Employment Rights Bill 2024 – what do employers need to know?

The much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill was published on 10 October 2024 and promises to bring into effect some of the most significant changes to employment law in a generation.

This has caused much concern among employers, particularly in light of recent press reports that the changes will cost employers £5bn a year. The Bill may take some months to become law, and some key proposals are still unclear. However, some of the main features are set out below.

Key features

• Day one unfair dismissal rights, but with a statutory probation period of nine months during which employers can use a “lighter touch” and less onerous process to fairly dismiss unsuitable employees
• Flexible working as the default unless it would be reasonable for the employer to refuse
• An end to “fire and rehire” so that dismissal because an employee refuses to agree a change to their contract will be automatically unfair, except where an employer has no choice
• Employers will be required to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and employees will be able to make protected disclosures in respect of sexual harassment
• Protection against dismissal for pregnant employees, which will extend to the first six months after their return to work
• Collective redundancy consultation to be mandatory in many more situations for multi-site employers
• Zero-hours contracts to be heavily regulated, with rights for employees to insist on definite hours and proper notice of work assignments
• Trade unions to be granted the right to request access to the workplace – with enforcement rights backing that up
• Removal of the 3-day waiting period for statutory sick pay
• Earlier access to rights to paternity and parental leave
• Other sector-specific proposals in adult social care and for schools.

What should I do now?

The good news is that the reforms will not take effect before 2026, giving employers some time to prepare. The government intends to consult on the most of these reforms in 2025 and, in fact, the first consultation has already been launched.

Details are slowly beginning to emerge and we are now better placed to advise our clients on how the reforms will affect them. The government has recently published a series of factsheets which can be found here.

It should be appreciated that these changes will affect every employer and this is the time to assess how they will impact your business.

What’s next?

We can carry out a free initial assessment of how the new law will affect your organisation. You can also be part of the consultation process.

You should plan around these proposals being the law within two years. Identify which proposals will affect you most, but all employers will need to plan for more flexible working requests, less flexible zero-hours working, much less chance of forcing through contractual changes, the need for more careful recruitment and having to make decisions about new employees at a much earlier stage.