Will the ERB’s ‘Right to Guaranteed Hours’ Become an Interface of Coercion? Prof. Ewing Discusses

In Episode 6 of the Institute of Employment Rights Podcast, “Fire and Rehire: Labour’s Broken Promise?”, labour law expert and IER President Professor Keith Ewing examines the Bill’s measures to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts.

He argues that while the Bill takes some positive steps, the requirement for employers to offer ‘guaranteed hours’ to some zero-hours and low-hours workers falls far short of Labour’s original promise to end insecure work.

The Bill insufficiently accounts for the imbalance of power in favour of employers – there will be no way to ensure that workers are not coerced into refusing an offer of a guaranteed hours contract, thereby remaining on a zero-hours contract.

Following on from the publication of the Bill, IER experts highlighted a number of changes necessary for better protection of workers who exercise their rights, including:

• A worker should have the right to seek advice from an independent trade union before making a decision about whether or not to accept an offer of a guaranteed hours contract;
• The worker must have a right to be accompanied by a trade union official under the Employment Relations Act 1999 (s.10)
• Workers should be protected from detriment (including dismissal) for exercising their new rights under the Bill.

In the full episode, Professor Keith Ewing and Neil Todd (Thompsons Solicitors) delve into the Labour Party’s Employment Rights Bill, looking at the provisions on zero-hours contracts, fire and rehire, and the lessons that can be learned from how other countries have successfully tackled these problems.

You can listen to the full episode here.