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Employment Rights Bill introduced

The Employment Rights Bill was laid in Parliament and the Government commenced a series of consultations on its provisions.

by Law and Labour22 October 2024

On 10 October 2024, a new Employment Rights Bill (the “Bill“) was introduced into the House of Commons. The Bill contains a suite of provisions covering a wide range of employment rights. The Government has announced its intention to consult on the changes proposed in the Bill with the expectation that most of its reforms will not take effect before 2026. It is hoped that will give businesses sufficient time to prepare for the changes.

The Government has published 10 factsheets that provide further details of the measures included in the Bill. The factsheets cover:

zero hours contracts;
unfair dismissal;
trade unions;
statutory sick pay;
school support staff negotiating body;
fire and rehire;
the Fair Work Agency;
bereavement leave, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave;
the adult social care negotiating body; and
the Employment Rights Bill overview.

Each factsheet typically sets out the current legal framework applicable to a particular employment right. It then describes the Government’s aims for the proposed changes and briefly describes the proposals.

The table below summarises some key proposals as described in the relevant factsheet:

Zero hours contracts	Employers will be required to offer qualifying workers guaranteed hours reflecting the hours worked during a 12-week reference period. A qualifying worker may elect to reject an offer of guaranteed hours and instead remain on their current contract. Employers will be required to provide qualifying workers with reasonable notice of shifts and changes to these. If an employer cancels, moves or curtails a shift at short notice, they will be required to pay the affected workers.
Unfair dismissal	Employees will automatically have protection from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment, subject to a statutory probation period. The statutory probation period will last for nine months during which a “lighter touch” dismissal process will apply. The right to written reasons for dismissal will apply once the statutory probation period has concluded.
Fire and rehire	Where employees are dismissed for failing to agree to a change in their employment contract, the dismissal will be automatically unfair. It will also be unfair to dismiss an employee in order to replace them or to re-engage them on varied contractual terms. The employer may have a defence to such a dismissal if it can show: the business was facing financial difficulties that affected its viability; the contractual variations proposed were to eliminate, prevent or mitigate the effects of such difficulties; and changing the contract was unavoidable. The employer is required to act fairly in making the dismissal, which must be fair in all the circumstances.
Family-related leave	Bereavement leave will become a new, day one right. Employees may take at least one week’s leave within a 56-day period. There will no longer be any qualifying period for the right to take paternity leave or unpaid parental leave. Employees will no longer have to take paternity leave prior taking shared parental leave.
Fair Work Agency (FWA)	A new advisory body on employment rights, called the Fair Work Agency, will be set up. The FWA will also have the remit to investigate and take enforcement action for breaches of employment law. The FWA will be an offshoot of the Department of Business and Trade, with its functions performed by officers appointed by the Secretary of State. The creation of the FWA means that two current public bodies will be abolished: the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Director of Labour Market Enforcement. Their functions will be performed by the FWA.
Statutory sick pay (SSP)	Employees will no longer need to earn at least the lower earnings limit (currently £123 per week) in order to be eligible for SSP. SSP will be payable from the first day of sickness absence, instead of the fourth day. For some lower earners, their rate of SSP will be calculated as a percentage of their earnings instead of the statutory rate.

Some of the most significant changes relate to trade unions where the aim is to repeal the majority of the Trade Union Act 2016. There is a lengthy factsheet that describes the proposed changes, but consideration of it is beyond the scope of this article. However, one notable provision is the proposed introduction of a new duty on employers to inform and remind employees of their right to join a trade union.

The proposals above are all subject to consultation, so it is possible that some may change. Many of the finer details are yet to be determined. To date, the Government has commenced consultations on zero hours contracts, fire and rehire, trade unions and SSP. The consultations will run until December 2024.

Photograph: “Crowd People” by Pixabay user Geralt used under the Pixabay content licence.

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Employment Rights Bill introduced

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