On 10th October 2024, the new Labour Government presented its much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill.
However, is the Bill truly the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”, as per the Party’s key election promise?
During its 2024 election campaign, the Labour Party promised the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation”, pledging relevant legislation within 100 days of coming into power. Indeed, just 97 days after Keir Starmer’s appointment as Prime Minister, the Labour Party presented its much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill, seemingly making good on this key election promise.
On the face of it, the Bill itself looks vast and impressive (set out over 158 pages, with seven separate schedules) but, drilling down into the, in places, impenetrable detail of the Bill, it is clear that the Government’s pre-election promises to “upgrade” employment rights in many areas previously considered, have been dumbed down or simply fallen off the radar.
However, there are changes afoot, some of which are very significant – the three headliners being changing unfair dismissal rights to a “day one right”; and a proposed end to exploitative zero hours contracts, as well as “fire and re-hire” practices. “Fire and re-hire” being the controversial process by which employers wishing to change employees’ terms and conditions will dismiss those who refuse the changes, only to either offer to immediately re-hire them on the new terms, or hire agency workers to take the employees’ place. A couple of high-profile examples include P&O Ferries and the recent Tesco
cases.
The government will now consult on the changes and set out the detail via Statutory Instrument. The majority of reforms are not expected to take effect until the autumn of 2026 at the earliest.
The main proposed reforms for employers to know about include:
- Unfair dismissal to become a ‘day one’ right;
- Regulations to prevent ‘fire and re-hire’ practices;
- Ending exploitative zero-hours contracts;
- Improving employees’ protection from harassment;
- Lowered thresholds for collective consultation for redundancy;
- Changes to flexible working requests;
- Extension of unpaid bereavement leave;
- Changes to Statutory Sick Pay; and
- Regulating written policies regarding tips and gratuities, and introducing employee consultation for the same.
Details of most of these are still to be confirmed, which we’ll be following closely.
Do you have an employment question, or just want to explore your options? Reach out to Jane at [email protected]