The King’s Speech: Preparing for the Government’s Employment Rights Bill

In today’s King’s Speech, the Government reaffirmed its commitment to ‘make work pay’. This is of little surprise given the Labour manifesto had a lot to say on this topic, and an urgency to introduce legislation within the first 100 days. Wide-ranging changes to employee rights and protections are expected, affecting employers whatever their size. We take a look at some of the proposals of Keir Starmer’s New Deal that are most likely to impact our SME clients. 

 

• Protection against unfair dismissal – previously applicable only to employees with more than 2 years’ service – will become a Day 1 right. Fair dismissal and probationary periods with ‘fair and transparent rules and processes’ will be allowed. 

• Parental leave – will be extended to become a Day 1 right, with employees entitled to up to 18 weeks unpaid leave up until the day their child turns 18. 

• Statutory Sick Pay – will become payable from Day 1 of employment, rather than after 3 days sickness absence, and will be extended to all workers including the self-employed. 

 

• Flexible Working – which was made a Day 1 right earlier this year – will become the default for all workers from Day 1, except where this is not reasonably feasible. 

• Zero-hour contracts – will be banned, with contracts instead reflecting the average number of hours worked over a 12-week period. 

• ‘Fire and re-hire’ tactics - will be eradicated by a strengthened code of practice. 

 

• ‘Real living wage’ – new minimum wage will be adapted to consider the genuine cost of living 

• Removal of age bands – every adult worker will benefit from the new minimum wage 

 

• Parental leave – will not only become a day 1 right (see above) and will also be subject to a full review. 

• Maternity discrimination – protections will be strengthened to make it unlawful to dismiss a woman who is pregnant, or for an additional 6 months on return from maternity leave. 

• Carers’ leave – there will be a review of the current unpaid leave legislation, to consider introducing paid carers’ leave 

• Bereavement leave – legislation will be introduced to allow bereavement leave for all workers 

• ‘Right to switch off’ – following models used in Ireland and Belgium, this new right will focus on limiting the hours that an employer can make contact outside of the working day, with contractual terms or bespoke workplace policies to be put in place. 

 

Expect more changes to come too: legislation on preventing harassment at work was already in the pipeline and is likely to continue, and there will be a review of employment status - strengthening workers’ rights - in due course. A separate draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, while complex, will look to ‘enshrine the full right to equal pay law’. 

 

And so we can expect a busy first 100 days for our new Government and for our country’s Employers. While these policies are all subject to consultation and legislation, one thing is clear: big changes are coming and employers and going to have their work cut out to keep up. If you need help updating your policies, or staying on track with fast moving changes, contact us. Drop us an e mail at info@ashfieldhr.co.uk for an informal chat, or to subscribe to our regular HR updates.