My Lords, government Amendment 21 aims to ensure that the right people are covered by the whistleblowing protections and amends the definition of “worker” in Section 43K of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Following National Health Service reforms, certain health professionals have been inadvertently excluded from whistleblowing protections as their contractual agreements are not covered by the existing definition of “worker” in the legislation. We believe that it is important that this situation is rectified, so we are amending the definition of “worker” to cover these individuals. We are also taking a power to ensure that future amendments to the definition of “worker” can be made through secondary legislation. This will provide us with the flexibility to react promptly to ensure that the right individuals are protected.
I trust that noble Lords will support this move which remedies an inadvertent omission and ensures that health workers are properly protected. I beg to move.