What is in the new Employment Rights Bill?

The Government has published the Employment Rights Bill, promising the biggest overhaul in workers’ rights in a generation.

Some measures have already been announced, such as changing the Low Pay Commission’s remit to take into account the cost of living for the first time.

Other measures in the Bill include:

– Introducing powers to create a Fair Pay Agreement in the adult social care sector.

– Reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.

– Reinstating and strengthening the two-tier code for public sector contracts, ensuring that employees working on outsourced contracts will be offered terms and conditions no less favourable to those transferred from the public sector.

– Paying Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of absence rather than the fourth, and removing the lower earnings limit to make it available to all employees.

– Bringing together the various agencies and bodies that enforce employment rights into a new Fair Work Agency, described as a simplified and strengthened system to protect workers and ensure justice in the workplace.

– Strengthen the rights of trade union representatives and bring “archaic and prohibitive” trade union legislation into the 21st century.

– Multiple measures will be brought forward to protect workers from dismissal and blacklisting for trade union activity, ensure workers understand their right to join a trade union, to simplify the statutory recognition process, and bring in a new right of access for union officials to meet, represent, recruit and organise members in workplaces.

– The Bill will repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 and the Trade Union Act 2016.

– Increase the likelihood of a request for flexible working arrangements to be granted.

– Introduce day one entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave, and introduce a statutory entitlement to bereavement leave.

– Require large employers to produce action plans on how to address gender pay gaps and support employees through the menopause, as well as strengthening rights for pregnant workers and new mothers.

– Day one protection from unfair dismissal, while allowing employers to operate probation periods.

– Increasing protection from sexual harassment in the workplace.

– End unscrupulous fire and rehire and fire practices.

– Strengthening rights and requirements for collective redundancy consultation.

– Ban exploitative zero hours contracts.

– Other measures, such as the right to switch off, aimed at stopping employers contacting staff out of hours, are included in a so-called next steps document for future discussion and consultation.

– Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement: “This is a comprehensive Bill which, once implemented, will represent the biggest upgrade in employment rights for a generation.

– “It will raise the minimum floor of employment rights, raise living standards across the country and provide better support for those businesses who are engaged in good practices.”