Get in touch 0117 325 0526

Category: Employment Law

06 March 2025

An update to the Employment Rights Bill

A summary of The Governments published responses to consultations on the Employment Right Bill

Read more

15 January 2025

Amendments to Employment Rights Bill

There are several proposed changes to the Bill published in October 2024er

Read more

15 January 2025

Update to Code of Practice on Fire and Rehire

uplifts to award for failure to follow the Code of Practice

Read more

15 January 2025

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act

Preparing for this new legislation, in force from April 2025

Read more

15 January 2025

Redundancy Consultation

No need for workforce-wide consultation for redundancies affecting fewer than 20 employees

Read more

15 January 2025

Limits of Protection in Redundancy and Maternity

The EAT considers the application of enhanced redundancy protection in the redundancy of an employee on maternity leave

Read more

15 January 2025

Protected Conversations and Improper Behaviour

A case confirming the boundaries of what amounts to 'improper behaviour'

Read more

15 January 2025

Holiday Pay and Unlawful Deductions

A case looking at the intervals between unlawful deductions

Read more

15 January 2025

Pregnancy Discrimination and Injury to Feelings Award

The EAT finds that a Tribunal must apply the Vento guidelines when calculating the amount of an injury to feelings award.

Read more

15 January 2025

Employment Cases to Watch 2025

Employment lawyers will be interested in the outcomes of these two cases in 2025

Read more

04 December 2024

The Employment Rights Bill – the new ‘Day 1’ rights

Some but not all 'day 1' rights will be brought in by the Bill

Read more

19 November 2024

Is your Equality Training protecting you?

A blog from Luke Menzies considering recent caselaw and legislation expanding on the 'reasonable steps' defence

Read more

Yesterday the Government published its responses to five separate formal consultation exercises on elements within the current Employment Rights Bill (which was originally outlined last October).  Luke Menzies summarises the responses.  

  1. Agency workers will be included in Government plans to ban “exploitative” zero-hour contracts.  Reasonable notice will need to be given for shift changes and this responsibility will be shared between the agency and the client.  Where shifts are moved/cancelled/altered at short notice, compensation may be payable.  Agency workers will have the right to request a contract reflecting their usual working hours.
  2. “Fire & rehire” rules will be tightened, with stronger remedies for employers’ abuse of collective redundancy processes (20 or more employees being made redundant in a 90-day period).  These rule changes include doubling of the maximum protective award compensation figure from 90 to 180 days pay per employee (a huge hike in an employer’s financial exposure) and further rules regarding the required consultation processes.
  3. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will become a ‘day one’ right.  Those earning below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) are currently not eligible for SSP.  The Bill changes that, proposing that employees will either receive SSP or 80% of their weekly pay (whichever is lower). 
  1. Greater protections for umbrella company employees.
  2. A variety of updates to create a more modern framework for industrial relations, including: preventing employers from ‘flooding’ the bargaining unit once a union recognition application has commenced; longer notice for industrial action and significantly extended industrial action mandates (valid now for 12 months instead of 6). 

Separately (and no doubt to the disappointment of many over-worked HR and legal professionals) the much-discussed plan for a right to ‘switch off’ is to be abandoned.  This wasn’t included when the Bill was originally announced last Autumn but was expected to be added in later.  

We can help you with advice on all these or wider questions about the Bill and how it might affect your business.  Please feel free to contact us to find out how we can help. 

Contact Menzies Law

Newsletter sign up

Sign Up
Review Solicitiors

5.0/5