October 11, 2024

Parliaments new Employment Rights Bill

This post was written by: Riya Sekhon

On October 10, 2024, the UK government introduced the much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill, marking one of the most significant overhauls in decades. The bill includes 28 major reforms aimed at improving worker protections and increasing productivity across the economy. The first reading of the Bill has yet to go through a consultation, and then will need to be passed by the House of Lords before coming into effect. This means that there may well be changes to the proposals, which currently are:

“Day-one” rights:

  • Workers will be protected from unfair dismissal from the first day of employment, removing the current two-year qualifying period.
  • Immediate access to unpaid parental, paternity, and bereavement leave, without the need to have worked for the employer for a year.

BUT – Nine-month probation period:

  • A statutory nine-month probation period will allow employers more time to assess new hires, during which it will be easier to dismiss employees without the full dismissal process.

Zero-hours contracts:

  • Workers on zero-hours contracts will have the right to a guaranteed-hours contract if they consistently work regular hours over a 12-week period.
  • Employees will be entitled to “reasonable” notice of any changes to their shifts and compensation if shifts are cancelled or cut short.
  • Workers who prefer zero-hours contracts will still be able to choose them.

Flexible working:

  • Flexible working will become the default option for all employees from their first day, unless an employer can provide a legitimate reason to refuse, such as the inability to reorganise work or a detrimental impact on customer demand.
  • Written reasons will need to be provided by employers as to why the request is not reasonable, in the event a request is turned down.

Statutory sick pay (SSP):

  • The three-day waiting period for statutory sick pay will be removed, ensuring employees receive SSP from the first day of illness.
  • The lower earnings limit (£123 per week) for qualifying for sick pay will also be scrapped, meaning more low-paid workers will be eligible.

Fire and rehire:

  • The bill will ban most fire-and-rehire practices, which force employees to accept worse terms or face dismissal. However, it could still be used if a company is at risk of insolvency.

What’s not included:

  • The “right to switch off” from work communications outside of hours.  The government have mooted this and the promise is that this will be dealt with at a later date.
  • Plans to create a “single status of worker” for better protection of self-employed people working for a single employer.   This one is not surprising as a great deal of thought will need to go into it.  We shall have to wait and see on this one.

This legislation aims to create a more secure and fair working environment, though it has received mixed reactions, particularly from small business representatives concerned about the impact of these changes​.

The period of consultation will be crucial and anyone wanting a say should lobby the small business federation, trade unions and the like to work on getting their views heard sooner rather than later.

For any questions or queries on this or any other employment-law related matter, please contact our Head of Employment, Ilinca Mardarescu on 01753 486 777.