The King's speech on 17 July set out the Bills that the government intends to bring forward in the 2024-25 parliamentary session.
The two primary Bills of relevance to employment are an Employment Rights Bill and a draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill.
Employment Rights Bill
This will deliver the promises set out in Labour's new Deal for Working People and will be introduced in the first 100 days of Labour coming to power (12th October 2024). It will include the following:
- A ban on exploitative zero hours contracts
- An end to "fire and rehire" and replacing the previous government's "inadequate statutory code"
- Parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal will be day one rights for all workers
- Statutory sick pay (SSP) will be strengthened by removing the lower earnings limit and waiting period for eligibility
- Flexible working will be the default for all workers from day one
- It will be unlawful to dismiss a woman returning from maternity leave for 6 months after her return
- A single enforcement body, the Fair Work Agency, will be established
- A Fair Pay Agreement will be established in the adult social care sector
- An update to trade union legislation, including the removal of unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity, the repeal of minimum services levels (MSLs), a simplification of the statutory recognition process and trade union access to workplaces
The background briefing notes to the Bill also commit the government to delivering a genuine living wage that accounts for the cost of living and to removing age bands for the national minimum wage for adult workers. It is understood that these measures do not form part of the Bill but will be introduced separately.
Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
This Bill will include the following:
- A full right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people.
- The introduction of mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting for employers with 250 or more employees.
Other measures
There will also be a Skills England Bill which will establish a new body, Skills England.Skills England will convene with employers, unions, education and training providers and experts to develop a single picture of national and local skills needs. One of its responsibilities will be to identify the training for which a Growth and Skills Levy will be available.The apprenticeship levy will be reformed.
For further details of all Labour's employment plans, including the above-mentioned Bills but also other measures please refer to our bulletin 'Labour in government: a step by step guide to employment changes'.
