AQO 1981/22-27

Ms Sian Mulholland
Alliance Party
North Antrim

Tabled Date: 01/05/2025
Answered On Date: 13/05/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to outline how the Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill will help to create more inclusive workplaces.

Answer:

The Good Jobs Employment Bill will help create more inclusive workplaces by making the right to request flexible working a Day-1 right, enabling two such requests in a 12-month period and removing the requirement for an employee to consider the impact of a request on their employer.

It will initially introduce up to 5 days of annual leave for unpaid carers to care for a dependent with a long-term care need. It is my aim to introduce a paid carers leave entitlement .

The Bill will provide up to 12-weeks of paid leave for parents whose newborns require neo-natal care. It will enable paternity leave to be taken as two separate blocks of one week, or as a single block; and it will enhance protections from redundancy and dismissal for pregnant employees, and for employees who have recently returned to work after a period of family-related leave.

Ending exploitative contracts will ensure workers can rely on a decent and secure income, enabling more people to participate in the workforce.

My proposals will also reform the way in which workers access and utilise workplace representation mechanisms, such as trade unions and information and consultation agreements ensuring that more workers have a say in those issues which affect them.