Labour\u2019s radical workers\u2019 rights reforms have simply put the UK on a \u201clevel playing field\u201d with other big economies, the employment minister, Kate Dearden, has said.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s Employment Rights Act<\/a> became law last year, with specific provisions being implemented this year and next.<\/p>\n Business groups have repeatedly warned that the changes, which include enhanced sick pay<\/a> and dismissal rights<\/a>, and union access to workplaces, will impose significant additional costs and could deter companies from hiring.<\/p>\n But Dearden said they had merely brought the UK into line with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the club for industrialised economies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe basically have a level playing field now with most OECD countries. After lagging behind, we\u2019re now in a place where we\u2019re matching rights in other countries and providing those opportunities for our own workforce. So that\u2019s just how much we had to do and how necessary it was to update and upgrade our legislation,\u201d Dearden said.<\/p>\n Kate Dearden said the reforms could be transformational for people and could change lives. Photograph: DBT<\/p>\n She was speaking from the International Labour Organization (ILO) ministerial conference in Geneva, where she had been comparing notes with counterparts from other countries.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham<\/a> is expected to continue with the government\u2019s approach on workers\u2019 rights if he wins next week\u2019s Makerfield byelection<\/a> and supplants Keir Starmer as Labour leader.<\/p>\n Ministers are consulting on the next aspect of the legislation to be implemented \u2013 regulations to oblige workers to be given regular hours<\/a>, in place of \u201cexploitative\u201d zero-hours contracts.<\/p>\n Industry groups have urged Labour to implement the change cautiously, with the British Retail Consortium chief executive, Helen Dickinson, warning ministers not to \u201cregulate flexible jobs out of existence\u201d.<\/p>\n Dearden acknowledged that some workers prefer flexible hours but said the move could be life-changing for low-paid workers if the government gets it right.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWhen I hear from my constituents and from workers across the country that if they\u2019re on a zero-hours contract that is exploitative, where they don\u2019t know how many hours they\u2019ll work that week or that month, therefore can\u2019t budget around it, can\u2019t plan their lives \u2013 that\u2019s not the secure work that we want to see.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hear from retail and hospitality employers that they do value that flexibility, and their workforce too, but where perhaps that certainty and security isn\u2019t in place for lots of employees who want it, how do we actually get that balance right?\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cIf we do get it right, it will be transformational for people: it will absolutely change their lives. We\u2019re absolutely committed to growing our economy and we don\u2019t think you can do that with people in insecure work.\u201d<\/p>\n Dearden, who previously worked for the Community union, has been the MP for Halifax since 2024. She indicated areas where the government is considering going further on employment rights, including those for unpaid carers, on which she has just launched a consultation<\/a>, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market.<\/p>\n On AI, she said she had commissioned a fact-finding exercise about how people\u2019s working lives were being affected. \u201cWe really want to follow the evidence of what\u2019s happening in workplaces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow can we ensure that technology absolutely can make workplaces better, healthier, more productive, so it enhances the experience of working people and doesn\u2019t replace them?\u201d<\/p>\n Dearden also restated Labour\u2019s manifesto commitment to equalising the youth rates of the minimum wage, paid to 18- to 20-year-olds and 16- to 17-year-olds, with the adult rate \u2013 though she insisted the timeline would be up to the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC).<\/p>\n The government has already increased the youth rates significantly, by 8.5% for 18- to 20-year-olds this year, for example, compared with 4.1% for the statutory \u201cnational living wage\u201d for adults 21 and older.<\/p>\n