20 October 2006
The Minister for Social Security, Senator Paul Routier, will meet representatives of the TGWU on 6th March to discuss the future programme of new employment legislation.
The original series of employment legislation was grouped into two phases following public consultation to establish a priority order. This order was approved by the States in a proposition debated in 2000. The first phase only came into effect in July last year and consultation on Phase 2, which includes redundancy, transfer of undertakings, maternity, family friendly, flexible working and equal pay legislation, will begin shortly. Priorities for Phase 3 have not yet been consulted upon.
The TGWU Regional Secretary continues to claim that there are areas where workers in Jersey will not benefit from employment rights in the planned legislation programme. However, the TGWU has been advised on a number of occasions that most of their concerns are being dealt with either in Phase 2 of the legislation, or are underway with another States Department.
The Minister has written to the Regional Secretary setting out the current situation and it is anticipated that this clarification will form the basis of the agenda for the meeting.
Senator Routier commented, "I am grateful to the TGWU for agreeing to a further meeting to discuss the future employment legislation programme. I hope that we can focus our thoughts in a constructive way to ensure that we provide appropriate protection for the workforce.
We aim to refine and develop our Employment Law over time, however the size of our Island and the amount of legislation it can absorb at any one time must be a key factor in any future developments."
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