New Employment Laws are coming soon…

The new Government is intending to upgrade workers’ rights in the 2024-25 parliamentary session. The King’s speech was delivered in Parliament on 17 July 2024 and sets out various Bills that they intend to bring forward. Two of particular interest to employment law are:-

• The Employment Rights Bill; and
• The Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.

The Employment Rights Bill

The background briefing notes contain various policies that could be included, such as:-

• Making parental leave, sick pay and unfair dismissal protection available from day one for all workers (subject to probationary periods for new hires);
• Removing the lower earnings limit and the waiting period from the eligibility requirements for Statutory Sick Pay;
• Making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this as far as reasonable;
• Updating trade union legislation “so it is fit for a modern economy”, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity and ensuring that industrial relations are based around good faith negotiation and bargaining;
• Reforming the law regarding the practice of “fire and rehire” to provide effective remedies against abuse and strengthening the statutory code of practice brought into force by the Conservatives;
•  Banning exploitative zero hours contracts;
• Simplifying the process of statutory recognition; and 
• Making it unlawful to dismiss someone who has had a baby for six months after their return to work, except in limited circumstances.

The final content will not be known until the bill is introduced in Parliament and this is expected within the first 100 days of Labour coming to power, so by 12 October 2024. 

The Draft Race and Disability Bill

This is understood to cover two main issues:-

• Introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for employers with 250 or more employees; and
• Enshrining in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people.

The idea appears to mirror the measures already in the Equality Act 2010 that relate to equal pay and gender pay gap reporting. 

It looks like it will be a busy and exciting time ahead with employment rights being strengthened….

Full text of the King’s speech is at:

The King’s Speech 2024 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The contents of this article is a general guide only at the date of publication.  It is not comprehensive, and it does not constitute legal advice.  Specific legal advice should be sought in relation to the particular facts of a given situation.