The much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill has been published, which sets out 28 employment law reforms.
The key reforms are summarised below.
- Changes to zero-hours contracts including a right to guaranteed hours if working regular hours over a defined period, a right to reasonable notice of a shift and payment for cancellation of shifts at short notice.
- Introduction of a new automatic unfair dismissal claim where an employee is dismissed for refusing a contract variation. There is a limited exception where there is a genuine need to avoid serious financial issues that may threaten the business.
- Existing two-year qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal removed. Expect this will be subject to a new statutory probation period (six or nine months) for new hires.
- Establishing day one rights for paternity, parental and bereavement leave. The right to bereavement leave will replace the current parental bereavement leave provisions and will apply to a wider group of people (to be determined).
- Removal of 'waiting days' for SSP entitlement so SSP will be payable from day one of sickness. The lower earnings limited (current £123 per week) will also be removed so that lower earners will be eligible, but the Bill introduces a lower level of sick pay for these staff.
- Establishment of Fair Work Agency to enforce rights such as holiday pay and to support employers with guidance on how to comply with the law.
- Changes to flexible working including the list of statutory grounds for refusal, and introduction of the requirement that the refusal has to be reasonable. Employers will also be required to provide a written explanation of why their refusal is reasonable.
- Introduction of a new right to bereavement leave.
- Introduction of new provisions preventing the dismissal of pregnant women and new mothers within 6 months of their return to work, except in specific circumstances.
- Introduction of full liability for employers for harassment of staff by a third-party. This will apply to all relevant protected characteristics (not just sexual harassment).
- Extension to the definition of 'protected disclosure' to cover allegations of sexual harassment.
- Extension to collective redundancy consultation requirements so that employers are required to consult where 20 or more staff are affected across the whole business, rather than at a single establishment.
- Introduction of equality action plans which may be required for employers with over 250 employees to demonstrate how they're promoting gender equality.
- Introduction of collective bargaining across school support staff and adult social care workers.
- Changes to requirements of a section 1 statement (which sets out the minimum written terms and conditions of employment) to include statement of union rights.
No timeline has been confirmed for the implementation of these measures but it is currently expected that they will not come into effect until 2026.
The announcement also refers to the following additional reforms which the government will look to implement in the future, subject to consultation:
- Introducing a new 'right to switch off' which will prevent employees from being contacted out of hours, except in exceptional circumstances.
- Extending pay gap reporting to cover the ethnicity and disability pay gap in an organisation.
- Introducing a simpler framework for employment status and a new single status of worker.
- A review of parental leave and carers leave.
If you'd like to know more about these changes, we will be covering them in more detail in our HR briefing on 7 November. You can register to attend here.