The government will need to be clear what minimum service levels mean in sectors such as healthcare to make its rules during industrial action workable, an employment lawyer has warned.
Yesterday the Minimum Service Levels Bill, which legislates for minimum standards of service during trade union strike action for certain services, passed the House of Commons ahead of going to the Lords.
But Simon Bloch, partner at law firm JMW Solutions, warned the Bill needs to give greater clarity around what the minimum service levels mean for certain sectors.
He explained the wording of the Bill reads that employers must detail a) the people required to work in order to ensure minimum service levels, and b) the work required to be carried out by those people.
However sectors which employ individuals with more overarching roles could face more difficulties in specifying the work needed to ensure minimum service levels.
“Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other professionals may have licenses to prescribe medicine. However, there are other aspects of their roles which may only be completed by a doctor or a nurse,” Bloch continued.
“Hospitals and other care facilities will need to ensure that they specify workers who can complete as many similar duties as possible, in order to maintain minimum service levels.
“There’s a lot of questions around how this Bill would work in practice that do need to be addressed sooner rather than later.”