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Employment Rights Bill – “Once in a Generation” Changes

10th October 2024
Birmingham employment solicitor on the right to disconnect

Employment Law has in recent years been changing quite quickly and in some cases significantly.

Under the new Labour Government that is set to continue, as today Keir Starmer’s Government unveils the Employment Rights Bill, which boldly promises to be a “once in a generation” reform, that will “redress the relationship” between the people and their employers.

All strong words, fighting talk, and an extension of the manifesto promise that brought Labour into power earlier in the year, but what does that actually mean?

Main proposals

There are a total of 28 changes proposed but the main ones are:

  1. The introduction of Unfair Dismissal protection from day one.
  2. The introduction of a Statutory Probation period (yet to be consulted on)
  3. A change to zero and low hours contracts which will see the right to a guaranteed hours contract if staff work regular hours over a defined period, giving them security of earnings whilst allowing people to remain on zero hours contracts where they prefer to. Interestingly not an end to zero hours contracts altogether.
  4. A banning on “Fire and Rehire” practices when changing terms of contracts.
  5. A repeal of the laws brought in by the Conservative Government which acted to restrict Trade Union power and industrial action.
  6. An increase to the Flexible working provisions, save where the employer can show that such requests are unreasonable.
  7. A new and enhanced right to bereavement leave
  8. An increased protection for Pregnant employees and mothers on maternity leave giving protection from dismissal whilst pregnant, on maternity leave and within six months of returning to work
  9. A shake up of the Minimum Wage Calculations by accounting for cost of living when setting the Minimum Wage and removing the age bands
  10. Removal of the waiting days under the current Statutory Sick Pay rules.
  11. Including “day one” rights around fathers wanting to take Paternity Leave.
  12. Establishing a new “Fair Work Agency” that will bring together different government enforcement bodies, enforce holiday pay and strengthen statutory sick pay. It will create a stronger, recognisable single organisation that people can go for help and with a proposal for better support for employers who want to comply with the law and tough action on those who deliberately refuse or fail to comply.
What exactly do the changes look like?

At this stage it is too early to know.

The Bill is only just being proposed and before it can be passed as an Act into law it will undergo various readings and debates in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

There will almost certainly be a significant number of amendments to a bill, which proposes to be radical.

It is clear that in some instances there has yet to be a consultation, which the Government will have to consider before it seeks to flesh out its proposals and what they may look like.

As with all legislation, the true extent of the effect and nature will only be known once the full detail of the final legislation can be considered.

When does this come into effect?

At this stage employers should of course be aware that, in the words of Bob Dylan, “times they are a changing”, and that significant changes in the employment landscape have already been set in progress.

As such, employers should begin considering their employment practices and thinking about changes that they may need to be making within their business.

However, these changes are not immediately imminent, and even by some of the Government statements this morning, it appears that it is not intended that some of these changes will not come into force until 2026.

Questions, queries and concerns

If you have any Employment Law concerns or wish to discuss issues either that you might have or which may be on the horizon, our Employment Law team are on hand to discuss matters.

Our Employment Law team is headed up by Jason Alcock, a Solicitor who has been practicing in the Employment Law field for over 16 years, and Director in the Firm. He, and his team can be reached either on 01543 263456, or by email. Contact us today for support.