Employment
Jobs, wages, and workers rights
Based on 52 parliamentary votes
Related Economy Issues
How Parties Voted on Employment
Government alignment shows how often each party voted with the government's stated position. Issue-aligned direction shows agreement with the AI-identified supportive stance.
Voted with government positionVoted in issue-aligned direction
Recent Votes
| Vote | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|
Vote on regulations giving the new Fair Work Agency (created by the Employment Rights Act 2025) the same investigatory powers previously held by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, including surveillance tools. Conservatives argued these state-level surveillance powers were disproportionate for a labour enforcement body; the Lib Dems backed the government. Yes = Support transferring investigatory and surveillance powers to the Fair Work Agency as a necessary consequence of merging labour enforcement functions into the new body · No = Oppose granting the Fair Work Agency extensive surveillance powers, arguing they are disproportionate for a labour enforcement agency and represent state overreach Govt: Aye | 368-107 | 18 Mar 2026 |
An opposition party brought a motion on youth unemployment for debate in the House of Commons, likely calling on the government to take stronger action to tackle joblessness among young people. Opposition Day motions are typically symbolic but signal political priorities. Yes = Support the opposition's call for greater government action on youth unemployment · No = Reject the opposition motion, defending the government's existing approach to youth employment and skills Govt: No | 93-286 | 28 Jan 2026 |
The government voted to reject Lords amendments to the Employment Rights Bill that sought to impose consultation, impact assessment, and parliamentary scrutiny requirements on a new late-stage provision (reportedly a £118,000 cap on employment tribunal awards or similar). The Lords had tried to add procedural safeguards arguing the measure was inserted without proper process; the government wanted to proceed without those constraints. Yes = Support the government overriding the Lords' procedural safeguards and pressing ahead with the Employment Rights Bill without additional consultation or impact assessment requirements on the disputed provision · No = Back the Lords' position that a significant new policy inserted late in the Bill's passage should require proper consultation, risk assessment, and parliamentary scrutiny before becoming law Govt: Aye | 312-98 | 15 Dec 2025 |
The government put forward an amendment to change the wording of an opposition-proposed debate motion on seasonal agricultural work, likely to soften or redirect criticism of government policy on seasonal worker visas and rural employment conditions. Yes = Support the government's amended version of the motion on seasonal work, accepting the government's framing of its approach to seasonal agricultural labour · No = Prefer the original opposition motion on seasonal work, signalling dissatisfaction with the government's record or policy on seasonal worker schemes and rural employment Govt: Aye | 319-98 | 10 Dec 2025 |
An opposition party brought a motion on seasonal work to a Commons vote, likely calling on the government to address issues facing seasonal agricultural workers such as visa schemes, pay, or working conditions. The government voted it down. Yes = Support the opposition's position on seasonal work, likely backing improved conditions, visa access, or protections for seasonal agricultural workers · No = Reject the opposition motion on seasonal work, backing the government's existing approach to seasonal labour in agriculture Govt: No | 100-323 | 10 Dec 2025 |
MPs voted on the government's position regarding Lords Amendment 62 to the Employment Rights Bill, which relates to protections against unfair dismissal. The government proposed its own alternative amendment in lieu of the Lords' version, seeking to bring in unfair dismissal protections from 1 January 2027 for employees already having six months' service, rather than waiting the full qualifying period. Yes = Support the government's compromise approach to unfair dismissal protections, bringing forward protections earlier for workers with existing service, while rejecting the Lords' specific amendment in favour of the government's own wording · No = Oppose the government's handling of unfair dismissal reforms, either preferring the Lords' original amendment or opposing the expansion of unfair dismissal protections altogether as damaging to employment and businesses Govt: Aye | 320-164 | 8 Dec 2025 |
A Lords-Commons ping-pong vote on the Employment Rights Bill, where the government proposed its own compromise amendments (a) and (b) in place of Lords amendments 72D–72H, which the Commons had previously rejected. This is part of the ongoing negotiation between the two Houses over the final shape of the Bill's employment provisions. Yes = Support the government's compromise wording on the disputed employment rights provisions, rejecting the Lords' alternative amendments 72D–72H in favour of the government's own substitute text · No = Prefer the Lords' amendments 72D–72H, or oppose the government's handling of this stage of the Employment Rights Bill ping-pong process Govt: Aye | 323-164 | 8 Dec 2025 |
The House voted to reject Lords amendments that would have altered provisions on guaranteed hours and related worker protections in the Employment Rights Bill, instead substituting the Government's own alternative amendments. This is part of ongoing 'ping-pong' between the Commons and Lords over key elements of the Bill, with the Government seeking to pass its version of new employment rights rather than the Lords' preferred changes. Yes = Support the Labour Government's version of the Employment Rights Bill, overriding Lords changes to provisions on guaranteed hours and related protections for workers · No = Prefer the Lords' amendments over the Government's alternatives, or oppose the Bill's approach to workers' rights more broadly Govt: Aye | 298-97 | 8 Dec 2025 |
The Lords had amended the Employment Rights Bill to shift the 'right to guaranteed hours' so that workers would have to request guaranteed hours from their employer, rather than employers being required to proactively offer them. The government rejected this Lords change and proposed its own alternative amendments, keeping the duty on employers to offer guaranteed hours to eligible workers. Yes = Support keeping the employer duty to proactively offer guaranteed hours to workers, rejecting the Lords' weaker version that would have required workers to request them · No = Prefer the Lords' amendment placing the initiative on workers to request guaranteed hours, giving employers more flexibility Govt: Aye | 328-98 | 8 Dec 2025 |
MPs voted to reject a Lords amendment (48B) to the Employment Rights Bill and replace it with a government compromise on zero-hours contracts and unfair dismissal protections, including bringing forward unfair dismissal protections to 1 January 2027 for workers with six months' service, rather than accepting the Lords' version. Yes = Support the government's amended approach to zero-hours contracts and unfair dismissal protections, including earlier commencement of protections and seasonal work provisions, in place of the Lords' amendment · No = Oppose the government's compromise, either preferring the Lords' stronger amendment or rejecting the underlying workers' rights measures Govt: Aye | 394-100 | 8 Dec 2025 |
How is this calculated?
Government alignment (primary bar) shows how often a party's MPs voted with the government's stated position on this issue. This is the most comparable metric across parties, as it measures the same reference point for everyone.
Issue-aligned direction (secondary bar) shows how often MPs voted in the direction tagged as supportive of this issue by AI analysis. For example, if a vote is tagged “pro-environment”, a Yes vote counts as aligned. This can be misleading when the tagged direction happens to align with opposition amendments rather than government bills.
Why these metrics may differ: Opposition parties often vote against government bills for strategic or procedural reasons, even when they broadly support the policy area. The government alignment metric makes this clearer by showing the actual voting pattern against a consistent reference.
Source: Commons division data from the UK Parliament Votes API. Alignment direction determined by AI analysis of vote stance tags. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.