GET READY – EMPLOYMENT LAW IS CHANGING!

In the King’s Speech the Labour government set some wide-ranging changes to employment law.

The details will not be known until the Employment Rights Bill is published on about 12 October 2024.

The changes are likely to include:

• Banning exploitative zero hours contracts.
• Ending “fire and rehire.
• Making parental leave, sick pay and unfair dismissal protection available from day one for all workers (subject to probationary periods for new hires).
• Removing the lower earnings limit and the waiting period from the eligibility requirements for Statutory Sick Pay.
• Making flexible working the default from day one for all workers.
• Making it unlawful to dismiss someone who has had a baby for six months after their return to work, except in limited circumstances.
• Establishing a new single enforcement body, called the Fair Work Agency, to strengthen the enforcement of workplace rights.
• Establishing a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector and reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
• Updating trade union legislation, including the removal of unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity, the repeal of minimum service levels, simplifying the statutory recognition process and ensuring a regulated route to access a trade union within workplaces.

The King’s Speech also set out proposals to introduce a new draft Equality (Race and Discrimination) Bill so that the right to equal pay covers race and disability as well as sex.

Joanne Briscoe associate solicitor at Wilkes comments:

“Employers and employees need to be aware of the upcoming changes in employment law but there is no need to panic as the bill will need to be passed by Parliament first, which will not be until 2025 at the earliest. Once the Bill has been published and we have more detail there will be opportunity to take legal advice on the changes.

What will these changes mean?

What these changes will mean to employers and employees will become clearer once we see the Employment Rights Bill.

At this point it looks like the Bill will increase employment law protection for employees and that employers will need to ensure that they implement any changes in the law so that they are complaint with employment legislation.

For more information or to discuss anything employment related, please contact our Employment Team, on 0121 233 4333 or by email at [email protected].