendations to the Government on its first set of consultations on its Employment Rights Bill. It’s imperative that we continue to work closely with Government on this bill to ensure that the resulting legislation is right for hospitality businesses.”
“To date, the Government has listened to UKHospitality and ensured the legislation does enable employees to continue to have the right to flexible working, which ensures that as an industry we can support getting those furthest from the labour market into work.”
“As it stands, the Bill will present significant operational challenges and come at a considerable cost to the sector, predominantly through a vastly increased administration burden. Moreover, by the time these changes come into effect, the sector’s ability to support employment is likely to have already been significantly eroded by £3.4 billion in costs the Budget inflicted on hospitality.”
“For hospitality businesses to be in a position deliver on the ambitions within the Employment Rights Bill, it’s vital that the Government urgently addresses the upcoming changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.”
