24 July 2014

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons on the 16th of July.

Put forward by the department of Business, Innovation and Skills, the bill aims to “help make the UK the most attractive place to start, finance and grow a business” according to Nick Clegg. He goes on to argue that it will help to build a stronger and fairer economy.

The bill will ban the exclusivity clauses for zero-hours contracts that prevent employees working for another employer when no hours are guaranteed. Other than this the contracts remain untouched. According to the bill this will “enable employers and employees to benefit from the flexibility of zero hours contracts whilst addressing abuse of these contracts”. A forthcoming publication by the IER however, says that the issue of exclusivity clauses is no more than a “red herring”.

According to the BIS, the bill aims to reduce delays in Employment Tribunals caused by short notice postponements, and the costs arising from them. It addresses the non-payment of employment tribunal awards by making provision for stronger financial consequences for businesses’ non-payment .

It also makes provision for increasing penalties imposed on businesses breaching minimum wage legislation on a per-worker basis, and aims to reform whistleblowing procedures by granting greater reassurance to the whistle-blower.

The bill will now go to a public bill committee, which is expected to report to the House by 6 November 2014.

IER will produce a critical analysis of the Bill shortly.