The much-awaited Employment Rights Bill hit the press on the 10 October 2024 to much fanfare. While this Labour government seem to be at pains to frame the changes as good for employees and good for business, the one thing that’s for sure is that this is one of the biggest shake ups of employment law in a generation.
As always, with employment law, the devil will be in the detail and this bill will undoubtedly go through considerable debate and likely amendment before we get that detail and it becomes law. In this article we want to summarise some of the main changes envisaged and unpack some of the areas set to cause the most disruption to employers.
So what are some of the main changes envisaged in the Employment Rights Bill?
Let’s be clear, the bill is a 156 page document, packed to the brim with changes. We have highlighted, below, some of the key changes that are contained in the bill, so that employers can start giving some thought as to how they will deal with them and the likely impact on your business if they become law:
Changes to zero hours contracts – The bill includes provision for organisations, in relation to zero hours contracts in certain circumstances to: (i) guarantee hours; (ii) provide reasonable notice of shifts; and (iii) to provide payments for cancellation of shifts at short notice;
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – SSP will become payable from day one without there being a qualifying period;
Flexible Working– The refusal of a flexible working request will not only need to be on one of the listed grounds it must also be ‘reasonable’;
Third party Harassment– Employers will be liable for the third-party harassment of employees, unless they can show they have taken ‘all reasonable steps to prevent the third-party harassment’;
Unfair dismissal Rights- The two-year qualifying period to bring an unfair dismissal claim is set to be removed;
Trade Union rights– There are a raft of changes in this area which justify their own separate update;
Equality Action Plans- There will be a requirement for employers with over 250 employees to produce an equality action plan;
Fire and Rehire- It will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a contractual variation, in all but limited circumstances;
Redundancy Collective Consultation requirements– It is intended that there will be changes to how the calculation is made as to who should be taken account of, when deciding whether collective redundancy consultation is required.
So which changes are likely to give off the biggest bang?
This bill feels like the average family garden fireworks display in many ways in that there are changes that are akin to the fireworks that tamely but unspectacularly, go off and there are those that are akin to the rockets that seem intent on furiously bouncing off the roof of your house. The big-ticket items that are likely to explode into the majority of employer’s thinking and planning for the future, should they become law, include:
- The changes to zero hours contracts. For many businesses thought will need to be given as to how they are going to deal with this issue will be key and may require a fundamental shift in the employment relationship;
- What do employers do to protect themselves from liability for third-party harassment? It will be interesting as to how this will work in practice, given a previous government already had an attempt to introduce liability for third-party harassment and quickly abandoned it as it was considered unworkable at the time;
- How will employers deal with an employee who refuses a contract variation? and
- What will a removal of the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims mean for employers and will this, in fact, be negated by an ability to dismiss fairly in a probationary period?
I suspect that next year promises to tell us a lot more, so please do keep an eye out for our updates and the future employment law pyrotechnics!
If you would like any advice regarding the Employment Rights Bill then please feel free to call me, Emma Monk, on 01384 445 885.
Disclaimer
The contents of this blog or any other published by Talbots Law cannot be considered as legal advice and should therefore not be acted on without prior consultation with a qualified solicitor or legal professional.
