King’s Speech Announces Significant Reforms in Employment Law

In the King’s Speech Sir Keir Starmer, set out the legislative agenda for their first months in government.

He pledged to “Level up workers’ rights, so every person has security, respect and dignity at work. We will create a new industrial strategy and invest in cleaner, cheaper British energy; and we will harness the power of artificial intelligence as we look to strengthen safety frameworks.”

The Prime Minister’s briefing notes on the King’s Speech give the detail, and at first glance it seems like Labour are hitting the ground running with implementing their ‘New Deal for Working People’ in full.

According to the briefing notes, the Employment Rights Bill will include:

• Making parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal available from day one (subject to specific probationary period rules).
• Banning zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have a contract reflecting their regular hours.
• Ending ‘fire and rehire’ and ‘fire and replace’ practices by reforming the law and updating the statutory code.
• Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
• Making flexible working the default for all workers from day one and requiring employers to accommodate this as far as reasonably possible.
• Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman for six months after she returns from maternity leave (with certain exceptions).
• Creating the Fair Work Agency to enforce workplace rights.
• Introducing a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector.
• Repealing the law on minimum service levels related to industrial action.
• Simplifying the statutory recognition process for trade unions.
• Introducing a right for workers and union members to access a union within workplaces.
  
  

The government state that “the Bill will deliver on policies as set out in the Plan to Make Work Pay” and that “the Plan includes commitments to the following”  giving a list, much of which I have detailed above.

However, they do not specifically confirm that all aspects of the Plan will be included in the Bill. This may be a matter of wording, and we will need to see the Bill itself to know for sure.

Separately, a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill proposes to “enshrine the full right to equal pay law” for disabled people and ethnic minorities. This bill also proposes mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. Both proposals present significant practical challenges.

Change is definitely on the horizon! We now await the draft legislation.

We will send a further update when we have more information, however in the meantime as a local business in Thanet, if you need support or advice please do contact me.

Amanda Nicholls

Thanet’s local HR Consultant

hello@hrsolveit.c.uk     

07739793615