The government has unveiled their Employment Rights Bill, promising to bring about much-anticipated reforms for working people all around the country.
It is vital that people can rely on a stable income to afford their rents and avoid poverty and debt. Greater security at work means greater security at home.
This is why, at Generation Rent, it is so important that we fight for better working rights, as well as housing and renting rights, in our mission for every private tenant to access a safe, secure and affordable home.
We have been working with UNISON, the UK’s largest trade union, to conduct research and recently found that working private renters too often:
- Struggle to find good quality homes to move to close to their work and in their local areas.
- Are spending astronomical amounts of their wages on rent, especially those in the public sector.
- Worry constantly about the threat of eviction.
- Are fighting against disrepair, damp, mould, dangerous conditions and other issues with standards.
- Experience bad or even illegal treatment from their landlords and letting agents.
The bottom line is that if people have a decent living wage and a decent affordable home to rent, then millions could be protected from poverty, debt, eviction and homelessness.
So, how exactly could the Employment Rights Bill help private renters?
- An end to the practice of fire and rehire – Employers cannot sack employees and rehire them on worse terms and conditions. However, there is an exception to this. Businesses at risk of complete collapse may be able to alter terms and conditions if it is the difference between going bust.
- Workers won’t be forced to accept zero-hours contracts – Employers will have to give their employees the option of a guaranteed-hours contract if they work regular hours over a defined period (which is likely to be 12 weeks as this is what Labour originally said).
- Day one dismissal protections– Where workers have previously had to wait two years to qualify for protection from unfair dismissal, they will now get these protections from their first day of employment.
- Better sick pay – Workers will get rights to sick pay from the first day of their employment, rather than from day four. There will be a universal entitlement to sick pay, where under the current system, an employee must earn an average of at least £123 a week.
- Higher wages – The government also plans to change the remit of the Low Pay Commission so it must take into account the cost of living when setting the minimum wage. It also intends to remove all the age bands that set a lower minimum wage for younger staff, meaning that young people across the country will see their incomes rise.
Will the new law address income inequality?
The Employment Rights Bill will require businesses to draw up action plans to address gender pay gaps in their organisations, and to support female employees through menopause.
Marginalised communities experience substantial levels of housing and renting inequalities. Generation Rent research has found that people from minority ethnic backgrounds and from migrant communities are struggling at the sharpest end of the housing and renting crisis. A big reason for this is the income inequality that racialised people face.
Something not included in the Bill but that the government has committed to doing at a later date, is legislation to end pay discrimination. This is expected to include measures to make it mandatory for large employers to report their ethnicity and disability pay gap. Watch this space.
Are you a working private renter who is struggling? Tell us your story here.
Read our full report on working private renters with UNISON here.