CIPP - New Employment Rights Bill details from the King's Speech

Last week, we heard from His Majesty King Charles III as he delivered the King’s Speech, marking the State Opening of the first session of parliament following the election. 

 

The King opened by stating: 

“Stability will be the cornerstone of my Government’s economic policy and every decision will be consistent with its fiscal rules”. 

The main note for payroll professionals was the mention of The Employment Rights Bill, which is to be introduced within the first 100 days. The policy team will be monitoring this and will bring you further information on this Bill once it is published. 

From the published documents, we can see that the Bill is due to bring about: 

 

• Banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work and that all workers get reasonable notice of any changes in shift with proportionate compensation for any shifts cancelled or curtailed. This will end ‘one sided’ flexibility, ensuring all jobs provide a baseline level of security and predictability. 

• Ending the scourges of ‘Fire and Rehire’ and ‘Fire and Replace’ by reforming the law to provide effective remedies and replacing the previous Government’s inadequate statutory code. 

• Making parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal available from day 1 on the job for all workers. We will continue to ensure employers can operate probationary periods to assess new hires. 

• Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay by removing the lower earnings limit to make it available to all workers as well as the waiting period 

• Making flexible working the default from day-one for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable, to reflect the modern workplace. 

• Strengthening protections for new mothers by making it unlawful to dismiss a woman who has had a baby for six months after her return to work, except in specific circumstances. 

• Establishing a new Single Enforcement Body, also known as a Fair Work Agency, to strengthen enforcement of workplace rights. 

• Establish a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector and, following review, assess how and to what extent such agreements could benefit other sectors. 

• Reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, to establish national terms and conditions, career progression routes, and fair pay rates. 

• Updating trade union legislation so it is fit for a modern economy, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity – including the previous Government’s approach to minimum service levels – and ensuring industrial relations are based around good faith negotiation and bargaining. 

• Simplifying the process of statutory recognition and introducing a regulated route to ensure workers and union members have a reasonable right to access a union within workplaces. 

 

It’s been confirmed that the new Bill will apply to Great Britain.