Just and fair conditions at work – Government action

UK Government actions

• In July 2021, the UK Government responded to the Women and Equalities Select Committee consultation on sexual harassment in the workplace, committing to introduce a duty requiring employers to protect employees from harassment.
• In July 2021, the UK Government announced it would bring together key groups to respond to pregnancy and maternity discrimination in the workplace.
• In June 2021, the UK Government confirmed it would establish a single enforcement body for employment rights.
• In February 2021, we and the UK Government agreed to recommence mandatory gender pay gap reporting for 2020–21, after pausing it due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
• In February 2021, the UK Government announced the reconvening of the Flexible Working Task Force to inform policy development in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, the taskforce developed guidance on hybrid working.
• In January 2021, the UK Government published findings of a review into workplace support for victims of domestic abuse and committed to establishing a working group to promote best practice.
• In May 2020, the UK Government published guidance for employers in different sectors on working safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2019, the UK Government consulted on several proposals under its Good Work Plan, including introducing ethnicity pay reporting, one-sided flexibility, the setting up of a single enforcement body, and proposals to support families.
• In 2019, the UK Government published ‘Gender equality at every stage: a roadmap for change’ to address gender inequality in the workplace.
• In 2019, the UK Government’s consultation response on pregnancy and maternity discrimination committed to extending the redundancy protection period for new parents following their return to work.
• In 2017, the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017 and the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017 came into force, requiring employers in England, Scotland and Wales with 250 or more employees to publish information about their gender pay gap.

Welsh Government actions Employment is generally an area reserved to the UK Government, but the Welsh Government has some limited powers.

• In its ‘Programme for government 2021 to 2026’, the Welsh Government made commitments including paying care workers the ‘Real Living Wage’ and exploring legislation to address pay gaps across protected characteristics.
• In April 2021, consultation on the Social Partnerships and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill closed. The bill will put social partnership on a statutory footing and seeks to deliver fair work outcomes, among other objectives.
• In September 2020, the Welsh Government created the Social Care Forum (now the Social Care Fair Work Forum), bringing together trade unions, employers and government to influence fair work in social care.
• In May 2020, the Welsh Government produced guidance for employers to ‘Keep Wales safe at work’ and introduced a COVID-19 workforce risk assessment tool.
• In 2018, the First Minister established the Fair Work Commission to make recommendations on fair work. The Welsh Government accepted the six priority recommendations of the Fair Work Wales report, and accepted the remaining 42 recommendations in principle.
• In 2018, the Welsh Government introduced the Economic Contract as part of its ‘Prosperity for All: economic action plan’, under which businesses seeking investment must demonstrate their commitment to responsible business practices, including fair work.
• In September 2018, the Welsh Government committed to take forward almost all recommendations from the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee’s report on pregnancy, maternity and work.