New employment rights would raise living standards for BME workers

Working conditions for black and minority ethnic (BME) workers would improve under planned Labour reforms to employment rights, research shows.

An analysis by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has found that the number of BME workers in insecure jobs reached a new record of one in six. 

The Labour government have proposed the Employment Rights Bill to tackle ‘exploitative practices’ in workplaces. TUC say this bill is ‘vital’ to improving living standards for BME people.

The rise of insecure work

Between 2011 and 2023, the overall number of people in insecure work – such as zero-hour contracts, low-paid self-employment and seasonal work – went up by almost 1 million to 4.1 million, the report shows.

That’s an increase of 31%, while secure jobs only went up by 11% during this period.

‘Structural racism’

The TUC analysis found that BME workers were hit the hardest by the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

The number of BME people in insecure employment more than doubled between 2011 and 2024 – the period when the Conservatives were in power – increasing from 360,000 to 878,000. That’s 8.5 times the increase in the proportion of white workers in insecure work over this period – of 17%.

This huge difference shows “structural racism in action”, the analysis says, with BME workers facing discrimination in recruitment processes, fewer opportunities for training and development than white workers, and often being forced into lower-paid roles.

Enhancing working rights

As part of the Employment Rights Bill, zero-hour contracts and unfair dismissal would be banned, the government say.

On top of this, all workers would be entitled to parental leave and sick pay – and in most cases, firing a new mother in the six months after she returns to work would become illegal.   

Employment rights would apply from day one on the job. Flexible working would also be the default, with companies unable to unreasonably deny employees the right to work flexibly.  

The bill would also remove the lower earnings limit – that’s the minimum you need to earn to be able to qualify for certain benefits, like basic state pension. It would also scratch the waiting period for statutory sick pay, which currently means you aren’t paid for the first three days when you’re off sick.

As well as the gender pay gap, the government wants all large companies to report on their ethnicity and disability wage gaps, in order to tackle these inequalities.