The news comes from employment law experts at Midlands based Brindley Twist Tafft & James (BTTJ) as Labour unveils its Employment Rights Bill, marking one of the biggest updates to employment law in recent years
The new Bill aims to ban what Labour deems ‘exploitative’ practices and enhance employment rights.
Proposals include:
- Prohibiting zero-hour contracts, replacing them with contracts with regular hours. In addition, workers would receive ‘reasonable’ notice regarding change to their shifts and fair compensation for shortened or cancelled shifts.
- Restrictions to “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace”. The Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement was published by the Department for Business and Trade in July.
- Introducing day one rights to extend protection to employees such as those facing unfair dismissal, those on parental leave or sick leave, and flexible working rights ensuring employers will still be able to continue to operate probationary periods to assess performance.
- Introducing flexible working as the standard practice for all employees from the outset – “with employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable” to mirror the modern workplace.
- Strengthening protection for new mothers by making it unlawful to dismiss a woman with a new baby for six months following her return to work “except in specific circumstances.”
- The formation of the Fair Work Agency to strengthen the enforcement of workplace rights.
- Strengthening statutory sick pay by removing the lower earnings limit to make it accessible to all employees and eliminating the three-day waiting period.
- Implementing a Fair Pay Agreement within the adult social care sector followed by a comprehensive review to assess how and to what extent a similar agreement could benefit other sectors.
- Updating trade union legislation so it is more in keeping with the modern economy, removing unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity and ensuring industrial relations are centred on “good faith negotiation and bargaining” committed to implementing a genuine living wage for workers.
- Simplifying the process of statutory recognition and introducing a regulated route for workers and union members to have a reasonable right to access a union in their workplace.
- Establishing national terms and conditions, career progression routes and fair pay rates for teachers and other school staff.
Kerry Hudson, Personal Injury & Employment Solicitor at BTTJ, which operates across Coventry and Warwickshire, said: “UK employers should prepare themselves for some of these proposed changes under the new Bill.
“It is also essential that any changes which come into force are incorporated within contracts of employment as any new laws will override the terms of an existing contract.”
For further details log on to www.bttj.com
