The King announces Labour’s intentions for legislative changes to Employment Law

Following Labour’s landslide victory in the General Election last month, the King recently unveiled Labour’s legislative agenda for the coming year during his Speech at the State Opening of Parliament on the 17th July 2024.

The King described the much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill as a piece of legislation “to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.”

Full details of the Bill are yet to be unveiled, however, some aspects announced by the King include:

• The statutory rights of parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal would be available to employees from their first day of employment. However, this would be subject to special rules in probational periods;
• Making flexible working the default for all workers from day one and requiring employers to accommodate this as far as is reasonable;
• Outlawing zero-hour contracts, ensuring that workers have a contract that reflects the hours they routinely work;
• Banning the ‘fire and rehire’ and ‘fire and replace’ practices by reforming the law and replacing the recently revamped statutory code;
• Deeming it unlawful to dismiss a woman during the period of six months after returning from maternity leave, subject to certain exceptions (such exceptions are unknown);
• Introducing new rights for workers and union members to have access to unions within their workplace and simplifying the process of statutory recognition for trade unions; and
• Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for statutory sick pay.

The King also announced a new Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The Bill proposes to “enshrine the full right to equal pay law” for disabled people and ethnic minorities. The effect of this will be that it would be mandatory for organisations with more than 250 employees to report their ethnicity and disability pay gap.

For further information or to discuss a potential employment law or discrimination claim, please contact our specialist employment solicitors on 0207 3950 5234 or info@rllaw.co.uk. We are ranked as a ‘Leading Firm’ in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners independent guides to the UK Legal Profession.

31 July 2024