Skip to content

Brought to you by

Dentons logo

UK People Reward and Mobility Hub

The latest updates in employment, benefits, pensions and immigration

open menu close menu

UK People Reward and Mobility Hub

  • Home
  • Events
    • Past events
  • Who We Are
    • Meet the team
  • How we can help

Proposed Scottish Members’ Bill could introduce a duty for employers of late shift workers to provide “safe transport home”

By Victoria Albon
December 8, 2022
  • Employee welfare
  • Health and safety
  • Proposed Legislative Changes
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via email Share on LinkedIn

Maggie Chapman, a Scottish Greens MSP, has been working with Unite Hospitality to introduce a Bill in the Scottish Parliament. This Bill, if passed, would oblige employers to arrange free safe journeys home for staff who work late shifts.

To whom would the obligation apply?

In 2021, Unite launched its “Get Me Home Safely” campaign after a hospitality worker was assaulted on her way home from work after midnight. This campaign calls on employers, local authorities and governments to engage with the union to develop solutions to ensure that those who work late are able to travel home from work safely. If the Bill is passed, it would implement one of the campaign’s objectives and oblige employers to ensure safe and free travel home from work for all staff who work past 11pm, irrespective of gender.


The Bill as drafted focuses on the hospitality sector in settings such as bars, hotels, clubs and restaurants. However, some certainly want to see it extended to other industries and sectors which work late, such as the NHS and social care. The Bill would only apply in Scotland.

If the Bill becomes law, what are the potential challenges for employers?

The requirement would raise questions about the standards employers must meet to satisfy their duty to provide “safe transport home”. Safety is, to an extent, a subjective term that encompasses physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. What mode of transport is the safest? Would some employees feel safer being on a bus full of people than being in a taxi alone? Does the area in which an employee works or lives influence what sort of transport would be safe? Will there be a national minimum standard?

Employers already have a duty of care to safeguard their workforce’s health and wellbeing. A new requirement to include a “safe transport home” obligation would extend their duty of care responsibilities by adding a potentially costly new duty. This may be particularly burdensome at a time when many parts of the hospitality sector are still struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating this problem due to reduced footfall. Would it be fair for employers who employ workers living far from their place of work to pay higher travel costs than other employers who have workers living more locally? Might this lead to employers narrowing recruitment to employees from certain postcodes? Is it up to employers to protect staff during their commute home from work when this does not count as their working time or is this a wider social issue?

Employers may argue that, instead of being made to pay for their employees’ safe travel home, government and local authorities should do more to tackle the root of the problem.

The next steps

The Bill is currently in its draft stages and has not yet been finalised or presented to the Scottish Parliament. The next stage is to lodge a draft proposal and begin a 12-week consultation before Christmas. The proposal would then go to the Scottish Parliament in spring, where it would be considered by MSPs in the Business and Fair Work Committee.

Whilst employers do not need to implement any immediate changes, it is useful to consider the importance of worker safety and keep track of the Bill’s progress. To date, the “Get Me Home Safely” campaign has won backing from both Glasgow City Council and the City of Edinburgh Council. In addition East Dunbartonshire Licensing Board has already made safe transport home a requirement of licensed venues wishing to apply for a new or 1am licence.

If you have any questions about how to improve the safety of your workforce, please do not hesitate to get in contact with a member of our team.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via email Share on LinkedIn
Subscribe and stay updated
Receive our latest blog posts by email.
Stay in Touch
employee welfare, health and safety, proposed legislative changes
Victoria Albon

About Victoria Albon

Victoria has experience of advising on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious employment law issues. This includes significant experience of defending a wide range of claims in the employment tribunal, including claims for unfair dismissal and discrimination as well as claims for unlawful deductions of wages, holiday pay and under TUPE. Victoria regularly advises on non-contentious matters including the application of TUPE, handling collective redundancy consultations and changing terms and conditions.

All posts Full bio

You might also like...

  • Discrimination
  • Employee welfare
  • Equal Pay
  • Family friendly rights
  • Flexible working
  • Immigration
  • Tribunal procedures
  • Unfair dismissal

Insight: UK Employment Law Round-up – November 2016

In this issue we look at a recent Court of Appeal decision focusing on sexual orientation protection following a refusal […]

By Sarah Beeby
  • Employment Status
  • Health and safety
  • Holiday pay
  • IR35
  • Self-employed
  • Tax
  • Tribunal claims
  • Vicarious liability

Coming up next year…

By Amy Gordon
  • Discrimination
  • Employment and Labor in the United Kingdom
  • Equality Act
  • General
  • Proposed Legislative Changes

The Gender Recognition (Scotland) Bill: what does it mean for employers?

By Laura Anthony

About Dentons

Dentons is designed to be different. As the world’s largest law firm with 20,000 professionals in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries, we can help you grow, protect, operate and finance your business. Our polycentric and purpose-driven approach, together with our commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity and ESG, ensures we challenge the status quo to stay focused on what matters most to you. www.dentons.com

Dentons boilerplate image

Twitter

Categories

Dentons logo

© 2023 Dentons

  • Legal notices
  • Privacy policy
  • Terms of use
  • Cookies on this site