The Employment Rights Bill was published yesterday, with the biggest overhaul of employment law in over 30 years – most of which was highlighted in our July/August and September HR Newsletters.

We are expecting there to be a shift in the balance of power, significantly more in favour of the employee and putting more responsibilities on businesses and employers to follow stricter processes and policies.

However scary this may sound, please be assured we are on top of this and are reading through the bill (and any subsequent follow-ups to ensure we know all the details – and from there we can better support you and your businesses.

For those that may have forgotten or missed out on our newsletters, the changes will likely include:

• A right to ‘Unfair Dismissal’ from day 1 instead of the current 2 years
• Increasing the time limit from 3 to 6 months to bring a claim against an employer
• SSP becoming payable from day 1 instead of day 4
• Day 1 right to bereavement leave
• Restrictions on ‘Exploitive’ Zero Hour contracts – zero hours contracts will still exist for employees who request them
• Further protections for expectant and new mums
• Right to switch off and not be unreasonably contacted out of working hours
• Further adjustments to the flexible working rights, making it even harder for employers to decline them
• More responsibilities on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace

We also anticipate the following to come into effect over the coming months:

• A maximum period of 6 months for probationary periods
• New rules on fair pay for the adult social care sector
• An increase from £25k to £100k compensation for breach of contract claims
• Increased rights for Union recognition, workplace access and removal of union restrictions

As we hear more, we will be able to give dates for when certain laws come into effect – so far we’ve heard “by 26th October” but some may take longer as the finer details are clarified.

We’ll contact you over the coming days to keep you updated and how we can help you remain HRcompliant and feel HR-ready.

Finally, following on from my newsletter last week re sexual harassment law changes, please be assured that we are in the final stages of writing a policy for you to include in your handbooks. The reason you haven’t received it yet is that the government are still providing some details on their expectations from employers and businesses; however, we will have more information for you within the next few days on how to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace and how to ensure your management and employees follow processes and procedures.

Call 01325 488425 or email admin@wedohr.co.uk for more information.