Blitz Bureau
LONDON: Britain’s Labour government set out its plans on October 10 for the biggest change to employment law in a generation, including plans to end fire-and-rehire practices and increase sick pay.
The Employment Rights Bill was generally welcomed by trade unions, who traditionally fund the Labour Party, as well as business lobby groups and the bosses of companies including BT, Sainsbury’s and Centrica. While Britain has one of the highest minimum wages in the world compared to average salaries, it has been a laggard in the area of minimum employee benefits, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The bill being laid before parliament on October 10 proposes a raft of protections for millions of workers such as granting new rights on parental leave and sick pay from day one of employment, as well as banning “exploitative” zero-hours contracts, which give workers no guaranteed hours.
But some key details are still to be worked out, and the government appeared to back away from some preelection promises. Instead, the Government said it would consult on employees’ right to ignore work outside of normal hours, and on introducing a single status of worker. This would end the practice of labelling some staff as self-employed, which allows companies to save on costs such as social security payments.
The law will be Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s biggest reform since Labour’s landslide election victory in July. The Government framed the plans as the best way to avoid the widespread industrial action that has disrupted services over the last two years.
Last month Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds, who has been a key figure in repairing Labour’s relationship with the business community, sought to give reassurance that “day one” rights for workers would not remove employers’ ability to use probation periods for new recruits.
The Government said the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026.
“It’s important the Government builds on the good engagement to date to ensure we get the detail right on this decisive piece of legislation,” said Rain Newton-Smith, CEO of the Confederation of British Industry, which speaks on behalf of 170,000 businesses.
