Clause 1
Employment Bill [Lords]
10:45 am
Michael Jabez Foster (Hastings and Rye, Labour)
I, too, am honoured to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Bercow.
This is absolutely the right thing to do. Whatever we think about statutory codes, employers, particularly small employers and certainly individuals who are not members of trade unions, simply do not understand what they are about. Perhaps I should declare an interest. I have a practising certificate and was previously appointed as a part-time chairman of tribunals. It is clear that people do not understand statutory codes. They understand simple, straightforward guidance. May I therefore also congratulate ACAS on the draft code that the Minister has kindly circulated? If that is to be the new standard, it is a gold standard which certainly could be a precedent for much else in the world of employment law. On this, we are absolutely at one.