Ministers have unveiled the Employment Rights Bill, introduced within 100 days of the new government coming to office, in an attempt to tackle poor working conditions and give employees more rights. The government has also stated that the new laws will work for employers, calling it a ‘pro-business, pro-worker’ approach.
Employment expert at Morecrofts, Sarah Hobson said: “There are some ground-breaking changes among the new laws which have been announced. Although most of them seem to be more beneficial to employees than employers, if embraced and executed correctly they can work for everyone involved.
“It’s been a long time coming that a more modern approach to workers’ rights is adopted by the government and I’ll be interested to see how the guidance for change is filtered to employers – particularly SMEs.”
Key changes in the Employment Rights Bill include:
- Ending exploitative zero-hour contracts and unscrupulous fire and rehire practices.
- Establishing rights to bereavement and parental leave from day one.
- The existing two-year qualifying period for protections from unfair dismissal will be removed
- Statutory sick pay will also be strengthened, removing the lower earnings limit for all workers, and cutting out the waiting period before sick pay kicks in.
- Large employers will also be required to create action plans on addressing gender pay gaps and supporting employees through the menopause, and protections against dismissal will be strengthened for pregnant women and new mothers.
- Changes to the law to make flexible working the default for all unless the employer can prove it’s unreasonable.
- Delivery of stronger protections for pregnant women and new mothers returning to work including protection from dismissal whilst pregnant, on maternity leave, and within six months of returning to work.
- Tackling low pay by accounting for the cost of living when setting the minimum wage and removing discriminatory age bands.
Sarah Hobson adds: “These law changes are showing a big family focus, with a strong undertone of more work-life balance, and complying with the Bill could be a bit of a minefield for employers.
“We have been working with clients to ensure they have a full understanding and their policies are ready for these changes. Preparation is absolutely key when it comes to employment law”
Beyond the bill
The Make Work Pay Plan doesn’t stop with this bill. As an outlook to the future, the government has also published a Next Steps document that outlines reforms it will look to implement in the future.
Subject to consultations, this includes:
- A Right to Switch Off, preventing employees from being contacted out of hours, except in exceptional circumstances, to allow them the rest and get the recuperation they need to give 100% during their working hours.
- A strong commitment to end pay discrimination by expanding the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill to make it mandatory for large employers to report their ethnicity and disability pay gap.
- A move towards a single status of worker, and transition towards a simpler two-part framework for employment status.
- Reviews into the parental leave and carers’ leave systems to ensure they are delivering for employers, workers and their loved ones.
If you are an employer and would like to find out more about how we can support you in ensuring your policies and procedures comply with the new reforms, you can contact Sarah Hobson at sah@morecrofts.co.uk