Unions fear ministers may backtrack on UK worker protection bill
The government has been urged to protect vulnerable workers amid suggestions that ministers may backtrack on plans to strengthen workplace sexual harassment laws.
The general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Paul Nowak, said it would be “shameful” to drop the worker protection bill due a backlash by Tory politicians, who claim that the new rules will force business owners to run their firms like a “police state”.
Ministers are reportedly planning to drop the bill without a credible backup to strengthen protection for staff.
“It would be utterly shameful if the government allows this bill to fall,” Nowak said on Sunday. “Ministers promised to bring in new laws to tackle sexual harassment, but now appear to be backsliding. Let’s not forget – women are experiencing sexual harassment and abuse on an industrial scale.”
Supporters of the bill have said these kinds of rules would have given protections to women caught up in scandals including the Presidents Club dinner in 2018, where female hostesses were allegedly told to wear “black, sexy” underwear, and subsequently accused customers – who included prominent business figures – of sexual harassment.
The TUC warned the prime minister that dropping the bill would put vulnerable staff at risk. “Rishi Sunak must not abandon vulnerable staff. These protections are essential,” Nowak said. “We know many in public-facing jobs – like shop workers and GP receptionists – suffer abuse and harassment regularly from clients and customers.”
Plans to drop the bill, first reported by the Telegraph, come after Conservative politicians raised concerns that employers would be at risk of costly lawsuits, given that it contained rules that would make firms liable harassment or “banter” by
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