In the 2024 General Election campaign, the Labour Party gave prominence to their manifesto commitment of “Making Work Pay”. We were promised the greatest shakeup of individual employment rights in a generation, along with a commitment to progress this to legislation within 100 days of winning the election. In respect of the latter, the new Labour Government delivered. On 10 October 2024, 98 days after the election, the Employment Rights Bill 2024 was published.
So, the Bill was delivered on time, but does it deliver radical changes to employment law, by giving the substantial new rights to employees that we were promised? The short answer is no. For supporters of extensions of employee workplace rights, the Bill is a big disappointment.
The first point to make is that nothing has yet changed. All existing employment law still applies. The Bill is subject to parliamentary debate, consultations and lobbying. There is speculation that it could be as long as two years before legislation actually reaches the statute books.
A number of initiatives discussed in the Making Work Pay paper are missing completely from the Bill. There was much discussion in the press about the introduction of a “right to switch off”, preventing employers from contacting staff out of hours. Of this there is no mention in the Bill. Attention on the gig economy in recent years, along with cases involving Uber drivers, amongst others, focused attention on the distinction between employees, workers and the self-employed. A review was promised, with the objective of creating a single status of worker, but this is a complex area and the Government has shied away from tackling the subject, at least for now.
The most prominent aspect of the promised review of employee rights was the commitment to introduce rights from day one. Currently, and for the immediate future, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal is two years. Traditionally, over the last several decades, Labour Governments reduce this qualifying period to one year and Conservative administrations put it back up to two years. Giving unfair dismissal rights from day one would certainly be a radical departure, but the Government has now suggested that probationary periods of up to 9 months will be permissible. It is likely that there will be a requirement for more formal processes around terminating employment on the grounds of probationary failure, but this is a significant departure from the approach being suggested prior to the election.
Flexible working also received a lot of airtime, with suggestions that flexible working would become the default position and that there would be a move towards a four-day working week. In the event, the Bill proposes only minor adjustments to the existing Flexible Working Regulations.
Similarly, the law around zero-hour contracts will be subject to change, but the practice will not be banned, as had been suggested.
The most eye-catching proposal in the Bill is the suggestion of automatic unfair dismissal where an employer terminates an existing contract and offers new employment on revised terms, also known as “fire and rehire”. The inclusion of this measure can be seen as a victory for the Unions, which long campaigned against “fire and rehire”, but whether this radical measure makes it through to final legislation remains to be seen.
So, some changes can be anticipated, but not the once-in-a-generation review of employment rights that we were promised.
If you would like further information on any of the topics detailed please email advice@sherrardslaw.com or call the office on 01273 834120 to talk to a member of the team.
Employment Law Latest 2024
Join our leading specialist team to run through critical employment law updates in London on Monday 4th November and in Surrey on Thursday 7th November. The sessions will run from 9:00 – 13:00 and the cost per delegate is £180 + VAT.
