Maybe the new government is the party of “Change” after all, if employers are being told to brace themselves for Labour’s changes.
Careers website Monster has listed changes to employment law that we can expect in tomorrow’s (Wednesday, July 17, 2024) King’s Speech.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
While the article presents itself as intending to inform and prepare employers, there is an undertone that suggests employers are being penalised because they will have to change their practices – or so it seems to This Writer.
See what you think, because here are the changes, as described in the article:
Strengthened Employee Rights
- Unfair Dismissal and Parental Leave: Eligibility for unfair dismissal claims and parental leave will become day-one rights, eliminating the current 1-year and 51-week service requirement. This policy might increase the number of dismissal claims, necessitating thorough and lawful dismissal procedures from the outset.
Why would an employer not have thorough and lawful dismissal procedures? Have they all been playing fast-and-loose with the rules of unfair dismissal in order to get rid of employees whenever they felt like it? If so, then this change is a good thing.
- Enhanced Maternity Protections: Dismissing a woman during pregnancy or within six months of her return to work following maternity leave will become unlawful, except in specific circumstances. Employers must carefully review their termination policies to comply with these new protections.
Again, this is a good change that protects employees from unfair treatment.
Redundancy Consultation
- The Labour government plans to redefine the redundancy consultation requirements. Employers will consider the number of redundancies across the entire business rather than at individual locations. This means that even smaller-scale redundancies could trigger collective consultation obligations, significantly impacting multi-site employers.
This Writer’s expertise is lacking here, so I can’t be sure of the reasoning for this – but it seems to me to be a way of allowing all employees at a large firm to have a say in how it is run, particularly in relation to staff and, again, this seems to be a good thing.
Pay Gap Reporting
- Firms with over 250 employees will be required to report not only gender pay gaps but also ethnicity and disability pay gaps. Additionally, action plans to address these gaps will become mandatory, increasing the administrative burden on larger employers.
This is another good thing. Are employers really discriminating against workers on grounds of gender, ethnicity and disability? If so, it’s a disgrace and it is good that they are being told to change.
Zero-hours Contracts and Flexible Working
- The government will heavily restrict Zero-hours contracts. Employees will gain the right to stable contracts reflecting their regular hours over 12 weeks. Flexible working will become the default from day one of employment, necessitating workforce management and scheduling adjustments.
Flexible working, where employees choose their own working patterns, including whether to work from home if that is a realistic option, is an excellent idea – although I’m aware of employers who will hate it; a former newspaper firm that employed me wanted to force me to travel 41 miles to work and back every day, and also possibly more than that in travel to cover stories, rather than allow me to work from home where I was closer to what was going on in my patch. It was ridiculous, so I quit, and I understand the newspaper suffered as a result.
Zero-hours contracts have been a blight on the nation for more than a decade. They can be useful for people who only want to work every now and then, but have been abused by employers in order not to have to provide sickness or holiday pay (for example).
Enforcement and Compliance
- A Single Enforcement Body will oversee workers’ rights, including health and safety, minimum wage, and exploitation. This body will have extensive powers to conduct inspections and enforce compliance, increasing the need for rigorous adherence to employment laws.
Let’s hope this body won’t give employers prior notice of its “surprise” inspections!
Living Wage Reform
- Cost of Living Adjustment: The Low Pay Commission’s remit will be expanded to include considerations of the cost of living alongside median wages and economic conditions. The aim is to ensure that the minimum wage is sufficient for workers to meet their basic needs.
At last! Employers will be required to pay workers enough for them to live, rather than demanding that the government subsidise them with public money.
- Uniform Minimum Wage: Discriminatory age bands will be eliminated, ensuring all adult workers receive the same minimum wage. Labour will collaborate with the Single Enforcement Body and HMRC to enhance enforcement of the living wage, including implementing penalties for non-compliance.
This is also good. Why should employers discriminate against workers because of their age, if they are all adults in the eyes of the law?
The concern, with all of this, seems to be that employers will have to do more and pay more – effectively reorganising their pay structures so bosses don’t take quite as much for themselves as they may have in the recent past.
We should await the squeals of outrage from employers who claim they don’t have enough – and hope that the government then audits them, to determine for itself whether their claims are true. That could be highly revealing!
Source: What Can Employers Expect From The New UK Government? | Monster.co.uk
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Employers are being told to brace themselves for Labour’s changes
Maybe the new government is the party of “Change” after all, if employers are being told to brace themselves for Labour’s changes.
Careers website Monster has listed changes to employment law that we can expect in tomorrow’s (Wednesday, July 17, 2024) King’s Speech.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
While the article presents itself as intending to inform and prepare employers, there is an undertone that suggests employers are being penalised because they will have to change their practices – or so it seems to This Writer.
See what you think, because here are the changes, as described in the article:
Why would an employer not have thorough and lawful dismissal procedures? Have they all been playing fast-and-loose with the rules of unfair dismissal in order to get rid of employees whenever they felt like it? If so, then this change is a good thing.
Again, this is a good change that protects employees from unfair treatment.
This Writer’s expertise is lacking here, so I can’t be sure of the reasoning for this – but it seems to me to be a way of allowing all employees at a large firm to have a say in how it is run, particularly in relation to staff and, again, this seems to be a good thing.
This is another good thing. Are employers really discriminating against workers on grounds of gender, ethnicity and disability? If so, it’s a disgrace and it is good that they are being told to change.
Flexible working, where employees choose their own working patterns, including whether to work from home if that is a realistic option, is an excellent idea – although I’m aware of employers who will hate it; a former newspaper firm that employed me wanted to force me to travel 41 miles to work and back every day, and also possibly more than that in travel to cover stories, rather than allow me to work from home where I was closer to what was going on in my patch. It was ridiculous, so I quit, and I understand the newspaper suffered as a result.
Zero-hours contracts have been a blight on the nation for more than a decade. They can be useful for people who only want to work every now and then, but have been abused by employers in order not to have to provide sickness or holiday pay (for example).
Let’s hope this body won’t give employers prior notice of its “surprise” inspections!
At last! Employers will be required to pay workers enough for them to live, rather than demanding that the government subsidise them with public money.
This is also good. Why should employers discriminate against workers because of their age, if they are all adults in the eyes of the law?
The concern, with all of this, seems to be that employers will have to do more and pay more – effectively reorganising their pay structures so bosses don’t take quite as much for themselves as they may have in the recent past.
We should await the squeals of outrage from employers who claim they don’t have enough – and hope that the government then audits them, to determine for itself whether their claims are true. That could be highly revealing!
Source: What Can Employers Expect From The New UK Government? | Monster.co.uk
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
you might also like
Is this four-day working week plan a good idea?
Will we see the end of rogue employers?