Reports have it that the long-awaited Employment Bill will not in fact now be announced during the Queen’s Speech in May – causing much frustration especially by trade unions. When asked if the Bill would be included in next month’s speech, a government official has said: “No. Not everything we want to do can we find space for in one season, we can’t do everything we want to do immediately.”

The government pledged a series of employment reforms including a day-one right to flexible working and more stable contracts of employment for gig workers in December 2019, in response to recommendations made in the Good Work Plan.

In the notes to the 2019 Queen’s Speech, the government said it would bring forward the Employment Bill to:

  • Promote fairness in the workplace, striking the right balance between the flexibility that the economy needs and the security that workers deserve.
  • Protect and enhance workers’ rights as the UK leaves the EU, making Britain the best place in the world to work.
  • Strengthen workers’ ability to get redress for poor treatment by creating a new, single enforcement body.
  • Offer greater protections for workers by prioritising fairness in the workplace, and introducing better support for working families.
  • Build on existing employment law with measures that protect those in low-paid work and the gig economy.

Other proposed protections include family-friendly rights such as carer’s leave and enhanced protection from dismissal for employees returning from maternity leave. Both of these have been promised “when parliamentary time allows”, but no timeline has been confirmed yet. A proposal to allow flexible working from day one of employment, as opposed to the current 28 weeks, has also been mooted.

Despite not being enshrined in law, HR Optimisation strongly advocates that employers who want to be seen as inclusive, fair, supportive and attractive from an employee wellbeing perspective, don’t seek to delay strengthening their own policies ahead of the eventual launch of the Employment Bill.  Do a good work thing – do it now anyway!

 

 

 

Hannah Powell