Employment Rights Bill 2024 – an update
Further to our recent article on the Employment Rights Bill 2024 here we detail some important dates of when the legislative changes are likely to come in force. The second reading of the Employment Rights Bill was scheduled for Monday 21 October 2024
The Government is, at present, seeking consultation in relation to four proposals covered within the Employment Rights Bill 2024:
- Statutory sick pay – “consultation on the percentage replacement rate for those earning below the current rate of Statutory Sick Pay.” (Link: Making Work Pay: Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay - GOV.UK)
- Guaranteed hours contracts (replacing exploitative zero-hour contracts) - “The government is seeking views on the application of measures to tackle one-sided flexibility in zero hour contracts to agency workers.” (Link: Making Work Pay: the application of zero hours contracts measures to agency workers - GOV.UK)
- Collective consultation process and protecting employees from the fire and re-hire practices – “the government is seeking views on strengthening remedies against abuse of rules on collective redundancy and fire and rehire.” (Link: Making Work Pay: collective redundancy and fire and rehire - GOV.UK)
- Trade union and industrial relations - “consulting to modernise the legislative framework that underpins trade unions, seeking views on several specific measures.” (Link: Making Work Pay: creating a modern framework for industrial relations - GOV.UK)
The open consultations are due to close in the first week in December.
In the government’s Next Steps paper, (Next Steps to Make Work Pay (web accessible version) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) it is stated “we expect to begin consulting on these reforms in 2025, seeking significant input from all stakeholders, and anticipate this meaning that the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026. Reforms of unfair dismissal will take effect no sooner than autumn 2026.”
With the above announcement, employers may wish to consider their recruitment process and add further steps to their screening and interviewing process. This would hopefully reduce the need for dismissals (or redundancies) and reduce employers having to defend an unfair dismissal claim.
Furthermore, employers may wish to take further practical steps ahead of the implementation of the Employment Rights Bill 2024 in order to prepare for the ban of exploitative zero-hour contracts. Potential steps may include having discussions with employees and workers to determine their ideal working arrangements (i.e. hours / days) and reviewing the contracts of employment which they offer to individuals. Employers may also wish to amend their recruitment process to decipher any preferred hours from the start in order to determine whether they can properly accommodate and pay for them.
An overall review of all policies and procedures may also be beneficial given that the Employment Rights Bill 2024 has indicated that there is to be a change in relation to parental leave (i.e. this will become a day one right) and the new bereavement leave entitlement. |
