Ending unfair dismissal will help all workers – young, LGBT, Black and Asian the most
Angela Rayner with Labour's employment rights green paper in 2021, Labour conference (Credit: Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy)
4 min read
Right now, your boss is allowed to sack you for any reason they want if you’ve been in your job for less than two years.
It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how qualified you are, you can get sacked on a whim, without a valid reason and be left unable to take legal action.
Most people would agree this is unfair dismissal but that’s not what the law says. And it’s young, Black and Asian workers who are on the sharp end of this, as they’re more likely to have been in their jobs for less than two years.
According to the TUC, over half of employees under 30 have been with their current employer for less than two years, and 42 per cent of Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees have been with their current employer for less than two years, compared with 28 per cent of white employees.
Of course, under the Equality Act – one of the last Labour government’s greatest achievements – you are protected from being dismissed because of your ethnicity, because you're a woman, or LGBT+ for example. But this is incredibly difficult to prove, even though employees often know it’s because our "face doesn't fit".
That’s why it’s so important that this Labour government is taking action to stop unfair dismissal. The Employment Rights Bill, returning to the Lords today before returning to the Commons if there is more ping pong, will make protection from unfair dismissal a ‘day one right’. This means that protection starts from your first day on the job, rather than having to wait for two years for it to kick in.
A day one right against unfair dismissal will make it more difficult for employers to get away with discriminatory dismissals, as they will now need to be more transparent about the reason for the dismissal.
It will also stop the despicable practice where some employers routinely sack workers just before their two year anniversary, to stop them getting rights.
I've spoken to some businesses in my constituency in Jarrow and Gateshead East who are concerned the new law might make it difficult to let people go who just aren't up to the job. But this is not the case: the new law will still allow them to move people who aren't capable or who can’t meet the requirements of the role, even with support. Employers just need to do it fairly, with a proper process. A probation period will still apply, with the length still set to be decided, but it is expected to be between six to nine months.
We know that most employers want this – 73 per cent of employers support giving employees protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment, according to research by the IPPR and the TUC. What this Labour government is doing is levelling the playing field for all employers.
But these new protections are not a foregone conclusion. Reform voted against them in the House of Commons, proving they’re no friend of working people. In the House of Lords, the Conservatives, backed by their old friends the Liberal Democrats, amended the Employment Rights Bill to try and block the day one right not to be unfairly dismissed.
The New Deal for Working People was a manifesto commitment and must be delivered in full. That means passing the nill intact and ensuring it is implemented robustly so the rights deliver on the promise made to voters. This is the change working people voted for, and the government must stand firm against unelected Tory and Lib Dem Lords lining up with the bad bosses to water down workers' rights.
We need to make sure this new day one right is defended, so we can give much needed security to these LGBT+, young, Black and Asian workers that are on the sharp end of the labour market and are depending on a Labour government to end unfair dismissals.
Delivering the New Deal for Working People in full will give these workers, and working people right across the country, the security they need to thrive at work.
Kate Osborne is the Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, and a member of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs
