- Conference
- 2025 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 1 January 2025
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the new substantial Employment Rights Bill for Great Britain. The Bill was, as promised, published within 100 days of the Labour government being elected and is currently in Parliament.
The Bill repeals restrictions on trade union activity including our ability to take strike action and strengthens our rights to access workplaces, recruit and organise members and expand collective bargaining. For too long, employers have had all of the advantages and the balance must be shifted towards safe and secure employment that pays fairly so there is also an increase in individual employment rights too for all workers. A high wage and high skill economy should be within reach as the UK has suffered from poor employment practices for too long.
The Bill represents the culmination of years of tireless campaigning by trade unions and activists, particularly through the Labour Link section of UNISON, who championed these policies while Labour was in opposition.
The Bill implements many of the measures in the Labour Party’s New Deal for Working People and includes, but is not limited to, the following:
1) The pre-election pledge to repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016, which restores balance to industrial relations and affirms the importance of trade union activity in a democratic society. However, Conference opposes the delaying of this following the election of the Labour government;
2) Ending exploitative zero hour contracts; with guaranteed hours contracts, a right to reasonable notice of shift changes and payment for cancellation of shifts at short notice;
3) Introducing basic day one rights – sick pay, parental leave, unfair dismissal;
4) Sectoral collective bargaining – fair pay agreement and negotiating body in adult social care (England), reinstatement of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB, England), a long-standing objective of UNISON;
5) Strengthening family friendly rights and flexible working, making it much harder for employers to refuse employee requests as it is too easily done at the moment;
6) Extension of the time limit from three to six months for all workers bringing employment tribunal claims;
7) Reintroducing the two tier workforce prevention code in public procurement;
8) Political fund opt in restored – trade union members no longer have to expressly ask to opt in;
9) New protections against ‘fire and rehire’, with it being automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a contract variation and a very limited exception for genuine need to avoid serious financial issues that may threaten the business (making it necessary to go through genuine consultation with trade unions first);
10) Strengthening facility time – when requests are denied the burden of proof will be placed on the employer, who must demonstrate that the time off requested was unreasonable;
11) Provide equality reps with facility time;
12) Introduction of electronic balloting;
13) Improved access rights for trade unions to workplaces for recruitment and collective bargaining purposes, union recognition made less onerous, and thresholds reduced;
14) Protection from detriment for taking part in industrial action, bringing into law UNISON’s win in the UK Supreme Court for our member, Mrs Mercer’s case;
15) Protection from dismissal for taking strike action is being extended – the basic 12 weeks is being removed and instead it is extended for the length of the strike action;
16) Measures to tackle blacklisting of activists by employers;
17) Strengthening collective redundancy rights, lifting the cap on protective awards and the introduction of interim relief to protect workers in this situation, and consultation based on total business redundancies;
18) Increased protection from sexual harassment, introducing gender and menopause action plans and strengthening rights for pregnant workers;
19) Strengthening statutory sick pay;
20) Creating a Single Enforcement Body to ensure employment rights are upheld – a new ‘Fair Work Agency’.
While these achievements are significant, Conference acknowledges there is more to be done. The Bill, though transformative, must include stronger mechanisms for enforcing individual rights and enhanced powers for trade unions to address imbalances of power in workplaces effectively.
Conference notes that measures in the Bill from tackling fire and rehire, zero hours contracts and day one rights to claim unfair dismissal have come under heavy fire from the ‘right wing’, the press and deregulators. Conference asserts that it will seek to protect the Bill from business and Tory attacks whilst trying to improve measures in the Bill in line with UNISON policy and leave no loopholes for avoidance (particularly for employers still willing to attempt to fire and re-hire).
Conference further commits to campaign to bring forward as soon as possible other measures in the New Deal such as insourcing, ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting, a right to disconnect, single status of worker and limits on surveillance technology.
Conference notes that even after Royal Assent in 2025 there will be work to be done in some areas in getting effective implementation as soon as possible through statutory instruments.
Conference also notes that pressure is being exerted by business and the Tories to drop the commitment to the repeal of the 2016 Trade Union Act.
Conference is concerned the government may delay the repeal of the requirement for 50 percent turnouts in ballots until after electronic balloting for industrial action has been introduced. Secondary legislation necessary to fully implement the Employment Rights Bill must be prioritised.
Conference also notes that in Northern Ireland, the Executive and Assembly have devolved powers over employment, equality and trade union laws. Conference therefore supports the ongoing campaign by UNISON Northern Ireland, working alongside the ICTU, for comprehensive new Employment Rights legislation to be introduced. Conference therefore calls on the National Executive Council to continue to support these ongoing efforts.
Conference therefore will remain vigilant and calls on the National Executive Council to:
a) Continue lobbying the government to strengthen the Bill in its passage through Parliament, ensuring it delivers on its full potential for workers;
b) Campaign against insecure work and one-sided flexibility and for repeal of the anti-union laws;
c) Track all measures in the New Deal that are not in this initial Bill for implementation through the quickest and easiest means possible;
d) Work with the TUC to improve the Bill and fend off opposition attacks;
e) Work with our self organised groups and Young Members Forum to raise awareness of the new rights and opportunities within the Bill to our members, including how the Bill can positively impact them and their experience within the workplace, with particular attention to addressing the intersectional challenges faced by marginalised groups such as Black and/ or disabled LGBT+ workers.;
f) Campaign for the adoption of UNISONs Disability Employment Charter and to close both the disability employment gap and the pay gap;
g) Plan to expand our membership in schools and social care and work with regions to maximise recruitment and retention opportunities arising from the Bill;
h) Work with service groups to consider bargaining implications, particularly of measures to prevent the two tier workforce;
i) Monitor and push for effective implementation at workplace level by employers;
j) Campaign to ensure that migrant workers can meaningfully access these expanded employment rights;
k) Continue to be identify and respond to any devolution implications and work with ICTU, STUC and TUC Cymru and our UNISON colleagues in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to ensure care workers and school support staff in those nations are placed at no disadvantage to their counterparts in England by the passage of the Bill and will support UNISON Cymru/Wales in lobbying the UK government and Welsh governments for a Wales-only SSSNB following the overwhelming vote of Cymru/Wales school members in favour of such a body;
l) And continue to highlight the importance of effective enforcement by the new Fair Work Agency as well as through Tribunals, including the ability of unions to interact with the Agency on members’ behalf;
m) To organise a campaign of lobbying and protests, including work with Labour Link, to ensure repealing of the 2016 Act remains part of the legislation;
n) Provide training and resources for UNISON activists to maximize the opportunities presented by the Bill in building and strengthening our union;
o) Promote awareness of the new provisions among members, enabling them to understand and use their rights fully.