October 10, 2024

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UK Government says Employee Rights Bill is ‘upgrade’ for workers’ rights

Labour has introduced legislation it says will “upgrade workers’ rights across the UK”.

houses of parliamentEmployees will now be able to claim sick pay from the first day of a new job and are entitled to unpaid parental leave, among a raft of changes that make up the Government’s new Employee Rights Bill.

It also removes the existing two-year qualifying period for protections from unfair dismissal and employers will also have to consider any flexible working requests from day one, unless they can prove it is unreasonable.

Workers will also no longer have to wait until the fourth day they are ill to claim statutory sick pay, and will instead be entitled from the first.

Those workers on zero-hour contacts will now have to be offered a guaranteed-hours contract based on the hours they have clocked up during a 12-week period, and will be entitled to “reasonable” notice of any shift changes, as well as compensation if a shift is cancelled.

‘Upgrade to rights’

The legislation is as part of the Government’s Make Work Pay campaign and it says marks the “biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation“. However, the announcement has come under criticism for lack of clarity and delays around implementation.

The aforementioned changes are not expected to come into force for two years following a period of consultation, and there is a lack of detail around the unfair dismissal process, as workers are still subject to a proposed nine-month probation period. It remains unclear what circumstances they can make a claim for unfair dismissal if they are sacked within those nine months.

Answering emails out of contract hours, or the “right to switch off” is not part of the bill and is expected to be addressed separately.

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