Minister defends changes to UK workers’ rights against costs backlash

Commuters on their way to work in Manchester city centre. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty View image in fullscreen Commuters on their way to work in Manchester city centre. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Minister defends changes to UK workers’ rights against costs backlash Kate Dearden says reforms such as enhanced sick pay simply bring UK into line with other big economies Labour’s radical workers’ rights reforms have simply put the UK on a “level playing field” with other big economies, the employment minister, Kate Dearden, has said. The government’s Employment Rights Act became law last year, with specific provisions being implemented this year and next. Business groups have repeatedly warned that the changes, which include enhanced sick pay and dismissal rights , and union access to workplaces, will impose significant additional costs and could deter companies from hiring. But Dearden said they had merely brought the UK into line with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the club for industrialised economies. “We basically have a level playing field now with most OECD countries. After lagging behind, we’re now in a place where we’re matching rights in other countries and providing those opportunities for our own workforce. So that’s just how much we had to do and how necessary it was to update and upgrade our legislation,” Dearden said. View image in fullscreen Kate Dearden said the reforms could be transformational for people and could change lives. Photograph: DBT She was speaking from the International Labour Organization (ILO) ministerial conference in Geneva, where she had been comparing notes with counterparts from other countries. Andy Burnham is expected to continue with the government’s approach on workers’ rights if he wins next week’s Makerfield byelection and supplants Keir Starmer as Labour leader. Ministers are consulting on the next aspect of the legislation to be implemented – regulations to oblige workers to be given regular hours , in place of “exploitative” zero-hours contracts. Industry groups have urged Labour to implement the change cautiously, with the British Retail Consortium chief executive, Helen Dickinson, warning ministers not to “regulate flexible jobs out of existence”. Dearden acknowledged that some workers prefer flexible hours but said the move could be life-changing for low-paid workers if the government gets it right. She said: “When I hear from my constituents and from workers across the country that if they’re on a zero-hours contract that is exploitative, where they don’t know how many hours they’ll work that week or that month, therefore can’t budget around it, can’t plan their lives – that’s not the secure work that we want to see. “We hear from retail and hospitality employers that they do value that flexibility, and their workforce too, but where perhaps that certainty and security isn’t in place for lots of employees who want it, how do w