Employers should help staff who work late at night to get home safely, according to a councillor.
Labour councillor Nancy Platts plans to propose a motion at the next meeting of Brighton and Hove City Council to make safe and free transport more likely.
Councillor Platts wants the council’s Licensing Committee to seek the power to require anyone applying for a late-night licence to have to provide free transport home for staff after work.
She said that East Dunbartonshire Council had adopted this sort of policy and she wanted the same in Brighton and Hove.
Councillor Platts plans to propose her “get me home safely” motion at a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (2 February).
She said:
“Shift work is widespread in many industries, particularly hospitality, as well as health and care workers, retail, cleaning, security and porter staff and can often entail late-night working;
“Many workers, especially women, are increasingly worried about their safety travelling to and from work at night.
“While employers may feel their duty of care to staff ends when an employee finishes a shift, they also need to take into consideration journeys home, especially during unsocial hours.
“The weakness of enforcement of the law against sexual assault, including upskirting, on public transport is appalling and only 2 per cent of victims go on to report sexual harassment on public transport.
“Unite the union’s Get Me Home Safely campaign, which calls on employers to take all reasonable steps to ensure workers are able to get home safely from work at night, is greatly needed and should be supported.”
Councillor Platts said:
“I was inspired to support this campaign by hospitality worker Caitlin, who has been a driving force behind Unite’s campaign after she was attacked when travelling home from work late at night.
“A lot of young people are employed in our thriving night-time economy. But increasingly they cannot afford to live in the city centre and that can mean a long and lonely journey home in the dark, not knowing who is around the next corner.
“Women said that concerns about getting home after work often played on their mind right from the start of their shift.
“I hope that all councillors will support my request to include safe transport home as a licensing condition for hospitality venues because everyone deserves to know they can get home safely.”
The full council is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4.30pm on Thursday (2 February). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.
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