Workers rights reforms will not happen before next election

A major package of reforms to workers' rights in Northern Ireland will not happen before next year's Assembly election.

The Good Jobs Bill was first announced almost two years ago.

It was the main piece of legislation being brought forward by the Sinn Féin Economy Minister, Caoimhe Archibald.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) opposed elements of the draft bill and refused to allow it to be debated by the Assembly.

Parts of the bill were also opposed by a coalition of business groups including the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses.

They had been urging delay, arguing that there was not enough time to properly scrutinise the changes.

There is now not enough time to pass the legislation even if it had DUP support, which is increasingly unlikely.

The Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney said: "The DUP has destroyed any prospect of the Good Jobs Bill becoming law within this Assembly mandate.

"It has denied the Assembly the opportunity to properly debate or even vote on this landmark employment rights legislation.

"The DUP has exposed itself to be anti-worker, anti-trade union, and fundamentally opposed to progress."

The DUP has been asked for comment.

Confirming the Good Jobs Bill has now been pulled, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said it has been clear in the past few weeks the DUP was determined to "frustrate and delay" the bill which she said would have been the most "progressive piece of workers' rights legislation in generations" .

"It would have been the most significant bill in this mandate, but it has become absolutely apparent that the DUP are going to continue to block this bill, and it's not going to be possible to pass it within the rest of this mandate."

She said the bill contained "really important rights like the rights to carers leave, the right to neo-natal care leave".

The proposed legislation also included the "right for trade unions to access workplaces so that workers can actually exercise the rights that they have".

Asked if she plans to bring the bill forward in the next mandate if Sinn Féin does not hold the economy portfolio, the minister said there are other routes to progress legislation in the assembly.

"My party will be determined to make sure that that happens," she said.

The future of this legislation will depend on the outcome of next year's Assembly election and which ministerial portfolios the parties are able to choose.

The next minister for the economy is not legally obliged to reintroduce the draft policy.

If Sinn Féin do not get the economy brief they could still try to advance the legislation through a Private Member's Bill.

It covers four broad areas of workers' rights: Terms of employment, pay and benefits, work-life balance and the role of trades unions.

Among the most eye-catching proposals is a significant change to zero-hour contracts.

These are contracts which allow employers to hire staff with no guarantee of the hours they will work.

They are often seen as emblematic of how employment has become more precarious for some workers.

These contracts would largely be replaced by "banded hours".

That would mean workers who consistently work regular hours over a six month period will have a legal right to request to be moved into a specific band of contracted hours.

In the Republic of Ireland there are eight bands starting at three to six hours and running up to 36 hours and above.

Under the Good Jobs plan, an employer would only be able to refuse a request for a banded hours contract in limited circumstances.

Zero-hours contracts would remain legal where work is genuinely seasonal or casual.

For some employers the most controversial plans were for enhanced trade union access.

Currently, unions generally only have a right to enter a workplace if they are already recognised by the employer.

The bill would give unions a "right to request" access to meet with workers for recruitment and representation.

Access would not be automatic, but employers would not be permitted to "unreasonably" withhold it.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) assistant general secretary Gerry Murphy said that workers in Northern Ireland "will be left behind once again".

He said workers faced the prospect of another assembly mandate ending without the enactment of employment protections "enjoyed by workers across the Irish Sea".

"We now are confronted with the farcical situation where some ministers at the executive table say that this bill cannot be discussed because it has not received the backing of business lobby groups," Murphy said.

"When asked for their opinion, these same business lobby groups hide behind the spurious claim that they have no knowledge of the provisions contained within the bill."

Murphy added that the trade union movement welcomed debate and was "not looking for special treatment.

"Those seeking to block this bill, whether they be a political party or a business lobby group, must be held to account."