The UK’s new Employment Rights Bill is a powerful and much-needed overhaul of the existing employment rights. While it has not yet received royal assent, it’s currently in the House of Lords and is expected to be ratified into law next year. With this in mind, it’s important for businesses today to be aware of what’s currently within it and to start preparing.
Do You Need to Prepare Now?
While yes, the bill isn’t yet in law, it has passed its third reading. This means that the overall content and changes in the bill are very likely here to stay. All that’s left to debate are the finer details, so now’s the perfect time to start preparing for the new Employment Rights Bill.
The bill will bring sweeping changes that will be slowly rolled out over the next two years, which gives you plenty of time to adapt, adjust, and prepare your business.
How to Prepare Your Business for the New Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill covers multiple elements of workers’ rights, from trade union activity and parental leave to new definitions that will apply under unfair dismissal. If you don’t have the time to keep up to date with these changes, or you want to ensure that your business is always acting within the law (particularly when handling dismissals or tribunals) then it’s imperative you have human resource specialists on hand to support you.
If you don’t, or your existing HR department is unprepared to meet the new legal requirements, then consider outsourcing to an agency like The HR Dept. Outsourced agencies are the go-to solution for managing employment contracts, disciplinaries, and other essentials while meeting legal obligations.
Essentially, their work protects both you and your employees. Since they’re outsourced, you can benefit from an entire team’s worth of expertise at some of the lowest overall rates, allowing you to add on their services before each new phase rollout to keep costs down.
What’s Included in the New Employment Rights Bill?
There are several key changes to employment law in the upcoming bill. These include:
· Industrial Action and Trade Union Protections
New rules mean that current requirements, like the minimum service level requirement for strike action, will be removed. Additional protections to prevent workers from being fired for organizing or participating in a strike or other trade union activity will also be implemented.
In addition to these protections, trade union activity is also set to change. Instead of 14 days, workers will only need to give notice 10 days in advance of industrial action. Picket supervisors will no longer be required, and the general process of starting a trade union or striking is set to be simplified.
· Parental Leave Rights
In the next wave of changes, you can expect new parental leave rights to take effect. For example, parental leave can be taken from the first day on the job for new parents. Restrictions on taking paternity leave after shared parental leave may also be removed. By 2027 (or later), it’s expected that stronger protections against dismissal for pregnant workers and those returning from maternity leave will come into force.
· Sick Leave Rights
If the bill passes in its current form, statutory sick pay will start from the first day of illness rather than the fourth. The lower earnings limit is also expected to be removed.
· Redundancy Protections
Workers will benefit from greater protections against unfair dismissal. Changes are also expected to prevent the use of non-disclosure agreements to prevent workers from talking about any type of harassment. Additional changes include stronger laws against fire-and-rehire practices, longer tribunal time limits, and increased protections against detriment for industrial action.
By the latter phases, all workers will be protected from day one under unfair dismissal protections.
· Women’s Rights
Several employment laws are set to benefit and protect women. Sexual harassment is set to be included in the whistleblowing law, meaning that reporting it will be protected from detriment and unfair dismissal.
Pay gap and menopause action plans are also set to come into effect. Initially, these are going to be voluntary, but expect them to become mandatory in the latter phases of the bill’s rollout.
What Do You Need to Do Now?
Now’s a good time to review existing contracts, handbooks, and policies. You may not necessarily need to make changes right this second, but highlighting the areas that’ll need to change can simplify the process once the Bill is passed. Once again, you can do this yourself or outsource it to HR and employment law specialists so they can handle it for you.