Clause 25
Education and Skills Bill
7:00 pm
David Laws (Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Children, Schools and Families; Yeovil, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 173, in clause 25, page 14, line 5, at end add—
‘(8) No part of this section shall have such effect as to compel a person to whom this Part applies to work in the evenings or at weekends where this is outside the conditions of the contract of employment.’.
I fear that we are touching on issues and concerns similar to those addressed by the previous amendment, but in a slightly different way. What if an employer who is not particularly enthusiastic about the Bill, which is quite understandable from my party’s point of view, recognises their education or training obligation, but says, “Fine, do it on Saturday. Do it at 9 o’clock in the evening”, when it is outside the conditions of the contract of employment? Will there be any protection, or will the backstop for that also be that the young person must simply give up the job opportunity or end up potentially working a vast number of hours both in formal employment and in education or training during the week?