Paternity and adoption leave rights are going to become available from day one of employment, which bereavement leave also becoming available to all employees, rather than just those with dependents. This will also be updated to include those who have had a miscarriage before 24 weeks gestation.
SSP will become payable from the first day of absence (rather than the fourth) and will be available to all employees, with the weekly rate payable set to £118.75 or 80% of the employee's earnings - whichever is lower.
The amount of time an employee has to make an employment tribunal claim against you is doubling from three months to six. This is likely to hugely increase the amount of employment tribunals being brought about.
Going forwards, you will only be able to refuse flexible working requests on very specific grounds, such as a detrimental impact on your business. Any refusal that you do make, will need to be made in writing and clearly outline the reasonable ground you have for refusing the flexible working request.
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) will be a new enforcement ombudsman created to investigate and act against any breaches of employment rights. We expect their remit to particularly focus around pay, right to work and holiday - amongst other things.
Collective redundancies apply to employers who are proposing 20 or more redundancies. Currently, this has applied to one 'establishment' (e.g. a singular workplace). However, this change will introduce a threshold which counts redundancies across all employees across all 'establishments' within the business. The maximum protective award for failure to collectively consult is also double - from 90 to 180 days. This is full pay, due to all employees who are affected.
The Employment Rights Bill will repeal and amend various rules brought in by the previous government, making it easier to join unions and organise within the workplace, through lower notice period and thresholds, and an increased length of time before a mandate for action expires.
Following this Bill, employers will become liable for any third-party harassment that occurs. This could include customers, suppliers or contractors that they may interact with.Â
Implementing unfair dismissal rights for employees from day one of employment, removing the two year 'buffer' that businesses have previously had. It will also introduce a new 'initial period of employment' - expected to be nine months long and essentially a mandated probationary period - during which there will be a lower test for unfair dismissals.Â
Introducing the right to a guaranteed contract for zero hour workers following a defined reference period. This was further extended to agency workers via amendments. The reference period is expected to be defined as 12 weeks. The change also defines that those workers are entitled to compensation for shifts that are cancelled or curtailed without reasonable notice.
