Shakespeare Martineau
With the new Labour government planning to introduce an Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of taking office, David Browne, partner at Shakespeare Martineau, looks at some of the main proposals and what they mean for employers.
One of the key proposals is making protection from unfair dismissal a “day-one right”. Key to managing this change and minimising the increased risk of tribunal claims will be for employers to ensure they have the right staff from the start. This should be done through rigorous recruitment processes, effective use of probationary periods, and ensuring ongoing performance monitoring and feedback.
The time limit for most employment tribunal claims will be extended from three to six months, likely increasing claim numbers and potentially lengthening tribunal processing times.
The government has indicated it would replace the current three-tier employment status with a single “worker” status, granting all but the genuinely self-employed access to the full suite of employment rights.
While initially, there were plans for an outright ban on zero-hour contracts, this has been watered down so employers will be allowed to use them provided they are not “exploitative”.
Diversity, equity and inclusion is high on the government’s agenda, with a number of commitments including strengthening harassment laws, revising gender pay gap reporting to include outsourced workers, and requiring large employers to create menopause action plans.
To empower trade unions, recent legislation that introduced thresholds for ballots and restrictions on picketing and minimum staffing levels in certain sectors will be repealed, while the right to replace striking workers with agency staff will be removed.
The Low Pay Commission’s remit will be expanded to ensure the national minimum wage reflects cost-of-living increases. Age bands will also be removed.
Workers will have the right to disconnect from work. Any proposals by an employer to introduce surveillance technologies would also be subject to consultation and agreement by trade unions or elected staff representatives.
An Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will be created, enshrining in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people, and introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting.