11th October 2024
Fawcett celebrates the publication of the Employment Rights Bill

After years of feminist campaigning, today marks a significant step forward towards women’s workplace equality in Britain. The new government has published an Employment Rights Bill. It contains sensible new protections for women workers which Fawcett has been campaigning for over a number of years. This could help increase women’s equality at work and contribute to inclusive growth for workers and businesses alike.

 

This new Employment Rights Bill is needed for women in Britain because:

• The world of work continues to be designed for men and that is not changing fast enough. This is holding back women and holding back the economy. The gender pay gap remains stubbornly high at a mean average of 10.7% for full time workers and 13.2% for all workers in 2023. . One of the lead causes of the gap is many more women than men being stuck in low paid, insecure work because of unpaid caring responsibilities. 
• Employers struggling to support women through motherhood and menopause continue to play a big role in the gender pay gap. Fawcett research from 2022 found that one in 10 women surveyed who worked during the menopause left a job due to their symptoms. Lack of legal protection and legal aid mean maternity and sex discrimination remains far too common in the UK, compromising women’s dignity and respect at work.
• Lack of flexibility is also a significant problem driving the gender pay gap. Fawcett research from 2023 shows that 40% of women said that access to flexible work would mean they could take on more paid work. Disabled women may also benefit from better flexible working, allowing them to work.  
• Black, Asian and ethnic minority women especially need the Employment Rights Bill to tackle the double whammy of sexism and racism they may experience. Fawcett analysis with the #EthnicityPayGap campaign in 2024 showed that, for example, compared with White British men, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women face pay gaps on 28.4% and 25.9% respectively.

Fawcett is particularly pleased to see commitments to some of the issues it has long campaigned on. In particular: 

• Equalities action plans focused on reducing the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap in the UK is closing too slowly. At the current rate the gender pay gap won’t close until 2051 and it is highest among women in their forties, fifties and sixties. Reporting alone is not closing the gap fast enough while too many women are dropping out of the labour market because of lack of support with menopause. This makes women poorer: on average, working women taken home £574 less than men each month because of the gender pay gap. After years of campaigning, Fawcett is delighted to see the new government commit to ensure that every large employer publishes an equality  action plan focusing on the gender pay gap and supporting employees going through menopause.. These plans need to be flexible but detailed and checked regularly for their quality. We would like to see the government include some requirements for action plans such as publishing parental leave policies, salary bands or grades, and flexible working policies as a minimum.

• Ending sexual harassment at work. Too many women still experience sexual harassment in the workplace. A report produced by the Fawcett Society from 2021 showed that at least 40% of women experience sexual harassment throughout their career. This rises to 68% of disabled women and 68% of LGBT workers. Ethnic minority workers were also reported higher rates (32%) of sexual harassment than white workers (28%). We’re pleased that government has  responded to  to Fawcett and its supporters  original calls for a legal duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to end sexual harassment, including by third parties  during the passage of the Worker Protection Act, and are also taking further powers to define what steps businesses need to take . We’re also pleased to see the government make sexual harassment whistleblowing better protected under the law after the hard work of many campaigners and whistleblowers themselves. These changes must be followed up with proper enforcement against employers who allow cultures that permit sexual harassment to continue.
  
  
• Measures that shift flexible working to the default. We need a transformation in attitudes to flexible working in this country. Lack of flexible work is locking too many women, especially mothers and carers, out of work in the UK. It is leaving them underemployed, earning less and contributing less to the economy. It is good to see the government acknowledge this by limiting the number of reasons and conditions when they can reject a flexible working request. However, the commitment in the draft Bill does not go far enough to improve this situation. A flexible working advertising duty would be the best way to ensure every woman can know about the flexible working options she has when applying for a job. Our research last year found that 77% of women said they would be more likely to apply for a job that advertises flexible working options. Simply tweaking the existing law doesn’t give women the transparency they need to be less restricted in the jobs they apply for.~
  
  
•  Day one rights to paternity and parental leave. Fawcett is pleased that the government have supported our call to make statutory  paternity leave and unpaid parental leave a day one right in the draft Employment Rights Bill, matching maternity leave. There are also new day one rights for bereavement leave. However, to genuinely make sure all parents are supported through this challenging point in their lives, maternity and paternity pay also need to be made day one rights  and the rates increased as they are some of the lowest in Europe, far below the living wage. At last count, 15.5% of women and 10.6% of men were not eligible for statutory maternity and paternity pay, partly due to having to have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks before they can qualify.
  
  
• Better job security for all women, and especially pregnant women and new mothers. Government commitments to ban zero hours contracts and improve access to sick pay will hugely benefit women who are more likely to work in low paid and insecure work. Fawcett is also pleased to see the government bring forward its commitment to disallow the employers from firing pregnant women and new mothers from notification of pregnancy until six months after return to work by extending the number of illegal reasons. Any reasonable exceptions need to be tightly defined and consulted on with employers and employees alike.

 To drive towards gender equality, we want to see these measures combined with: 

• Longer to bring an employment tribunal. The draft Employment Rights Bill includes a commitment to extend the time limit to bring an employment tribunal during the passage of the Bill. Fawcett is disappointed to see ambiguity over the original commitment from Labour’s plan to Make Work Pay to extend the time limit to six months which was a vital lifeline to pregnant women and new mothers experiencing discrimination. These women are often in the middle of pregnancy or with a newborn baby three months after illegal treatment at work, leaving with little time, money and energy to bring a claim within the current time limit. We will continue to lobby the government to make this simple and straight forward change to double the time limit as the Bill progresses.
  
  
• Changes to equal pay law. It has been over half a century since it became illegal to pay women less than men for the same work (and since, work of equal value) in Britain. But equal pay laws are not working for women: cases take too long and are too expensive for most employers and employees to pursue. At the same time, the UK risks falling behind European standards on equal pay. The Employment Rights Bill should include measures to increase pay transparency for women that Fawcett has campaigned on   including provisions to require all job adverts to be published with a salary band or grade, give women the Right to Know what male counterparts earn and, End Salary History by making it illegal to ask about salary history at interview. Fawcett is  disappointed to see a lack of focus on equal pay in the draft Bill and hope the government will continue to look at this as part of wider legislative work.
  
  
• An independent enforcement body with power and resource to act. The UK’s equalities watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has a very small budget without money spare to properly police equalities law in the workplace. This means employers do not worry about acting unfairly. The draft Employment Rights Bill establishes a Fair Work Agency to enforce workers’ rights but does not acknowledge the new protections required to be overseen by the EHRC or make clear how these agencies will work together. Fawcett want to work with government to establish which body is responsible for policing new protections for women and to make sure they have enough money and power to do so in the best interests of women and employers alike.
  
  
•  A transformed early childhood education and care system. Our childcare is some of the most expensive for parents in the world and it isn’t working. Research shows that 85% of mothers struggle to find childcare that fits around their work and one in 10 have quit jobs due to childcare pressures. Fawcett is glad to see the government committing to more childcare places and breakfast clubs piloted in schools next year. But we share concerns that these reforms do not go far enough to ensure all women can work if they want to, and be treated fairly. Our comparative research into what works around the world for early years education provides a clear ten-point plan to genuinely reform childcare for all children, parents and employers.
  
  
• Parental leave reform. The parental leave system in the UK is not working for mothers, for fathers and second parents, for employers or young children. Statutory maternity pay is well below the living wage and many mothers do not qualify for it at all. Fathers are allowed just two weeks paid leave, with less than one in 10 taking additional parental leave at last count. Fawcett is glad to see the changes to make shared parental leave simpler for fathers especially. However, this is the tip of the iceberg of change needed. We urge the government to meet its commitment to a review into the system within a year, opening a public consultation before the end of 2024. Ministers and officials must engage with women’s civil society during this consultation. Fawcett’s has campaigned for a simpler system for all parents, regardless of employment status, where each parent has an individual right to time off and pay reserved just for them with payments increased substantially and kept in line with the cost of living. This will support fathers to take on more of the early caring responsibility for their children, leading to lifetime benefits for all family members.

Fawcett CEO Jemima responded to the Bill, saying:  

 "Today’s draft employment bill is a win for women. Fawcett and our members have campaigned long and hard to see government chart a new course for inclusive economic growth and to improve women’s working lives.

"We have a pernicious gender pay gap which means, on average, women take home £574 less than men every month; measures like Equality Action Plans will help to close the gap and ensure women are valued throughout their working lives. We also welcome the commitment to better protect women from dismissal in the workplace –  both for taking leave, having babies, and for raising complaints about sexual harassment. We are delighted that the government is amending the Workers Protection Act to ensure that it operates as originally intended, as as our members so energetically campaigned for. No woman should experience sexual harassment at work.  

 "We welcome the government tightening of the reasons why employers can reject a flexible working request – this is a significant step in the right direction. However, we will be campaigning for the provisions to be tightened further still and the introduction of an advertising duty on businesses to make sure that everyone is able to work flexibly if the job allows, rather than considering it as a workplace priviledge.

 "To cement workplace equality, the government must now fulfil its commitment to improving affordability and access to childcare, making parental leave equal so that fathers can be more involved in their babies' lives, and to extending time limits for employment tribunals. We share this government's ambition to ensure all women can thrive at work and fully contribute to the economy.”  

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