Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
3rd Report - Make Work Pay: Employment Rights Bill
Business and Trade Committee
HC 370
Published 3 March 2025
Recommendations
1
Accepted
Define reference periods for the right to guaranteed hours in regulations.
Recommendation
Without a reference period defined in primary legislation, there is a lack of certainty among workers, trade unions and businesses as to how the right to guaranteed hours will work in practice. To ensure certainty, the Government should define as …
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Government Response Summary
The government has announced that the initial reference period for the right to guaranteed hours will be 12 weeks and intends to consult on the length of subsequent reference periods before making secondary legislation to provide clarity.
Department for Business and Trade
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4
Accepted
Use delegated powers to enhance protections for agency workers through zero-hours contract reform.
Recommendation
The Committee therefore urges the Government to use the delegated powers provided by the Bill to reform zero-hours contracts to enhance protections for agency workers as soon as possible. These reforms 36 should not be at the expense of the …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees to extend contract certainty to agency workers to prevent them from becoming a loophole in zero-hours contract reforms, having already brought forward amendments to the Employment Rights Bill and committing to consult on further detailed regulations.
Department for Business and Trade
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7
Accepted
Publish plans to regulate the umbrella company market and tackle non-compliance.
Recommendation
While compliant umbrella companies can have many benefits to workers, there have been longstanding concerns across governments that the lack of regulation in the umbrella company market can lead to exploitative working practices. The evidence is overwhelming of the need …
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Government Response Summary
The government agrees timely action is needed to regulate umbrella companies, has set out plans in response to a 2023 consultation, introduced an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill, and committed to consult on a bespoke regulatory framework.
Department for Business and Trade
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11
Accepted
Expand the Bill's definition of 'Access' to explicitly include a union's right to digital access.
Recommendation
More should be done to ensure that the new right of union access proposed in the Bill is protected against future changes to ways of working and the risk of non-compliance. We recommend that the Bill’s proposed definition of ‘Access’ …
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Government Response Summary
The government accepted the recommendation and has already amended the Employment Rights Bill to expand access rights to include digital access, also legislating against refusing physical access solely due to digital access, with further details to be outlined in secondary legislation after consultation.
Department for Business and Trade
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21
Accepted
Ensure Fair Work Agency has powers and resources to investigate labour exploitation
Recommendation
The Government must ensure that the Fair Work Agency has the necessary powers to deter non-compliance. It must have the authority to investigate all forms of labour exploitation, up to and including modern slavery, and be adequately resourced to fulfil …
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Government Response Summary
The government states the Fair Work Agency will inherit and expand upon existing powers, including the ability to issue special warnings and enforce certain Fraud Act offences, thus strengthening its capacity to investigate a wider range of serious labour exploitation cases.
Department for Business and Trade
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Conclusions (2)
3
Conclusion
Accepted
While the Committee understands that certain workers like the flexibility that comes with agency work and that it can be used as a legitimate short- term employment tool for many businesses, we are concerned about the impact long-term agency work could have on people’s security at work. We have heard …
Government Response Summary
The government agrees that agency workers should have certainty of hours and has brought forward amendments to the Employment Rights Bill to expand provisions for zero-hour measures to agency workers, with further regulations to be developed after consultation.
20
Conclusion
Accepted
It is crucial that the creation of the Fair Work Agency does not result in a dilution of the powers currently held by the three existing enforcement bodies. (Conclusion, Paragraph 98)
Government Response Summary
The government asserts that the Fair Work Agency will not dilute existing powers but will inherit the full suite of investigatory powers from existing bodies and expand their reach, with the Employment Rights Bill upgrading enforcement and filling gaps in GLAA's remit.