2 May 2025
Last week I received an email thanking me for something I did two years ago.
That something was make it harder for bad bosses to sack pregnant women.
A few years ago, I learnt that around 54,000 women a year were losing their jobs just for being pregnant. I was determined to do what I could to help. Yet as a backbench MP – as I then was – I didn’t have many options.
The only thing I could do was draft a Private Members Bill and work to make sure it got cross-party support across Parliament.
I’m pleased to report that it did. In 2023, my Bill became an Act, a new law. Called The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act, it made it the statutory duty of employers to find alternative roles for pregnant employees facing redundancy.
This Act has helped thousands of women, including the one who wrote to me last week to let me know that it had helped her in 2023 and again in 2025.
I’m incredibly proud of this Act, just as I’m incredibly proud to serve in a Labour Government that is currently legislating to bring in new measures to improve employment conditions and rights for working people across the country.
Since this week marked International Workers’ Day (May 1st), it seems like a particularly appropriate time to review these measures!
Our Employment Rights Bill will deliver the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights for a generation with over thirty new measures.
We’ll bring in new ‘Day 1 rights’ of employment because we believe it is morally right that everyone should be protected from Unfair Dismissal – and entitled to Paternity Leave – from the very first day they start their new job. We’ll also strengthen Statutory Sick Pay, establish Bereavement Leave, make Flexible Working easier, and abolish the scourge of fire and rehire.
At the same time, we’re improving conditions for people on zero hours contracts with our guaranteed hours policy.
We’ll also establish a Fair Work Agency to make sure all employers play by the same rules, and we’re committed to negotiating pay and conditions through Fair Pay Agreements – this is why we’re re-establishing the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
Our reforms won’t only be pro-worker – they’ll also be pro-business.
The Bill’s Impact Assessment revealed that our measures will help retain excellent workers and boost productivity, contributing to the Government’s Mission for Growth.
As I said, I’m proud to support the Employment Rights Bill.
This is more than can be said for Tory and Reform MPs.
Nigel Farage and Reform love to pretend to be on the side of working people, but they again revealed their true colours by voting against our plan to improve working conditions. Don’t be fooled!
As the ‘thank you’ email I received in my inbox last week shows, measures like the ones in our Employment Rights Bill can make a real, positive difference to working people. Labour will always be on their side.