Legislation was introduced in Parliament last week to upgrade worker’s rights and tackle poor working conditions, aimed at benefitting businesses and workers alike. The aim is to boost pay and productivity, showing the benefits of a ‘pro-business, pro-worker' approach.
The Bill proposes to;
End zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire practises.
Establish rights to bereavement and parental leave from day one.
Remove the existing two-year qualifying period for protections from unfair dismissal
Strengthen statutory sick pay, removing the lower earnings limit for all and cutting out the waiting period before sick pay kicks in.
Strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant women and new mothers.
Establish a Fair Work Agency – bringing together existing enforcement bodies to enforce rights and supports employers looking for guidance on how to comply with the law.
The government will also consult on a new statutory probation period for companies’ new hires – allowing for a proper assessment of an employee’s suitability to a role, as well as reassuring employees that they have rights from day one. This will enable businesses to take chances on hires while simultaneously giving people to re-enter the job market or change careers.
Accompanying this will be measures to help make the workplace more compatible with people’s lives, with flexible working made the default where practical. Large employers will also be required to create action plans on addressing gender pay gaps and supporting employees through the menopause.
The government has set these out with the intentions of keeping people in work for longer, reducing recruitment costs by increasing staff retention, and helping the economy grow.
Other suggestions of the Bill (subject to consultations) include;
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 shift.
A strong commitment to end pay discrimination by expanding the Equality (Race and Disparity) 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.
Announcing the Bill, the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: ‘This government is delivering the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation, boosting pay and productivity with employment laws fit for a modern economy. We’re turning the page on an economy riven with insecurity, ravaged by dire productivity and blighted by low pay. The UK’s out-of-date employment laws are holding our country back and failing business and workers alike. Our plans to make work pay will deliver security in work as the foundation for boosting productivity and growing our economy to make working people better off and realise our potential’.[1]
The Bill's provisions are not expected to come into effect before 2026. Many of the requirements also depend on secondary legislation, the outcome of consultation, and codes of practice. We will be watching closely and bringing you any updates.
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