Following the general election earlier this year, the Government has now delivered on its promise to introduce the Employment Rights Bill to parliament within the first 100 days of being elected.
This was followed be a secondary reading of the Bill on 21st October 2024. Following this the Government has launched a number of consultations to scrutinise the Bill over the coming months ahead.
The Bill is set to see one of the biggest changes to employment law in recent times, ultimately giving more rights to employees.
What are the main changes included in the Employment Rights Bill?
The Bill which sets out over 28 changes to employment law aims to deliver the key employment legislative reforms set out in the Government’s plan to make work pay.
Below are our key takeaways that employers need to be aware of that’s included in the Bill.
Removal of the two year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims
Perhaps one of the most significant changes is the removal of the current qualifying period of two years’ service for an unfair dismissal claim. Instead, this will be replaced with a statutory probationary period which will be set at nine months subject to further consultation.
Whilst this is a significant change for employers, the Government has stated that this change will not take effect until at least October 2026.
Changes to sick pay
Another day one right will also apply to statutory sick pay. This will mean that employees will have the right to statutory sick pay from the first day of illness rather than from the 4th day of sickness, removing the current qualifying period. The consultation on this change is now open and closes on the 4th December 2024.
Flexible working
Flexible working will also become a default day one right, except where it is not reasonably practical to agree to a flexible working request. Since April 2024, it has been a day one right for employees to request a flexible working. The Bills strengthens these changes further and moving forwards employers will be required to write to an employee explaining the reason for refusing a flexible working request and why they consider this to be reasonable.
Family friendly rights
As anticipated, maternity discrimination legislation will be strengthened, meaning pregnant employees cannot be dismissed following six months after their return to work.
Parental leave and paternity leave will become a day one right, removing the current one years’ continuous service required for parental leave and the current 26 week’s service for paternity leave.
There will also be a new day one right to one week bereavement leave for employees, although the relationship the employee must have to qualify is yet to be determined.
Protection from harassment
Further to the sexual harassment changes being introduced in October 2024, there will be a new requirement for employers to not permit harassment from a third party (such as a client or customer). In addition, there will be a requirement for employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work.
Zero hours contracts
There will also be changes to zero hour contracts. Workers will have the right to move to a guaranteed hours contract that reflects the hours they usually work. Zero hour contract workers will also be given the right to reasonable notice for changes to working hours. They will also have the right to compensation for any hours that are cancelled or for shifts that are cut short.
The consultation on this change is now open and closes on 2nd December 2024.
What wasn’t covered in the Employment Rights Bill?
There were a number of exclusions that were previously expected to be covered in the Employment Rights Bill.
These exclusions included the right to switch off to disconnect and the introduction of a single status of worker.
Whilst these changes were excluded from the Bill, it is still anticipated that these changes will be made at a later stage.
What does this mean for employers?
We now know that the majority of the reforms included in the Employment Rights Bill are unlikely to take effect until 2026. This gives employers time to digest the changes and work through what this will mean in practice for their organisation.
In anticipation of these changes, employers can plan ahead and start to consider their current contracts of employment, working practices and policies and procedures in light of the anticipated changes.
If you are concerned about how to navigate the upcoming changes to employment law, take the first step towards better HR for your business by getting in touch with Norton Loxley today.
At Norton Loxley, we help business leaders accelerate growth to achieve their ambitions through our HR solutions of outsourced HR, HR consultancy, recruitment and more.
