PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Employment Rights Act 2025 - 21 May 2026 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

My hon. Friend was an advocate for such legislation long before it was introduced in the House last year. I know how passionate he is about our wider Make Work Pay agenda, as I am too. The Employment Rights Act 2025 is bringing employment rights legislation into the 21st century. We have already repealed burdensome trade union legislation, strengthened statutory sick pay, introduced day one rights to paternity leave and launched the Fair Work Agency. We are implementing the Act over a two-year period and consulting widely with business organisations, trade unions and civil society, to ensure we get the details right and provide the support people need.

I draw attention to my membership of the GMB and Unite trade unions, and I welcome and acknowledge the Minister’s firm commitment to this area. The Department recently published its response to the trade union right of access consultation. Capping fines at £500,000 equates to a potential liability of 0.02% of operating profits for Amazon’s warehousing operations, but up to 20% of the surplus of a medium- sized trade union. We must get this right. How does disproportionate liability achieve the Government’s aim of creating a workable right in the minority of cases involving very well-resourced and hostile employers?

The legal framework for the right of access in the Employment Rights Act 2025 provides an enforcement mechanism that applies to all parties involved in an access agreement. The Government are clear that the enforcement mechanism must be fair, proportionate and adaptable, and we have set out the factors that the Central Arbitration Committee must consider when setting the value of penalties, acknowledging that some breaches will have a greater impact than others. Those factors will include the gravity of the breach, the number of workers affected by it, and the size and resources of the liable party. The Government believe that the level of penalty fines that the CAC may impose must reflect the seriousness of the breach.

Unemployment is rising, with youth unemployment now at 16%, and the jobs tax and the Employment Rights Act are destroying opportunities. Should Ministers not listen to the chief executive of M&S, who said that instead of “trying to run business,” the Government “should…understand business better”? Will they reduce the burden of regulation and tax, rather than continuing to increase it?

The hon. Member will know the stats and the results that we have seen in the economy this year, particularly on growth. I am glad that he references youth unemployment, which is a long-term problem in the UK. The number of young people not in education, employment or training went up by a quarter of a million in the last three years of the previous Government. It is a long-term problem, and that is why we are taking it very seriously. He will know about our announcements on the youth guarantee to provide hiring incentives to foundational apprenticeships, especially in retail and hospitality. We all know the importance of that. Overall employment levels are healthy, but we are not complacent. We know that there is more work we need to do with employers to support them. That is why, for example, the £2.5 billion that we are making available through grants to businesses to help to create over 500,000 opportunities for young people to earn or learn is so important.

I call the shadow Minister.

This Government are absolutely clear that economic growth is a top priority. We are also absolutely clear that we cannot build the foundation for a strong economy with people in insecure work. That is why this legislation is so important, and we were proud to bring it forward. We are also proud to work with businesses across the country on it, and with our trade union and other partners across the country, working together so that we can build an economy that works for working people, reverse the damage that the hon. Lady’s party did in government and make sure that the economy works in the interests of everybody.