We will not row back on the 48-hour weekly working limit derived from the working time directive. We will not reduce the UK annual leave entitlement, which is already much more generous than the EU minimum standard. We will not row back on legal rights to breaks at work. I will say it again: there is no Government plan to reduce workers’ rights. The Government have managed to have a record that is unimpeachable on this subject. Our manifesto promised, among other things, to get Brexit done and to maintain the existing level of protections for workers provided by our laws and regulations. We have delivered Brexit, and we will not use this new-found freedom to reduce workers’ rights. In any case, as the hon. Member for Middlesbrough said, our higher standards were never dependent on our membership of the EU. The UK has one of the best employment rights records in the world. It is well known that in many areas the UK goes further than the EU on workers’ protections. We have one of the highest minimum wages in the world, and the Government are increasing this again for workers on 1 April, but in the EU there is no requirement to offer a minimum wage or sick pay. In the UK, people get over five weeks of annual leave, minimum; the EU requires only four weeks. In the UK, people get a year of maternity leave; the EU minimum is just 14 weeks. The EU has only just agreed rights to flexible working, over 15 years behind the UK. The Opposition are simply wrong to hold the EU up as the gold standard. Our equalities legislation, and our maternity and paternity entitlements, are already considerably better than the EU’s. Now we have left the EU, our Government and Parliament are able to decide what rules should apply and make improvements where we believe there is a need to do so.”
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Unemployment rate increased to 5% between September and November 2020 1 February 2021 The figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) relating to the period between September and November 2020 highlight the fact that unemployment has risen, and now stands at its highest level in five years. Experts in the industry believe that, unfortunately, it could potentially climb even higher. Between September and November 2020, the estimated UK unemployment rate was 5%, and this is 1.2% higher than in the same period in the previous year. It also signals a 0.6% increase from the previous quarter, as it has risen by 202,000 in three months.
The unemployment figure during the period equated to 1.72 million people.
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Labour Market statistics: January 2021 2 February 2021
The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has released its latest Labour Market Statistics report, which suggests that the labour market stopped deteriorating towards the end of 2020, and that the worst point was reached during the first stage of the coronavirus crisis. The analysis looks at Labour Force Survey data covering the period from September to November 2020, along with Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data, information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Vacancy Survey and additional administrative data from the benefits system on Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance. It establishes that, whilst it appears that the labour market is no longer reversing, it could be fair to state that it is stuck in neutral, and that there is not much to signify any sustained recovery. Over recent months, it appears that things became more stable, as employment levelled off towards the latter part of the year, and unemployment growth was driven by an increase in the size of the labour force. There have been substantial increases in the number of redundancies, because of the impacts of the first lockdown, and it is predicted that they have now peaked, and will begin to decrease from next month.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
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