After the publication of the UK Employment Rights Bill in October 2024, businesses across the UK are preparing for a wave of reform – and it’s vital that your members are prepared for the change that’s coming their way. So, our expert partner Citation are here to go through a few of the changes your members need to be ready for.
New day-one employment rights
One of the biggest changes is the introduction of new day-one rights to unfair dismissal and parental leave. Before this, employees needed two years’ service to claim unfair dismissal, but this will now apply from day one. Probationary periods will still be valid, but your members will need to make sure their dismissal procedures are transparent and fair.
With a big reliance on short-term and project-based contracts, this change means business owners need to carefully assess and document any decisions made, and contracts and onboarding processes need to be reviewed to reduce the risk of tribunal claims.
Banning “exploitative” zero-hours contracts
Labour has committed to ending ‘one-sided flexibility’ and making sure that all jobs give a baseline level of security and predictability. They haven’t outright banned zero-hours contracts, but the Bill introduces a “right to guaranteed hours”, so your members will have to offer a “guaranteed hours” contract to certain workers once they’ve done a certain amount of work. It hasn’t been defined yet what that certain amount of work will be.
Changes to Statutory Sick Pay
Labour have committed to scrapping the lower earnings limit requirement and 3 day waiting periods for SSP, making SSP payable from the first day of sickness absence. These changes will increase the cost of sickness absence, and your members will need to review their absence management processes to ensure they have robust systems in place to manage sickness absence levels.
Preparing your members for the road ahead
To stay ahead, it’s best to start now – these changes could mean a fundamental shift in culture at your members’ businesses, and to the way they manage things. Your members should start by reviewing their employment contracts and policies to meet the new requirements, and training supervisors or any HR managers they have. Communicating with their employees will also foster trust and engagement.
Citation – your industry-leading compliance partner.
There’s a lot of change in store this year – so now’s the right time to make sure you’ve got a compliance partner like us by your side to support your members. Working with us means you’ll be able to get must-know information out to your members including content for your newsletters, free guides and joint webinars and events. And, if your members need more support, we’ll make sure they get our bespoke compliance packages for less with preferential rates. For more information about becoming a Citation partner emailpartnerships@citation.co.uk.
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