All change under Labour

Our new government’s Employment Rights Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 17 July this year promises to mark the biggest transformation in workplace rights and employment legislation in decades.   Firstly, it plans to establish a new enforcement agency called the Fair Work Agency. This new body is likely to have powers to enforce working time, holidays, pay, sick pay, agency rules and ‘discriminatory practices against migrant workers’.

So, what are the main highlights of the new employment legislation to come?   With regards to some of the details it is still sketchy and it is not known when they will come into effect, but you can expect . . . .

• Improved whistleblower rights: Labour will strengthen the rights and protections available to whistleblowers in the workplace, including on sexual harassment.
• Changes to protected employment: Labour will give workers a right not to be unfairly dismissed from the first day of work, thereby scrapping the current two-year qualifying period.  They also intend to extend the length of time an employee can bring an employment tribunal claim from three months to six months.
• More supportive workplace: This includes making bereavement leave a statutory entitlement, extending paternity rights and extending the right to flexible working from day one of employment.

In addition, workers will be able to ignore work-related emails and calls outside office hours under new rules “the right to switch off’ ensuring that workers can disconnect from their work outside regular hours and refuse to take on extra work at the weekends.

• Race & disability pay gap reporting: Building on gender pay gap reporting, the Government will introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting for large employers.
• A stop to ’abusive’ zero hours contracts: New rules designed to prevent the abuse of zero hours will be introduced.

Please contact Hafton for a free consultation about the implications of these employment changes for your workplace at info@haftonconsultancy.com  giving your name, business and contact number.