Labour Government Employment Law Changes

What impact will the new Labour Government have on employment law?

The short answer – a substantial one.

The Labour Party’s New Deal, to Make Work Pay, brings with it a raft of employment changes and new provisions. Many of these will be introduced within the first 100 days in the new Employment Rights Bill.

As the Bill has to make its way through Parliament, it won’t come into force until a later date. Assuming there are no major amendments, when it is passed, the changes will include:

• A number of “Day 1” Rights, for parental leave, statutory sick pay and unfair dismissal. For the latter, provision will be made to allow for the assessment of new employees during a probationary period. Therefore it is likely there will be some form of “waiting period”, perhaps in conjunction with contractual probationary periods, before unfair dismissal protection truly kicks in. Further amendments to Statutory Sick Pay include the removal of the three waiting days and the lower earnings limit, making it available to a larger proportion of employees.
• A ban on “exploitative” zero hours contracts to ensure that a workers contract reflects the number of hours they regularly work. There will also be a requirement for reasonable notice of any shift changes and compensation for shifts being cancelled or reduced.
• An end to Fire & Rehire contracts with the intention to provide effective remedies for such practices and replace the current statutory code which the Government describes as inadequate.
• The protection of new mothers, making it unlawful to dismiss them within six months of their return from maternity leave.
• An update to current Trade Union legislation, removing the requirement for minimum service levels and simplifying the statutory recognition process (something Amazon might have concerns about given the recent vote).

In addition, a new Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will be introduced, providing the right to equal pay regardless of race or disability. It will also require ethnicity and disability pay reporting for companies with 250+ employees (as with the current gender pay-gap reporting requirements).

There will also be a review of National Minimum Wage to provide a genuine living wage, taking into account the cost of living. The adult banding will also be abolished so all ages 18+ are on the same hourly rate.

The devil will very much be in the detail but, one thing is certain, there will be a lot for employers to get to grips with over the coming months and years as these labour employment law changes unfold.