Posted Date: 14th October 2024
The Employment Rights Bill was announced on 10th October 2024, which was promised by Labour within 100 days of gaining power and of which they have achieved.
The Bill has been described as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”, with over 28 changes to employment legislation. However, many of the changes still require consultation and secondary legislation and are unlikely to take effect until 2025 onwards.
Day one rights
The most anticipated and groundbreaking proposal is the change to the qualifying period for claiming unfair dismissal, from two years to day one. Although it is likely that employees could be subject to a probationary period, of up to 9 months, and during this time they could be dismissed more easily. However, a series of consultations needs to take place, confirming the length of probationary period and the details of any formal process which should be followed, such as the right to be accompanied to a probationary period meeting. To allow time for consultations, the new rights are set to come into force in autumn 2026.
Other key changes set out in the Employment Rights Bill:
- The lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay (SSP) will be removed and a waiting period will no longer be applied, so it can be claimed from day one of a sickness absence
- Fire and rehire (and fire and replace) practices will end, unless the employer can meet certain requirements, such as preventing financial difficulties, there were no other alternative solutions, and a full consultation process took place
- A new Fair Work Agency will help to enforce statutory rights and support employers with legal guidance
- Employees will be given a right to bereavement leave. The two weeks bereavement leave for the death of a child will remain, with one week for any other bereavement leave. Details on what relationships the right will cover are yet to be confirmed
- Anti-union legislation will be repealed
- Flexible working will be a default for all employees, unless the employer can show the change would be ‘unreasonable’
- Further protections from dismissal whilst an employee is pregnant, on maternity leave and six months of returning to work
- Large employees will be required to publish actions plans for addressing gender pay gaps, supporting employees who are going through the menopoause
- Removal of ‘discriminatory’ age bands for minimum wage and the cost of living will be taken into account when the rates are set
Future proposed changes
Some proposed changes which featured in Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay were not included in the Bill, such as:
- The "right to switch off", which prevents employers contacting employees outside of their working hours
- A "single status of worker", increasing protection for self-employed, and to merge the “worker” and “employee” status.
However, they could still be reviewed again in the future.
Next steps
Although many of these proposed changes could take years to implement, it is the start of significant changes to employment law.
The Employment Rights Bill is essentially draft legislation and will now be reviewed by the Houses of Parliament, who will propose amendments. Secondary legislation and codes of practice will be required for some of the proposed changes. The bill will become law once both the House of Commons and the House of Lords agree the final contents, which could look quite different to the proposals that are currently set out.
Safewise will keep you updated on any developments.