During the State Opening of Parliament on 17 July 2024, the first since the latest UK general election, the King delivered a speech setting out the new Government’s legislative priorities for the coming months.
The speech and accompanying memorandum included 40 bills, with two relating to employment law: the Employment Rights Bill and the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The Bills were mentioned only briefly in the Speech, with the supporting details provided in briefing notes released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill will implement policies outlined in Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People. New, primary legislation will have to be passed for the provisions to come into force.
The Employment Rights Bill is expected to be introduced within the first 100 days of the new Government, likely by mid-October, but the legislative process to enact it will take significantly longer.
According to the official briefing notes, the Employment Rights Bill will address several key commitments, including:
a. Creating a new Fair Work Agency to strengthen workplace rights enforcement.
b. Flexible working to become the default from day one of employment for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this “as far as is reasonable”.
c. Reforming statutory sick pay rules, to abolish the lower earnings limit and the qualifying waiting period.
d. Providing parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal from day one for all workers, while maintaining probationary periods.
e. Prohibiting zero-hour contracts and ensuring workers have contracts reflecting their regular working hours.
f. Ending “fire and rehire” practices, and introducing new remedies and replacing the Statutory Code of Conduct.
g. Making it unlawful to dismiss a woman for six months after she returns to work following childbirth, with certain exceptions.
h. Bringing in a new fair pay agreement for the adult social care sector
i. Amending trade union legislation by taking out “unnecessary” restrictions, including repealing the law on minimum service levels during industrial action.
j. Introducing a right for workers and union members to reasonably access a union within the workplace, while streamlining statutory recognition of trade unions.
The briefing notes also touch on gender pay gap action plans, menopause, and sexual harassment at work, although it’s currently unclear if these areas will be addressed in the Bill. The final contents will be revealed upon the Bill’s introduction.
While we await the details, it’s clear that, when taken together, these reforms will considerably strengthen workplace rights and entitlements of workers, most notably during the early stages of employment.
In response, employers should prepare to take action to meet the new rules, including reviewing and amending relevant policies and procedures, and providing appropriate training and communications to ensure managers and workers are informed of their rights and obligations.
Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
This Bill aims to provide ethnic minorities and those with disabilities “the full right to equal pay”, and simplify the process for them to bring equal pay claims. The Bill will also mandate ethnicity and disability pay reporting for employers with 250 or more employees.
For employers, these new obligations are likely to prove challenging to comply with in practice, certainly in comparison to existing gender pay gap reporting requirements. Issues could include challenges with collating data from employees in relation to race and disability.
Other Changes
Other employer-related proposals include regulating AI development, actions to reintegrate individuals into the workforce post-pandemic and apprenticeship levy reforms.
While mentioned in the King’s Speech, these topics are not detailed in the briefing notes, so further information is awaited.
The briefing notes can be found here.
Author
Gill Laing is a qualified Legal Researcher & Analyst with niche specialisms in Law, Tax, Human Resources, Immigration & Employment Law.
Gill is a Multiple Business Owner and the Managing Director of Prof Services Limited - a Marketing & Content Agency for the Professional Services Sector.
