On 17 July 2024, the King officially opened Parliament following the General Election, with a speech setting out the new government’s legislative programme for this parliamentary session. This gives us a clear view of the legislation to expect in the next 12 months.
From an employment law perspective, the government has committed to strengthening employment rights through an Employment Rights Bill as well as reducing the pay gap for ethnic minorities and disabled people through an Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
The speech officially committed to bring forward legislation in this session of parliament covering the following areas of employment law and worker rights:
Day 1 rights for employees
- Day one rights to protection from unfair dismissal for all employees (subject to probationary periods);
- Day one rights to parental leave and sick pay and removal of the lower earnings limit and waiting time to obtain statutory sick pay.
Other dismissal protections
- Ending the practice of “fire and rehire” and replacing the previous government’s code of practice;
- Six-month protection from dismissal for new mothers following their return to work, except in specific circumstances.
Zero hours contracts and flexible working right
- Banning "exploitative zero-hour contracts”;
- Ensuring workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work and that workers receive reasonable notice of any changes in shifts with proportionate compensation for any shifts cancelled or curtailed;
- Flexible working being a default right from day one of employment, with employers required to accommodate this as far as possible.
Enforcement and trade union rights
- Establishment of a new single enforcement body, known as the Fair Work Agency to enforce employment rights;
- Simplifying the process of statutory trade union recognition and ensure workers and union members have a reasonable right to access a union within the workplace;
- Amending existing trade union legislation including the laws on minimum service levels in the public sector and ensuring industrial relations are based on good faith negotiation and bargaining;
- Establishment of a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector.
Equality and discrimination
- Mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with over 250 employees;
- Granting ethnic minorities and disabled people the full right to bring an equal pay claim.
Skills and apprenticeships
The establishment of a new body “Skills England” will identify training needed in the workforce and reform the apprenticeship levy.
In addition, there are a number of measures in the Labour Party’s manifesto and Plan to Make Work Pay which would not require primary legislation and therefore did not feature in the King’s speech, including the proposals around aligning the minimum wage to the cost of living and removing the age bands, along with proposals regarding pensions auto-enrolment. We anticipate that these will be introduced via secondary legislation during the course of this parliament.
To prepare for the upcoming changes to the law, employers should start reviewing existing policies and putting procedures in place to adhere to the new duties.
For more information about the Labour government’s proposals, including other manifesto commitments which we might expect to see in subsequent years, please refer to our recent report or listen to our recent webinar.
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