Struggling arts organisations could be given an exemption from proposed legislation to end zero-hours contracts and boost workers’ rights under an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill being debated in the House of Lords.
According to the government’s own analysis, plans to upgrade workers’ rights, which include challenging the use of zero-hours contracts and increasing sick pay, will cost businesses up to 5bn a year to implement
An amendment to the bill, currently going through the House of Lords, would see the changes “applied in stages” for arts and cultural organisations, with timelines for the gradual implementation of provisions based on their “size, turnover and reliance on public funding”.
Tabled by crossbench peers Earl of Clancarty Nicholas Trench and Lord Freyberg, the amendment would also provide an exemption from the application of a number of provisions in the bill “for arts and cultural organisations in financial distress” as well as a review mechanism to “assess compliance when their financial position stabilises”.
There would also be a “transition support package” to provide advisory services to arts and cultural organisations on restructuring their employment practices.
A further amendment, also tabled by Trench and Freyberg, would establish an independent review board to monitor the impact of changes to employment rights made by the legislation on the arts and cultural sector.
The board would conduct annual impact assessments,...
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