The Labour government, as part of their detailed upgrade to workers’ rights plan, is considering allowing unions the right to strike for up to 12 months, instead of 6. Currently, if union members vote to strike, their mandate is applicable for only 6 months, before a second vote would need to take place to continue any further strike action.
It’s worth pointing out that this won’t mean workers will actually strike for a whole year – although in theory they could. Most workers choose to strike over pay or work conditions, but ultimately they need to return to work in order to be paid, so it’s very unlikely an entire workforce would willingly strike for this long.
So Why Bother Changing The Legislation?
Mostly the UK government are considering making the change in order to stop the additional administrative costs. Their research shows that the vast majority of union members will vote to strike again after 6 months, meaning taking the time, energy, and money to set up the vote is simply a waste of time, as it’s something of a forgone conclusion.
How Would The Change Affect UK Businesses?
In the immediate term nothing much would change, especially since the exact details of the Employment Law Bill haven’t been confirmed yet – and there’s still plenty of opportunity for those details to change. However, if things were to change then obviously those workers at your business that are part of a union could have a longer mandate for striking.
This could seriously impact business production, depending on the number of workers on strike and the frequency of those strikes. Losing business production means losing money, which could be difficult for a range of businesses from SMEs to larger companies.
The Cost Of The Employment Law Bill
Giving workers a mandate to strike for a year instead of 6 months isn’t the only thing being considered by the government. The Employment Law Bill aims to bring in a host of changes to workers rights.
This week, the UK government themselves had to admit that the proposed changes could cost businesses a total of £5 billion. Their own impact assessment report shows that this will disproportionately affect smaller businesses, too. Of course, improving workers rights would be welcomed by all business owners, but the impact of a bill of this nature could be devastating for some.
It’s worth remembering that the exact nature of the bill isn’t ironed out yet, so the exact cost can’t be either, but the government’s own provisional numbers are already making some UK businesses nervous.
We, however, don’t want SMEs to feel nervous during this time. The initial phase of the employment bill is only just now being explored, and the government’s own impact assessment report has highlighted the potential risks for small businesses, meaning they will need to also come up with a plan to minimise the impact.
We’ll report on any future changes to the Employment Bill, alongside any other SME news, so be sure to sign up to our FREE newsletter today to receive the most up-to-date SME news straight into your inbox.
