Government plans to boost employment rights

In the King’s speech yesterday, Labour set out its plans for the next few months, referencing “legislation to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights”.

The details are likely to include the following:

• Making parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal a day 1 right(subject to special rules for probationary periods)
• Banning zero-hour contracts, making sure that workers have a right to a contract that reflects the hours they regularly work
• Cease “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace” practices by reforming the law and replacing the statutory code
• Removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for statutory sick pay
• Introduce a right to request flexible working from day one and require employers to accommodate this as far as is reasonable
• Make it unlawful to dismiss a woman within 6 months of returning to work after having a baby (with certain exceptions)
• Create a Fair Work Agency to enforce workplace rights
• Introduce a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector
• Repeal the law on minimum service levels in relation to industrial action
• Simplify the process of statutory recognition for trade unions
• Introduce a right for workers and union members to access a union within the workplace

We will await the draft legislation to see what will be included but it is fair to say that change is on the way!