Yet more legislation announced

On 1 July 2013, the government published yet more draft employment legislation — the Deregulation Bill — relentlessly pursuing its “anti-red tape” crusade at the expense of workers’ rights and basic protections.

This latest Bill will scrap tribunals’ power to make wider recommendations and, in a move described by the TUC as “stupid and dangerous”, will remove health and safety protection from approximately 800,000 so-called self-employed workers.

In an all-too-familiar pattern, the power to make wider recommendations is to be abolished, even though 79% of respondents to the government’s consultation opposed this move. The power was introduced by Section 124(3) of the Equality Act 2010 to encourage tribunals to make recommendations to benefit the whole workforce where an employer is found to have discriminated.

Recommendations could include, for example, diversity training, or better policies. Writing in his blog, discrimination law expert Michael Rubenstein reported that in 2012, the number of cases involving recommendations more than doubled to 30. Even so, the power is to go.

The bill will also scrap health and safety protection for self-employed workers in so-called “low risk” occupations.

TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson commented: “This draft bill, which claims to simplify the law, does the exact opposite. It will create confusion and uncertainty and will certainly lead to an increase in injury both to the self-employed and others.”

www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-22325-f0.cfm

www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-22336-f0.cfm