As the government’s Employment Rights Bill receives its third reading in the House of Lords, the charity Young Women’s Trust are urging peers to do the right thing and pass it in full to ensure the commitment to transforming the lives of thousands of workers does not fall short of its promise.
The Lords have proposed amendments which mean workers will have to request guaranteed hours, instead of it being the responsibility of the employer to offer them. These changes would leave workers having to fight for their right to security.
Claire Reindorp, chief executive at Young Women’s Trust, said: “Through the Employment Rights Bill the government have a real opportunity to make a huge difference to the lives of thousands of workers in this country. Now is not the time to water down the commitment to end exploitative zero hours contracts. Certain groups of people, particularly women, racially minoritised, disabled and younger workers, are much more likely to be on these contracts, struggling to get the hours they need to make ends meet. The new powers under the bill can’t come soon enough.”
Liberty Cheeseman, aged 29 from Wales, worked at a university on a zero hour contract and felt catfished into the role, not realising how insecure it would be and how little she would be earning. She said:
“I left a permanent job to take up a role as a specialist mentor for mental health and autism at a university in Wales as that was something I was really interested in and passionate about. At the time, I was told it would be an extremely busy role and that I would be paid £25 an hour – we were in fact paid £12 an hour and all hours depended on whether a student wanted an appointment. Put simply, if students were not booking appointments I didn’t get paid, so over the summer or any holidays I didn’t get paid at all. It was unbelievably stressful. Even worse, I relied on students actually signing off an appointment to get paid which often didn’t happen.
“I wasn’t entitled to any basic support and when I asked about progression opportunities I was met with a negative response and that I’d been hired for my degree and I should know what I was doing. I felt absolutely stuck, I was going through a very difficult personal experience and was very unsupported with no paid annual leave. I had to continue supporting students with their mental health issues when my mental health was on the floor. I couldn’t afford my bills and I borrowed money to cover the basics. It really was a horrible way to live and I was wasting time watching others around me getting on with their life whilst I was stuck, not knowing when the next pay cheque was coming in.”
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Notes to editors
Liberty Cheeseman is available for interviews to talk about experiences and what a difference the Employment Rights Bill will mean.
For more information or interviews please contact:
Hayley Richardson-Roberts, Communications Lead:
07495 981142 / [email protected]
About Young Women’s Trust:
Young Women’s Trust champions young women aged 18 to 30 on low or no pay. We’re here to create a more equal world of work and raise young women’s incomes.
We offer young women free coaching, feedback on job applications and information to help them get where they want to be. We bring together a thousands-strong network to support each other, build their self-belief, and have their voices heard. We work with young women and anyone who experiences misogyny and sexism to campaign for equality in the workplace. And our research provides insight into what young women’s lives are really like, fuelling our campaigns for change.