The Labour Party’s return to government after the 2024 UK general election has sparked significant anticipation regarding changes to employment law. Among the headline announcements are proposals to extend employment rights by scrapping any length of service requirement to claim unfair dismissal and making it a day one right , banning “fire and rehire” practices, and strengthening trade union rights.

In its “A New Deal for Working People” plan, released on 24 May 2024, the Labour Party outlined several reform proposals and pledged to introduce legislation within 100 days.

Key actions include:

• Banning zero-hour contracts and “one-sided flexibility”: Eliminating contracts that do not guarantee any hours of work.
• Accurate work hours contracts: Ensuring employee contracts reflect actual hours worked, based on a 12-week reference period.
• Prohibiting fire and rehire: Banning practices where employees are dismissed and rehired on worse terms.
• Day-one employment rights: Granting protection from unfair dismissal, and giving sick pay, and parental leave from the first day of employment.
• Default flexible working: Making flexible working the default from day one, except where not reasonably feasible.
• Amending collective redundancy thresholds: Triggering redundancy consultation based on the number of people impacted across the business, rather than at each worksite.
• Strengthening the existing set of rights and protections under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations.
• Right to disconnect: Introducing the right to switch off from work and work autonomously.
• Single status of worker: Combining employee and worker status to extend protections.  Currently, there are 3 different statuses: employer, worker and self-employed.
• Strengthening whistleblower rights: Enhancing protections for whistleblowers.
• Safeguarding remote workers: Protecting workers from remote surveillance.
• Trade Union information: Requiring Section 1 statements to inform new starters of their right to join a trade union.
• Family friendly rights: Introducing new opportunities for flexi-time that better accommodates school terms, increasing statutory maternity and paternity rights, introducing bereavement leave, and strengthening protections for pregnant women.
• Pay reporting: Mandating ethnicity and disability pay reporting for larger employers (more than 250 staff).
• Menopause action plans: Requiring larger employers to have plans addressing menopause.
• Fair pay: creating a genuine living wage, strengthening the law relating to how hospitality workers receive tips and banning unpaid internships, except where part of an education or training course, which Labour hopes will be good for social mobility.
• Employment Tribunals: extending time limit for employees to bring a Tribunal claim from 3 to 6 months.

The proposed changes could significantly impact employers. For example, the introduction of unfair dismissal rights from day one would require employers to justify dismissals fairly from the start of employment, contrasting with the current two-year qualifying period. This shift could lead to a surge in unfair dismissal claims and increase the time and costs associated with terminations.  Labour have said that they will ensure the employers can operate probationary periods to assess new hires, and we think that this area of legislative change will take some time to come into force. The merging of employee and worker statuses could extend various employment protections to more individuals, potentially increasing employer obligations. This has always been a complex area of employment law and most employment lawyers and HR professionals would hope that this change will make life easier, given that existing tax law only recognises the two statuses of employed and self-employed.

Labour has promised an Employment Rights Bill to introduce these reforms within the first 100 days of government. The King’s speech, scheduled for 17 July 2024, is expected to outline the legislative agenda, including these employment law changes. While some reforms may require longer consultation and may not be immediate, simpler proposals could be enacted quickly, though it’s difficult to predict which ones, given the overwhelming number of proposals.

There’s little significant preparation that employers can do right now, but in light of the above, reviewing policies and practices and being prepared for the evident course of action, could be beneficial.

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