In today’s King’s Speech, Labour outlined their legislative agenda for their initial months in government, focusing on banning exploitative practices and enhancing employment rights.
Here’s what the Employment Rights Bill includes:
- Day-one rights: Parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal available from day one, with special rules for probationary periods.
- Zero-hour contracts: Ban on zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have contracts that reflect their regular hours.
- Ending ‘fire and rehire’: Reforming the law to end the practice of firing employees only to rehire or replace them under less favourable terms.
- Statutory Sick Pay: Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
- Flexible working: Making flexible working the default from day one, requiring employers to accommodate this as far as is reasonable.
- Protection for new mothers: Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman for six months after she returns to work post-maternity leave, with certain exceptions.
- Fair Work Agency: Establishing an agency to enforce workplace rights.
- Fair Pay Agreement: Introducing fair pay agreements in the adult social care sector.
- Repealing minimum service levels: Removing the law on minimum service levels related to industrial action.
- Trade union recognition: Simplifying the process of statutory recognition for trade unions and introducing a right for workers to access a union within workplaces.
In addition to the Employment Rights Bill, a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill proposes mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting and enshrining the right to equal pay for disabled people and ethnic minorities, though these measures pose practical challenges.
Big changes are on the horizon, and we eagerly await the draft legislation for further details. Stay tuned for updates as we navigate these new developments together.
Holly Mapstone is an HR expert and specialises in helping those of you in the SME sector with all of your HR needs.
Consultancy allows Holly to be agile and to adapt her style and support to suit the needs of her clients. Building strong working relationships allows Holly to deliver improvements, while also aligning people strategy to business outcomes and promoting resilient and positive cultures.
Need Advice?
If you need a hand with any of this, or anything else when it comes to the people and practices in your business, we’d love to help. We are always happy to debate the pros/cons, dos/don’ts with you so please do talk to us if we can help in any way, we are here to support you. Just give us a call and arrange a free consultation. You can talk to Alison directly on 07967 221595 or email info@enlightenhr.com
