Worker (Definitions and Rights) Bill goes under second review

The House of Commons reviewed the Worker (Definition and Rights) Bill for the second time recently, which, if passed, would see the merging of ‘employee’ and worker’ status to remove the grey area of uncertainty. 

The bill proposes:

• to have a single employment status for workers and employees (not genuinely operating a business on his or her own account) for the purpose of employment rights and employer responsibilities in the workplace; 
• that an employer is someone who engages another to provide labour, whether directly or through another i.e. third party/end user;
• that an employer must provide reasonable notice of at least seven days' written notice of both the shifts are provided and the cancellation of a period of employment already agreed with a zero-hours worker;
• that a financial penalty of 200% of the rate of pay should be paid to the worker should an employer cancels a zero-hour workers' shift once accepted by the worker together with any other monetary loss as a result of the cancellation such as potential loss of wages, childcare costs, etc;
• that an employer provides the written notice of the hours of the worker’s employment prior to the commencement of their employment or if notified orally, the employer must provide the worker with this written notice within seven days;
• that every worker shall be entitled to fixed and regular weekly hours on commencing employment, linking in with the Good Work Plan’s introduction of right to written contracts and a key information document;
• that when provided with reasonable notice, workers can work additional hours, but they shall not exceed 10% of the contracted hours in accordance with a reference period of 12 calendar months;
• that these additional hours should be paid at 200% of his or her normal hourly rate and if the employer cancels the request once these additional hours have been accepted by the worker, the payment of additional hours should be paid together with any other monetary loss as detailed above;
• allow a worker to bring proceedings against the contractor or third party (end-user) in the recovery on unpaid wages.  Effectively both the contractor and third party will be come the employer of the worker;
• it shall be for the employer to show in any legal proceedings that the applicant is not an employee, a worker, employed, or in employment as the case may be or to show in any legal proceedings that they are not the employer.

Aspire Comment

It is imperative that employers are aware of these proposals and the ongoing changes to employment rights, as failure to comply will result in hefty penalties. If you are unsure, it is essential that you seek advice, so please get in touch.

Aspire are offering free seminars on the Good Work Plan and GDPR over the coming months, so if this could benefit you or your employees, contact us on 0121 445 6178 for more information.