Industrial Relations Bill

The Labour Party invited the IER to consult on an Industrial Relations Bill that would give workers' a voice at work and beyond.

The Industrial Relations Bill is expected to draw heavily on IER recommendations for the restoration of collective bargaining, stronger statutory rights and effective enforcement.

After adopting key recommendations from the IER’s Manifesto for Labour Law proposals for its 2017 Manifesto For the many, not the few, the Labour Party invited IER experts to consult on workers’ rights reforms.

Shadow Minister for Labour, Laura Pidcock, is leading a programme to establish a Ministry of Labour – a central recommendation of the Manifesto for Labour Law – as well as developing an Industrial Relations Bill (IRB) for the Ministry to introduce.

The IRB is expected to provide for stronger trade union rights, the restoration of collective bargaining, stronger statutory rights and more effective enforcement.

I’ve been working closely with experts from the Institute of Employment Rights to shape reforms that will revolutionise our workplaces.

Laura Pidcock, Shadow Minister of Labour

Guide to a progressive Industrial Relations Bill

In September 2019, the IER published a Guide to a progressive Industrial Relations Bill, laying out our recommendations for the shape of the new legislation.

This free publication was launched at TUC 2019 and is available to order from from our website.

In our Guide to a progressive Industrial Relations Bill, we explain our recommendations for reform in a digestible and easy-to-read format, laying out our vision for an effective framework of labour law fit for the 21st century.

We believe this Bill will transform the world of work for millions of people, give workers a voice in parliament, in their jobs, and across the economy at large.

With new legally protected powers to speak out collectively against injustice, workers will be provided with a means to protect and improve their job security, pay and conditions.

Underlying this system will be the reinstatement of collective bargaining as the foundation of workplace relations, together with stronger employment rights and better protection against discrimination.

Our recommendations, if implemented, would bring the UK up to an accepted international standard already followed in some of the world's strongest economies

Professor Keith Ewing, President of the IER

The Manifesto for Labour Law

The Labour Party asked the IER to advise on the development of an Industrial Relations Bill on the strength of our 2016 publication The Manifesto for Labour Law and its 2018 successor Rolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law, which further developed our recommendations and provided a roadmap to their implementation.

Both publications found a warm welcome across the labour movement as well as political parties including the Labour Party, which adopted key recommendations from the Manifesto project for its own 2017 Manifesto For the many, not the few.

The Manifesto for Labour Law project continues to influence policy across the UK, where it has been instrumental in the drafting of a new Charter of Workers’ Rights for Scotland, Wales’ new Social Partnership Bill and the SNP’s Workers’ (Definition and Rights) Bill.

We're entering a period of extraordinary and inevitable change. The break from the EU, climate change, automation – all of these things will have an impact on the world of work and if workers' voices are not heard during these transitions, there's a real risk of even more poverty and economic decline.

John Hendy QC, Chair of the IER