Labour propose new Employment Rights Bill and a Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
In the King’s Speech on 17th July, the new Labour Government confirmed they would be tabling an Employment Rights Bill and a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The Employment Rights Bill will include new day one rights, as well as stronger protections for workers.
The draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will extend the equal pay duty to cover race and disability as well as sex, and introduce ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for employers with 250 or more employees. Labour have proposed that they will be introducing the Employment Rights Bill before Parliament by 12th October 2024.
However, the Bill will need to pass through both Houses and there will need to be consultations on various issues as well as new Codes of Practices and secondary legislation produced to run alongside the new legislation. It is therefore likely to take months before any new Labour legislation under this Bill is announced.
The government have confirmed their commitment to National Living Wage changes (linking the NLW to cost of living and removing the lower age bracket), and these changes could be actioned fairly quickly outside of the Employment Rights Bill, however they will still need to be passed into legislation.
The Equality (Race and Disability) Bill is likely to take longer to pass into law and is likely to receive extensive consultation before it is implemented, but it is something to be aware of on the horizon. Please follow this link for further information on the terminology used in the process of the potential changes.
What Actions can Employers Take Now?
- Now is the time to review your performance management processes and make sure that you have robust systems in place to manage any under-performing employees, as with new legislation any employee will be able to raise unfair dismissal claims (without requiring two years’ service).
- Make sure your contracts for new starters have properly drafted probationary periods and have systems in place to monitor probations.
- Review your workforce, assessing how many employees are on zero hours contracts and irregular working patterns, and whether you have ‘workers’ who will benefit from extended employment protection rights which may have cost impacts.
Ultimately, there is no need to panic. There is no timetable or expected implementation date yet, and HRi will keep all our clients informed as soon as we have more detailed information about changes and when to expect them.
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!
If you would like to talk through any of the above, or have questions related to any other area of employment law, please get in touch.
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