New law 'will transform the world of work for millions' - Scarborough and Whitby MP

This new legislation will transform the world of work for millions of us across the country and will be the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation.

In future, hundreds of thousands of people will qualify for sick pay from the first day they are ill.

We’ll be able to claim unpaid parental leave as soon as we start a job rather than having to have worked for an employer for at least 26 weeks.

The existing two-year qualifying period for protections from unfair dismissal will be removed.

This means nine million workers who have been with their current employer for less than two years will benefit.

Workers on zero hours contracts will have to be offered a guaranteed-hours contract based on the hours they have clocked up during a 12-week period, and will be entitled to "reasonable" notice of any shift changes, as well as compensation if a shift is cancelled or cut short.

In 2023 there were 8,000 people working in the hospitality sector in Scarborough and Whitby, that’s twenty per cent of all employees, plus 4,500 people working in retail.

Both these sectors use zero hours contracts so Labour’s plans to Make Work Pay will make a big difference here.

The TUC estimates that 1 in 25 employees didn’t get any of the paid holiday they were entitled to last year.

The new Fair Work Agency will enforce holiday pay for the first time.

The Low Pay Commission estimates that in 2022 one in five workers receiving the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage were not provided with the correct pay.

In Scarborough and Whitby, over fifty per cent women in part-time jobs are being paid below the National Living Wage, much higher than the thirty per cent for the rest of the UK.

This bill aims to bring an end to unfair practice.

There’s so much this new Government is doing to turn around more than a decade of decline – and it’s been a rollercoaster five months since the General Election.

I, like many of you, am now looking forward to spending time with family and being at home for longer than a couple of days!

For many of us though, this can be a difficult time of the year – particularly if we’ve suffered the loss of a loved one and are facing our first Christmas without them.

For others this can be an overwhelming time, trying to meet the needs and expectations of family.

I hope each and every one of you remembers or experiences some joy in the fellowship of friends, neighbours and loved ones over this Christmas season.

If you need my assistance please email [email protected] or telephone 01723 679333.

With my best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Alison.