§ Mr. Arthur Davidsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what progress has been made in the negotiations with the two sides of industry about guaranteed payments by employers to workers who are laid off or on short time.
§ Mr. HattersleyUnder existing legislation suspended workers will cease from 10th March, 1969 to be entitled to flat-rate unemployment benefit during the first six days of a period of suspension. My right hon. Friend has consulted the two sides of industry about proposals for legislation requiring that from that date employers should make guarantee payments to such workers. These consultations have made it clear that the proposals should be considered in the wider context of related developments, particularly the proposals on the Report of the Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employers Associations and the Government's proposals for a new social security scheme. Moreover, there are substantial problems requiring further study and consultations before an effective system of statutory guarantee payments can be introduced. Accordingly the Government propose to introduce a Bill to provide that payment of flat-rate unemployment benefit should continue for the time being. The Government remain of the view that it is right in principle that employers should bear the cost of making payments to workers suspended for short periods, and will be pressing forward their study of the problems and their consultations in time for decisions to be taken in conjunction with those in the related fields.