The draft Employment Rights Bill. Are you ready?
At the beginning of July, I blogged on the ambitious manifesto pledges made by Labour.
(See - Dawn of a New Employment Era article - July 2024)
Employment Rights Bill
The government said it will publish the draft Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of coming into power. That deadline is fast approaching.
The Bill cannot arrive soon enough for workers and trade unions who have long been lobbying the government for change, hopeful that the Bill will redress the balance of power which under a Conservative government was tipped firmly in favour of the employer.
However, the Bill will only be the start of a long, parliamentary process. The Bill will need to go through many stages before it becomes law and it was reported in The Times/The Financial Times this weekend that officials have suggested it could take more than a year to bring some of the key measures into effect, meaning it could be a year to 18 months before they are applied in the workplace.
Delays to the formal introduction of legislation are likely to come from negotiations with business groups and unions on the details of the Bill, and some elements of the government’s manifesto promises could be left to secondary legislation some years into this parliament.
The reality is that we are unlikely to see a lot of change before 2026 and many will be disappointed by this.
I suspect, given the limited time to consider and implement changes, the Bill is likely to represent a broad framework of what will be delivered in the following months. However, pushing though changes to meet deadlines would in my mind be a missed opportunity. It is important that the government takes their time to ensure they get it right and implement changes that will redress the power imbalance, be received positively by all sides in advance of the budget and won’t stagnate economic growth.
Business may give a sigh of relief. It gives business time to prepare for the changes and “get their ducks in a row.” No excuses.
Change is coming. When and what it will look like remains to be seen and I, for one cannot wait!
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “The Employment Rights Bill – if delivered in full – will make work better for millions of working people. Driving up employment standards is in everybody’s interests."
The devil will be in the detail, and I look forward to sharing the journey with you all in future blogs.
