You will have seen in the news that Labour plan to make changes to workers’ rights. Our advice is not to panic! The reforms proposed are still being worked out and it is still unclear how some will work in practice.
What are the proposed changes?
The main proposed changes concern:
- Unfair dismissal – Workers will have the right to claim unfair dismissal against their employer from day one. It’s highly likely that a probation period may apply first though.
- Zero-hours contracts – Organisations will be required to offer a zero-hours worker a guaranteed-hours contract based on the hours they clock up during a 12-week period.
- Flexible working – Flexible working will become the “default” for all workers, with employers required to say yes to requests from staff from their first day starting in a job unless they can prove it is “unreasonable”.
- Statutory Sick Pay -The waiting period and lower earnings limit to receive Statutory Sick Pay will be removed.
- Unpaid parental and bereavement leave – parents are currently only allowed to take unpaid parental leave if they have been with a company for more than a year. The government plans to change this to become a right from “day one” in employment.
- Others relating to Fire and rehire and Protection relating to Maternity and Paternity.
Should we make changes now?
The Employment Rights Bill 2024 represents the most significant shift in employment law for over 20 years. The Bill is designed to greatly enhance worker protections.
Labour are required to consult and put the Bill before Parliament before these changes can be made. It could be up to 2 years before changes are implemented.
You may wish to review your practices and decide to adopt these changes now or wait until the full details of the Bill are known. Although we understand that these changes may be quite daunting for business owners and leaders, there are advantages to some of these changes which are designed to increase recruitment attraction, employee engagement and retention.
We appreciate that you may have any questions about the Bill, if you do, please do get in touch and we can have a chat. There would be no charge for this! We want you to feel reassured and informed.