Workers’ rights: Sick pay and parental leave part of major overhaul

Dominic Ponniah, the boss of Cleanology, told the BBC his firm is delaying hiring plans while being more cautious of who it takes on.

The cleaning company he runs has about 1,300 employees located from Scotland to Southampton.

“Hiring people is quite a big thing, costly, and people are concerned about the ramifications after these announcements,” he said.

“It’s just another thing that businesses have to contend with,” he said, adding that the new rules around sick pay, unfair dismissal and probationary periods would make business “very, very nervous”.

Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses suggested that the new bill was a “rushed job, clumsy, chaotic and poorly planned”.

She said that smaller firms would be left “scrabbling to make sense” of the changes and called for a full consultation on each individual measure.

The matter of zero-hours contracts has also been hotly debated.

Under the Employment Rights Bill, bosses will have to offer workers a guaranteed-hours contract based on the hours they have clocked up during a 12-week period.

Workers on zero-hours contracts will also be entitled to “reasonable” notice ahead of any changes being made to their shifts, as well as compensation if a shift is cancelled or ended early.

Zero-hours contracts have come in for criticism in the past as the likes of factory or warehouse workers have missed out on a steady income and certain benefits.

But UKHospitality said it is the preferred policy for workers in their sector.

Ruby, a first-year university student, told the BBC that she is on a zero-hours contract with her local football club, selling food and drinks on match days.

“In my situation it’s quite good. I can pick up shifts if and when I need a bit of extra money, or if I’m home for the weekend,” she said.

She says that this approach offers her more flexibility than a contract specifying a certain number of hours would.

“If I’m there and I want to do it, I can do it.”