What did the Queen’s Speech say on workers’ rights?

The proposal

The National Living Wage will be increased so that people who are on the lowest pay benefit from the same improvements in earnings as higher paid workers.

What it means

The minimum wage for workers over the age of 25 (which has been rebranded as a “National Living Wage”) will remain at 55% of average earnings until it rises to 60% of average earnings in 2020.

What it doesn’t mean

• Workers will not receive an actual living wage, which is calculated according to the cost of living.
• Workers over 25 will not see a reduction in the pay gap between their wage and the UK average.
• Millions of workers under 25 will see no change and will continue to receive the National Minimum Wage, which is lower even than the National Living Wage.
• Millions of firefighters, nurses and other public sector workers will continue to see their real wages fall year by year as the cap on their pay rises is not lifted
• Workers will continue to face barriers when trying to collectively bargain for fairer pay and conditions
• Workers will continue to be charged up to £390 to take their employers to task if they fail to pay their wages at all.

The proposal

Ministers will seek to enhance rights and protections in the modern workplace.

What it means

The government’s pledges have been vague, but will probably be based on the outcome of the Taylor Review, which is yet to be published.

Preliminary reports from review chair Matthew Taylor show that the following recommendations may be included:

• The right for temporary workers to receive written terms and conditions within the first week of employment
• The right for variable-hours agency workers to request a permanent job after a certain time period
• The ability to check with the government if you are legitimately classified as ‘self-employed’
• Putting the onus on recruiters to prove that a contractor is actually self-employed
• The right to request guaranteed hours if you are on a zero-hour contract
• The requirement for companies to publically report how many temporary workers they use

What it doesn’t mean

If the expected recommendations from Taylor’s review are accepted then workers will miss out on the following:

• Variable-hours agency workers will not have the right to receive a permanent job after a certain time period
• Zero-hour contract workers will not have the right to receive guaranteed hours
• “Workers” will still be eligible for fewer rights than “employees”
• Workers will still have to pay up to £1,200 to uphold their rights at tribunal
• Workers will continue to face barriers when trying to collectively bargain for fairer pay and conditions

The proposal

The government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

What it means

The General Election manifesto promised:

• Funding for “returnships” for new mothers – short-term work placements, similar to internships, for women who want to go back to work after starting a family
• A consultation at a later date to consider offering maternity leave to “gig” workers
• Extending the Equality Act 2010 to cover people with mental health conditions.

What it doesn’t mean

• Fathers will not receive any further support to take up the Shared Parental Leave programme, which is so unaffordable that only 1% have so far signed up
• Fathers will continue to have a paternity deal worse than 28 other developed and undeveloped countries
• Workers will still have to pay up to £1,200 to take their employer to task if they are discriminated against at work
• Workers will continue to face barriers when trying to collectively bargain for fairer pay and conditions for those with protected characteristics