UK Employment Rights Bill: What will it mean for nurses?

A new bill tabled by the UK Government would see major changes to sick pay, rules on striking, sexual harassment protections and more.

The Employment Rights Bill, formally unveiled on Thursday, has been long-awaited by unions following promises to reform workers’ rights by the Labour Party before its landslide victory in the July general election.

The current draft of the Employment Rights Bill, prior to alternation, details dozens of amendments to employment law, including the way unions can call strikes or how pay is decided for adult social care staff.

Below are the changes in the bill that could have a profound impact on nurses, midwives and other healthcare workers.

What would the bill change for nursing staff?

Sick pay and leave

Currently, to claim statutory sick pay, there is a waiting period of three days and a lower earnings limit of £123 per week. These restrictions would both be removed, should the bill in its current form be passed.

A 26-week of employment minimum to qualify for paternity and parental leave would also be removed.

In addition, the bill contains changes to the rules around bereavement leave. Among these were removing waiting periods, and simplifying access to it.

Improvements to the waiting period for sick pay, in particular, are likely to be welcomed by those in the nursing profession with its high sickness absence rate.

Zero-hour contracts

The government, in its literature around the bill, said it would “ban” zero-hour contracts.

To this end, the bill states it would guarantee workers currently on such contracts the right to guaranteed hours, reasonable notice for shifts and payment for cancelled, moved or curtained shifts.

According to a recent Skills for Care report, 16% of registered nurses in the adult social care sector are on a form of zero-hour contract, with many more across care, nursing support and other nursing staff.

Flexible working

In its manifesto before the July general election, the now-governing Labour Party pledged to enshrine flexible working as a fundamental right for employees.

The employment bill gives workers the right to request flexible working and narrows the criteria under which this request can be refused.

Protection from harassment and dismissal

Employers, under the bill, would have to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment and harassment by third parties.

The bill also promises to implement protected disclosures of claims of sexual harassment.

According to polling from Unison, one in 10 health workers have been sexually harassed at work – while bullying and harassment of staff remains a pertinent issue.

The bill would also remove qualifying periods for unfair dismissal protection, dismissal during pregnancy, after family leave and for failing to agree to a variation of contract.

Adult social care pay

A pay deal for adult social care staff, including nurses, has been discussed frequently since the election, most recently earlier this week after the publication of Skills for Care’s ‘state of the sector’ report.

The Employment Rights Bill would lay the legal framework to establish an adult social care negotiating body responsible for pay.

Details about what exactly the organisation will do, and who will run it, remain scant – but it could lead to a more unified pay deal for social care workers.

Trade union legislation

Another manifesto promise from Labour addressed in the bill is the easing of restrictions on union activity – in particular the right to strike.

Chief among the changes is the repeal of minimum service level rules, which would prohibit a certain number of staff in key sectors such as health from striking.

As well as this, the bill would amend the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 to remove a requirement for 50% of eligible union members to vote in a strike ballot for its results to be valid, and instead return it to a simple majority of those who voted.

Workers would be further protected against detriment or dismissal for taking industrial action, while the bill would also improve unions’ ability to supervise pickets and access workplaces.

Responses to the bill

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has been calling for swift action on employment law since the election, hoping Sir Keir Starmer’s government would make good on promises such as a pledge to “reset relations” between ministers and unions.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said the bill was a “historic moment” for the female-dominated nursing profession, in particular welcoming improved protections from dismissal for new mothers and pregnant women.

She said: “A fair pay agreement in social care, enshrined in law, and a new body to root out care worker exploitation are measures the RCN has long been calling for.

“Raising pay, rights and employment standards in the sector is now a step closer to reality. The repeal of anti-trade union laws is long overdue.”

Professor Ranger said these protections, and flexible working improvements, would also help raise the quality of services for patients, dubbing them “vital recruitment and retention tools”.

She added: “The biggest mistake the government could now make is standing still. These proposals are good, but they can be great.

“Nursing as a 90% female profession has been held back for so long, and whilst this bill with its broad aims will help, there needs to be a more fundamental shift in how nursing is valued by those in power.”

Meanwhile, Natasha Curry, deputy director of policy for health and social care think tank Nuffield Trust, said new rights and pay changes would need to be implemented “carefully”, due to the social care sector’s “precarious state”.

She said: “Many employers are so financially squeezed that suddenly requiring guaranteed hours and additional rights without support could push some into bankruptcy.

“We know that local authorities are already dipping into their reserves to service adult social care services: they have less than no room to absorb new costs.”

She also said the new pay negotiation system would take a “long time” to implement and that more central funding for social care is necessary for these changes to not cause further instability in the sector.

“In the upcoming budget, the government will need to consider immediate measures to shore up the system and help to recruit and retain staff – otherwise the situation will be even worse by the time these new rights come in,” she said.

Ms Curry, however, welcomed better protections for workers: “This bill is a major step towards giving adult social care the visibility and priority it has been lacking for far too long.

“The provisions on pay and conditions massively strengthen the secretary of state’s powers and responsibilities for social care staffing, making them clearly accountable in a way that has previously been lacking.”