To ask the Minister for the Economy for an update on his Department’s consultation on the proposed Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill.

Mr C Murphy

I launched the consultation on the good jobs employment rights Bill on 1 July 2024. My officials and I have engaged with stakeholders before and during the consultation. I welcome the constructive engagement to date. The consultation covers four key aspects of a good job: terms of employment; pay and benefits; voice and representation; and work-life balance. Stakeholder responses to the consultation will help to inform the content of my Bill. I encourage everyone with an interest in that important issue to respond to the consultation before it closes on 30 September 2024. I am especially keen to hear from workers and employers with personal experience of and views on how to address the issues covered by the document.

Mr C Murphy

We are certainly open to considering what is needed. The consultation is open-ended and without predetermination, so, if people feel that there are issues that the Department has not adequately addressed, on which legislation or strengthening of the process is needed, we are very happy to hear about them and, if possible, to take action where that is required. The consultation officially closes on 30 September, but we have spoken to people before and during the consultation, and we will speak to people afterwards in order to chart an approach in the time ahead. The intention is to introduce legislation by the end of next year, but, if there are particular issues that the Member wishes to raise, we are very happy to hear about them and see how they can be addressed.

Mr Kearney

Minister, you touched on the conclusion of the review, scheduled for 30 September. To what extent have workers, businesses and the trade union movement been engaged with to maximise their participation? Can you give us a sense of the quality of the responses that have been received?

Mr C Murphy

As I said, the consultation began, in effect, before the document was issued. This is the most substantial piece of employment legislation since the Good Friday Agreement. It is playing catch-up in a lot of areas, such as protection for workers, so there has been a lot of proactive engagement to make sure that we have on the table all the issues that we need to address. We have directly met trade unions and representatives of employers and businesses from a variety of sectors. We have met various stakeholders to hear their views on the consultation in a mixture of one-to-one meetings and large events attended by multiple stakeholders. Most recently, on Friday, the Department hosted a conference with Dr Lisa Wilson and other experts in the field of employment relations from across Ireland and Britain. The engagement has been constructive. People come from different perspectives on some of the issues, of course, and that will be discussed with them, but I have been encouraged by the quality and the constructive nature of the conversation to date. Trade union representatives and business organisations have been in the same room discussing the issues. That will be beneficial in the longer term, when we enter the legislative process and bring the Bill through the Assembly.

Mr McGlone

Employees and workers in the agriculture sector face different sets of challenges in their work, not only cyclically through the seasons but daily. Has your Department engaged with workers from that sector on the special challenges that they face and how they, too, can be accommodated in the Bill?

Mr C Murphy

At the heart of the Bill is provision for a minimum threshold for protection of workers and workers' rights. That will apply to all workers whatever their sector. There has been engagement with trade unions representing a broad range of workers.

If the Member feels that there is a gap in a particular sector, I can check with the Department to see whether there was specific engagement with agriculture workers. If he senses that there is a gap, I am happy for departmental officials to engage with him to see what particular issues those workers are dealing with. At its core, however, the Bill is about providing a minimum standard of protection for workers in jobs to make sure that terms and conditions apply to people and that their rights are protected, regardless of the sector from which they come.