13 June 2012

The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) will respond to the government’s call for evidence on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform bill, which threatens to make Britain’s workers more vulnerable.

Last month, we warned the proposed changes to employment law – including encouraging employers and workers to use “settlement agreements” rather than employment tribunals to resolve disputes, the introduction of a “rapid resolution” scheme for some workplace disagreements, a reduction in workplace inspections and moves to make it easier to repeal regulations – could undermine employees’ rights and make the workplace a more dangerous place.

The bill is the latest in a series of ideological moves by the Coalition that undermine the safety and security of ordinary workers in the name of populist myths politicians and the right-wing media have woven about “red tape”.

In reality, state inspections of workplaces have taken a nosedive, with tragic consequences discussed in detail at the IER’s recent Reviewing Lofstedt events in London and Liverpool. Meanwhile, the right of workers to fight against unfair decisions by their employers has been undermined as the government proceed to make it more and more difficult for them to take legal action when they have been treated poorly in their jobs.

The IER is working to continuously highlight and provide detailed analysis of the threat to workers posed by ideology-driven legislation. We are now working on written evidence to submit to the government, warning that passing the bill will lead to a regression in hard-won employment rights. A copy of this submission will be available on the website soon.

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