Get ready for Labour’s revamping of employment law

Andrew Maxwell is an associate in the employment team at Harper Macleod​

Labour’s election victory will go down in history for many reasons. Looking to make an immediate impact, the next few months will no doubt give us some clear indications of what our new government intends to do.

Taking up a major part of its election manifesto, Labour vowed to overhaul employment rights, with a promise to introduce a new Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days of it being in power, were it to be successful.

The manifesto pledged to implement measures from Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay: Delivering A New Deal for Working People, which contains 100 pages of policy detail.

What wasn’t clear from the manifesto or plan, however, was which measures would form part of the Employment Rights Bill, and which measures would be introduced later in their term. The recent King’s Speech has now provided further details on what we can expect within the new Employment Rights Bill.

Employment law is not devolved to the Scottish Government, so any changes brought in by the UK Government apply to employees and employers across the UK, including the north of Scotland. The measures include:

• Banning “exploitative” zero hours contracts, ending “one-sided” flexibility, and ensuring workers have the right to a contract which (i) reflects the number of hours they regularly work and (ii) that they get reasonable notice of any changes in shift with proportionate compensation for any shifts cancelled or curtailed.
• Ending the practice of “fire and rehire” by reforming the law and replacing the previous statutory code.
• Making parental leave, sick pay and unfair dismissal Day One employment rights.
• Making flexible working the default from Day One for all workers.
• Strengthening protections for new mothers by making it unlawful to dismiss a woman for six months after her return to work, except in specific circumstances.

In addition to the Employment Rights Bill, the King’s Speech revealed plans for a new Race Equality Bill which will enshrine in law the full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people, as well as introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

While the King’s Speech has provided further details beyond the manifesto pledges, there are still many unanswered questions which we will expect to be answered upon publication of the draft bills.

The popular Employment Matters webinar from Harper Macleod returns next month for a special edition, “Labour’s first 100 days in power: What has changed in employment law?” By that time, the Employment Rights Bill will have been published, and we can expect to have a clearer idea of the steps employers will have to take to meet new obligations.

Our webinar takes place on Wednesday 23 October from 8:45am-10am and will be held online via Teams. If you’re interested you can register via this link.