Written submission from The Fawcett Society (ERB0004)

The Fawcett Society

Submission to the Business and Trade Committee Call for Evidence:

Employment Rights Bill

November 2024

Summary:

An 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. The UK has a stagnant gender pay gap with more women than men working in low-paid and insecure work. There are particular inequalities facing ethnic minority and disabled women.

After years of campaigning, the Fawcett Society is pleased to see the government take action on equalities action plans focusing on gender pay gap and menopause, ending sexual harassment at work, better job security for pregnant women and new mothers and, measures that shift flexible working to the default. However, the devil is in the detail with many of these protections. Enforcement will be crucial to seeing delivering real change for women and Fawcett was alarmed to see major omissions in the Bill on extending the employment tribunal law and changes to equal pay law.

Without major reforms to our early years education and parental leave systems in Britain, these reforms will only go so far to change the lives of working women. We will continue to work with government to campaign for these changes.

1. The Employment Rights Bill marks a significant step forward towards women’s workplace equality in Britain. It contains sensible new protections for women workers which Fawcett has been campaigning for over several years. These measures could help increase women’s equality at work and contribute to inclusive growth for workers and businesses alike. But there is further to go to drive towards gender equality in Britain and enforcement will be crucial.

2. The draft Employment Rights Bill is needed for women in Britain because:
1. 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 mean Gender Pay Gap for full time workers is now 11.3%, up from 10.4% in 2023. The full-time median gap is 7%, down from 7.5% in 2023. These measures take account of different factors, but the overwhelming narrative is that the UK’s Gender Pay Gap is closing too slowly and one of the lead causes is many more women than men being stuck in low paid, insecure work because of unpaid caring responsibilities[1]. 
2. 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[2]. 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.
3. 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[3]. Disabled women may also benefit from better flexible working[4], allowing them to work. 
4. 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[5].

3. Given this evidence, the Fawcett Society is pleased to see the government deliver on a number of campaigns to improve the world of work for women. The following policies are particularly welcome given what we hear from our members and our extensive research into women’s workplace experiences.

4. Equalities action plans focused on reducing the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap in the UK is closing too slowly.  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 took home £574 less than men each month in 2023 because of the gender pay gap[6]. After years of campaigning,
1. 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.
2. These plans need to be flexible but detailed, based on analysis of their own data, and checked regularly for their quality.
3. The Committee should consider the need to include some additional requirements for action plans. We advocate publishing parental leave policies and flexible working policies as a minimum. This will allow women who are considering changing jobs to know what benefits they would receive in their new job, without having to ask at interview stage. This will make changing jobs easier, contributing to a dynamic economy, as well as encouraging firms to ‘level up’ their offers to employers in these areas to compete for talent.

• 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[7]. 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 Fawcett supporters' original calls for a legal duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to end sexual harassment, including by third parties, 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. We support cross-party efforts to build on this protection by banning and voiding non-disclosure agreements in cases of sexual harassment.
• To be effective, these changes must be followed up with proper enforcement against employers who allow cultures that permit sexual harassment to continue and clear sanctions for failure to comply.

5. 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, or leaving them underemployed in the UK; Fawcett research showed that 40% of women who aren't currently working said that access to flexible work would mean they could take on more paid work[8]. It is leaving them underemployed, earning less and contributing less to the economy.
1. 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.
2. 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[9]. Responsibility for enforcement of such a duty could sit with a newly created Fair Work Agency, or with the EHRC. The body should monitor compliance and investigate where firms are not advertising any jobs as flexible, provide advice and guidance to firms on how to design jobs as flexible and the business benefits of doing so, and provide a route to take action, including imposing financial penalties against employers breaching the rules. 

6. 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, matching statutory maternity leave. There is also a new day one right to bereavement leave.
1. 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.
2. At last count, 15.5% of women and 10.6% of men were not eligible for statutory maternity and paternity pay, due to having to have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks before they can qualify or earning too little to qualify[10].

7. 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[11].
1. 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.
2. Any reasonable exceptions need to be tightly defined and consulted on with employers and employees alike.

8. There are also a number of policy areas where The Fawcett Society would like to see the government go further to drive towards gender equality and inclusive growth. We would like the Committee to consider the importance of the following provisions.

9. 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.
1. 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.
2. We urge the Committee to confirm the timing and stringency of the government amendment on this point to ensure the manifesto commitment to make this simple and straight forward change to double the time limit is kept.

10. 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.
1. 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[12] and, End Salary History by making it illegal to ask about salary history at interview[13]. Fawcett was 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.

11. 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.
1. 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.
2. Fawcett encourages the Committee to establish which body is responsible for policing new protections for women and to make sure they have enough resource and power to do so in the best interests of women and employers alike.

12. 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[14]. 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[15].

13. 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. 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 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.