The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has welcomed amendments to the Employments Right Bill put forward by the House of Lords last week.

Members of the House of Lords proposed removing the bill’s “day one” rights for employees to claim unfair dismissal and replacing it with a qualifying period of six months, down from the current two-year period.

It also included the removal of a worker’s right to guaranteed-hour contracts after 12 weeks of service with a “right to request” guaranteed hours.

The BRC’s chief executive Helen Dickinson labelled the changes as “practical and pragmatic”, adding the amendments would “help to protect the availability of valuable, local, part-time and entry level jobs up and down the country”.

“To ignore these suggested changes when the Bill returns to the Commons would undermine the Government’s own plans to get Britain working again as fewer flexible, part-time jobs will be available,” she said.

The BRC has previously raised concerns that Labour’s original proposals could have a negative impact on job flexibility in the retail sector, which relies on part-time and seasonal workers during busy peak periods, as well as unfairly increasing costs for retailers.

Dickinson added that “there is further to go” with making the Employment Rights Bill fit for purpose: “Even with these amendments accepted, retailers remain worried about the consequences for jobs from other areas of the Bill.

“The industry has lost 350,000 jobs over the past ten years, and current proposals around Guaranteed Hours in particular could threaten the availability of local flexible part-time jobs, which support so many people from so many backgrounds into work.

“Of the three million people working in retail, half work part-time, which allows them to manage work alongside their other life commitments, and work as much, or as little as they are able to,” she said.

The House of Lords will have a final change to agree amendments to the Employments Rights Bill on 3 September during its third reading, where it will then be considered by the House of Commons. Once approved, the bill will pass for royal assent to become law.

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