Labour’s New Employment Rights Bill: The Headlines
On 10th October 2024, Labour’s Employment Rights Bill was announced. This Bill looks to reform 28 individual areas of UK employment law and has (rightly) seen a lot of media attention since it was made public.
The Bill was created in view of the government’s pro-worker and pro-business approach and aims to strike a balance between providing greater protection for workers, but also clarification for employers on employment law provisions in the workplace. The government states that the Bill will help “drive growth in the economy and support more people into secure work”.
Below we highlight some of the key changes included in Labour’s Employment Rights Bill and what they could mean for both employers and employees.
- Unfair dismissal
Under current UK law, an employee is required to have two full years of service to bring an unfair dismissal claim against their employer. However, clause 19 of the Bill looks to provide this as a day-one right. This means an employee will have a right from the first day of their employment to bring an unfair dismissal claim.
The government also states their intention to ensure employers can use probationary periods to assess the suitability of new hires. There have been suggestions of probationary periods extending from six to nine months and employers being able to operate a light-touch approach to the new unfair dismissal regulations during this time.
- Firing and re-hiring
Labour’s Employment Rights Bill aims to end unscrupulous practices, such as firing and re-hiring. Accordingly, clause 22 of the Bill will make it automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing to vary the terms of their contract. There is some scope for exceptions, which are largely around an employer being in financial difficulties for example. This will need to be evidenced.
- Zero-hour contracts
Clauses 1-6 of Labour’s Employment Rights Bill provide reform on the use of zero-hour contracts. This includes the rights for employees:
- To be given ‘guaranteed hours’ which reflect the number of hours they have worked over a period of time. The current reference period in discussion is a twelve-week period.
- To be given reasonable notice of a shift. This is to help workers where shift patterns cannot be determined, to achieve greater certainty of when they will be working.
- To have reasonable notice of cancellation of a shift. To avoid last-minute cancellations of shifts.
If an employer is found to be in breach of the above, they will be responsible to compensate the employee.
- Flexible working requests
Whilst current law enables employees to make flexible working requests on two occasions every year, Labour’s Employment Rights Bill now makes this a day-one right and if refused, employers are required to state the reason why and explain why they believe it to be reasonable.
- Leave
The Bill looks to implement the following changes to various statutory leave:
- Bereavement leave – employees will be entitled to one week of bereavement leave. Currently there is only a right to parental bereavement leave, however it is not yet clear to what types of relationships the new rights will apply to.
- Parental and paternity leave– will become day one rights.
- Maternity leave – greater protection will be given to pregnant women or those on, or returning from, extended family leave in a redundancy situation.
- Statutory sick pay
Labour’s Employment Rights Bill will look to make Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) a day-one right as opposed to it being available from day four of illness.
The lower earnings limit will be removed so that SSP is available to all employees. How much they will be entitled to will be determined by a set reference. What this reference will be has not yet been announced.
The Bill had a second reading on 21 October 2024 where MPs had the opportunity to debate the main principles.
When does Labour’s Employment Rights Bill come into force?
It is important to note that whilst there have been extensive reforms announced, changes will not take immediate effect. Consultations with various professional bodies (such as ACAS, various trade unions and employment law practitioners) are expected to take place in early 2025. The Bill will also be debated in both Houses of Parliament and so, it is predicted that it will likely come into law around the summer of 2025 at the earliest. It is also likely that, following the consultations, that they may slightly differ to how they are currently proposed.
If you are an employer and need assistance navigating these changes, or any other are of employment law, then call GA’s specialist employment team today. You can contact us on 01752 203500 or you can email me directly via robert.zacal@GAsolicitors.com.
You can also read our recent article about Labour’s ‘Right to Switch Off’ here.
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