Select Committee · Business and Trade Committee

Make Work Pay: Employment Rights Bill

Status: Closed Opened: 31 Oct 2024 Closed: 29 Apr 2026 16 recommendations 5 conclusions 1 report

The newly re-formed Business and Trade Committee is launching its first call for evidence on the Government’s new flagship Employment Rights Bill . The new Government has announced a comprehensive overhaul of employment law in what it is calling the ‘biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.’ The ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ sets …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment Rights Bill HC 370 3 Mar 2025 21 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

4 items
6 Recommendation 3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment … Deferred

Prioritise review of worker status and address false self-employment immediately.

While the Committee welcomes the Government’s plans to reform worker status and bogus self-employment, it must proceed at pace to turn ambition into action. If it does not, it risks more companies adopting a ‘self-employment’ model for their workforces to side-step the measures in the Employment Rights Bill. In the …

Government response. The government acknowledges the complexity of the employment status framework and the issue of bogus self-employment but states that consulting on and implementing reforms to create a simpler framework is a longer-term goal that will take time, rather than prioritising …
Department for Business and Trade
14 Conclusion 3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment … Deferred

Significant inconsistency exists in Modern Slavery Statements' transparency, hindering informed consumer purchasing decisions.

Case studies reviewed by the Committee highlight a significant inconsistency in the transparency of Modern Slavery Statements. Although these statements may meet the requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the lack of standardisation hinders consumers from making informed purchasing decisions and assessing whether products are free from exploitative labour …

Government response. The government acknowledges the inconsistency in Modern Slavery Statements and states it is considering how to strengthen the Section 54 regime, including reporting requirements, and will set out next steps in due course. It also notes updated statutory guidance has …
Department for Business and Trade
15 Recommendation 3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment … Deferred

Review Modern Slavery Act Section 54, mandating reporting and introducing penalties for non-disclosure.

The Government must review the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and make changes to Section 54 to improve transparency. In particular the Government should: a. Change provision 54(5) such that the areas of reporting in modern slavery statements become mandatory. b. Remove the provision in which companies are allowed to claim …

Government response. The government is considering strengthening Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, including reporting requirements and penalties, and will set out next steps in due course, noting that significant reform will take time. Interim updated guidance has been published.
Department for Business and Trade
17 Recommendation 3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment … Deferred

Align UK legislation with global partners, introducing mandatory human rights due diligence and import bans.

The UK Government must look to align with global legislation, prioritising the introduction of mandatory Human Rights due diligence, to avoid duplicated efforts for UK businesses. The Government should also consider newer levers such as import bans on products from regions where forced labour prevails, as being introduced in the …

Government response. The government affirms its support for voluntary human rights due diligence approaches and states it will continue to assess and monitor existing measures and new international policy tools, consulting with stakeholders as it considers any further action on mandatory due …
Department for Business and Trade

Oral evidence sessions

3 sessions
Date Witnesses
14 Jan 2025 Alessandro Dudech · Uniqlo, Andy Brown · Frasers Group, Hugo Martin · Evri, Mr Paddy Lillis · Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), Neil Carberry · Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Paul Bedford · Deliveroo View ↗
7 Jan 2025 Alistair Macrow · McDonalds, UK and Ireland, Andrew Opie · The British Retail Consortium, Claire Lorains · Tesco, Eleanor Lyons, Leonard Klenner · Temu, Margaret Beels OBE · Department for Business and Trade, Stephen Heary · Temu, Yinan Zhu · SHEIN View ↗
17 Dec 2024 Amanda Gearing · GMB Union, Ben Willmott · Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Beverley Fairbank · Jaguar Land Rover, Dominic Johnson · BAE Systems, Jennifer Kearney · Amazon UK and Ireland, Matthew Percival · Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Murray Paul · Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Nicola Smith · Trades Union Congress (TUC), Stuart Morgan · Amazon Logistics View ↗

Correspondence

40 letters
DateDirectionTitle
22 Apr 2026 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
15 Apr 2026 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
11 Mar 2026 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
11 Mar 2026 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
11 Feb 2026 From cttee Letter to the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating t…
11 Feb 2026 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
26 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
4 Nov 2025 To cttee Letter from the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection relating…
16 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Secretary of State relating to the Employments Rights Bill, 15 …
8 Sep 2025 From cttee Letter to the Secretary of State relating to the Employment Rights Bill, 8 Sept…
17 Jul 2025 To cttee Letter from the Financial Conduct Authority relating to Shein and the Integrity…
10 Jul 2025 From cttee Letter to the Financial Conduct Authority relating to Shein and the UK listing …
3 Jun 2025 To cttee Letter from the Secretary of State relating to the Modern Slavery Act, 19 May 2…
29 Apr 2025 From cttee Letter to the Secretary of State relating to the consistent application of forc…
22 Apr 2025 To cttee Letter from the GMB Union relating to the ongoing dispute with Bidfood, 14 Apri…
27 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from Amazon relating to evidence given to the Committee, 27 January 2025
18 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from Evri relating to issues raised by the Committee, 5 March 2025
18 Mar 2025 To cttee Letter from Domestic Angels Franchising Limited relating to the Committee’s thi…
4 Mar 2025 From cttee Letter to Hugo Martin of Evri relating to allegations made to the Committee by …
25 Feb 2025 To cttee Letter from SHEIN relating to additional information requested by the Committee…