Employment Law Changes - October 2024 

With the recent King's Speech outlining a raft of proposed legislative changes, business owners must prepare for significant updates in employment law and in particular workers' rights.  The Government has a stated aim of delivering on their Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of taking office, which gives employers until mid-October to prepare.  That might seem like a decent period in which to address those new laws but with the summer break upon us, that deadline will approach faster than you might think even if the process of introducing the legislation causes the Government to miss this ambitious timeframe.

There’s no time like the present to start planning which is why we’ve created this summary of the key aspects featured in the Employment Rights Bill.  We take a snapshot view of each area of change and provide suggested actions for employers to consider.

1. Basic Day One Rights

• Proposed Change: Employment rights like unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave will be available from the first day of employment.
• Actions: Update recruitment processes, improve hiring assessments, and ensure dismissal procedures are robust from the start.

2. Equality at Work

• Proposed Change: Prevent outsourcing to avoid equal pay, require pay gap action plans, and mandate reporting on ethnicity and disability pay gaps.
• Actions: Prepare for comprehensive demographic data collection, develop action plans to address pay gaps, and ensure data-driven strategies for equality.

3. Fair Pay

• Proposed Change: Implement a Living Wage, eliminate age-related wage bands, ensure fair tip distribution, and strengthen sick pay.
• Actions: Budget for increased wage costs, revise payroll systems, and ensure compliance with new pay regulations.

4. Family-Friendly Rights

• Proposed Change: Enhance parental leave policies, protect pregnant women post-return, and introduce paid carers’ leave.
• Actions: Update leave policies, revise employee handbooks, and train managers on new regulations.

5. Fire and Rehire

• Proposed Change: Ban fire and rehire practices and enforce fair restructuring processes.
• Actions: Develop transparent consultation processes, train management on best practices, and update employment contracts.

6. Flexible Working

• Proposed Change: Make flexible working a right from day one.
• Actions: Review flexible working policies, assess role suitability, and set clear guidelines for managing requests.

7. Redundancy Rights

• Proposed Change: Base redundancy consultation on total business impact, not individual workplaces.
• Actions: Understand new consultation thresholds, prepare for extended requirements, and ensure compliance with collective consultation.

8. Right to Switch Off

• Proposed Change: Introduce a right to disconnect to prevent overworking.
• Actions: Develop out-of-hours communication policies, set expectations for response times, and train managers to respect boundaries.

9. Self-Employment

• Proposed Change: Enhance rights for self-employed workers, including written contracts and protection against late payments.
• Actions: Ensure written contracts, comply with payment regulations, and implement timely payment systems.

10. Single Status of Worker

• Proposed Change: Create a single worker status, simplifying employment status.
• Actions: Review workforce composition, reclassify contractors as necessary, and ensure appropriate rights and benefits.

11. Trade Union Rights

• Proposed Change: Strengthen union representation and simplify the union recognition process.
• Actions: Adapt to increased union activity, revise policies on union interactions, and comply with new recognition procedures.

12. Whistleblowers

• Proposed Change: Enhance protections for whistleblowers, especially for reporting sexual harassment.
• Actions: Strengthen whistleblowing policies, ensure confidentiality, and create a safe reporting environment.

13. Zero Hours Contracts

• Proposed Change: Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and ensure contracts reflect regular hours.
• Actions: Shift to stable contractual arrangements, review current contracts, and establish procedures for adequate shift notice.

 

Conclusion

As you can see there are a significant number of changes coming our way and as both employment lawyer and employer, I can appreciate that there may well be some anxiety for those responsible for compliance in these areas.

On the upside these legislative proposals emphasise a commitment to a much fairer and inclusive workplace however they will also require business owners to review and update their policies to ensure compliance and minimise potential disruptions.

Staying informed and prepared will be crucial for navigating these changes effectively. It’s worth noting that there is a planned consultation period which “may” bring tweaks to the proposals and we will be keeping a close eye on these developments.

Given the weight of changes in this area of law we would recommend employers, if in any doubt or concern, to seek guidance and consult qualified, experienced lawyers. This will help to address any specific issues and support the organisations compliance with employment law matters.

Sean McDonough

Managing Partner and Head of Employment Law