As we highlighted in a previous article, it was widely anticipated that there would be a new employment bill in the recent Queen's Speech on the 11th May 2021. However, none materialised.
The New Employment Bill: Background
A new Employment Bill was announced in the 2019 Queens Speech, but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hence, it was anticipated that it would be introduced sometime in 2021, and would therefore be included in the Queen's Speech on the 11th May 2021.
The new Employment Bill, if and when it does ultimately materialise, is likely to include the following measures:-
- The establishment of a new single enforcement body for employment rights. This will involve merging the Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, and HMRC’s national minimum wage enforcement responsibilities, into a new single enforcement body. The Government published its response to the consultation on this issue on the 8th June 2021.
- The extension of protection against redundancy re pregnancy, maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, including extending redundancy protection to six months post return to work after the end of maternity leave, with similar protection afforded to those returning to work from adoption leave and shared parental leave
- Neonatal leave and pay
- A new right to 1 week’s unpaid leave per year for carers
- New legislation to ensure that tips left by customers in restaurants are retained by staff in full, and are not either partially or wholly taken off them by their employers.
- A new right for workers to request a more stable contract after 26 weeks service
- New legislation to enhance flexible working rights
- An extension of time required to break a period of continuous service from one week to four weeks
- New legislation making it compulsory for organisations to publish their modern slavery statements on a new government-run registry
Other possible measures which may appear in any Employment Bill include:-
- New legislation relating to post-termination non-compete clauses, over which the Government is currently consulting on
- An extension of the ban on exclusivity clauses beyond zero hours contracts, to contracts where the workers’ guaranteed weekly income is less than the Lower Earnings Limit of £120 a week, which the Goivernment is also currently consulting on
- Compensation for those whose shifts are cancelled at short notice, an entitlement to reasonable notice of allocated shifts, and protections for those who refuse last minute shifts
- New legislation to protect against “firing and rehiring”, with recent TUC research having found that around 1 in 10 employees have been told to reapply for their positions on inferior terms since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, an employer can go about this process where there is a flexibility clause contained within the employment contract that allows an employer to make reasonable changes to some conditions, where an employee consents to changes after consultation, and where an employee representative, such as a trade union, consents to changes on behalf of those they represent. In relation to consultation, if employees do not consent, then an employer may terminate the contract with notice and offer a new contract on new terms. This is the process that was gone through during the recent British Gas dispute.
New Employment Bill Delayed
As stated, a new Employment Bill was not included in the Queen's Speech on the 11th May 2021.
The BBC reported that: “Downing Street said an Employment Bill would be introduced “when the time is right”, citing the pandemic as the reason for the delay.” Accordingly, it is now highly unlikely that there will be any new Employment Bill before 2022 at the earliest.
Reaction
Reacting to the omission of the new Employment Bill from the Queen's Speech, Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, stated: “We can’t build back better from this crisis unless we improve pay and conditions at work. But the government has rowed back on its promised boost to workers’ rights by not bringing forward its long overdue employment bill. This pandemic has brutally exposed the terrible working conditions and insecurity many of our key workers in retail, care, and delivery face. We need action now to deal with the scourge of insecure work – not more dithering and delay.“
