As mentioned in our previous alert, the Employment Rights Bill is expected to be one of the first King's speech Bills published once Parliamentary business resumes. It has been promised "within the first 100 days" of the new parliament which falls on 12 October 2024. For more detail about this Bill, please see our earlier alert here.
Despite the House of Commons being in summer recess until the beginning of September, there has been a number of announcements/reports and commentary in the last few weeks about what is likely to be brought into force and what is not. This is what we know so far:
Predictable terms and conditions
The Department for Business and Trade has confirmed that the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 will not be brought into force this autumn. The Act was due to give workers the right to request predictable working. The Act received Royal Assent in September 2023 and ACAS had published a draft Code of Practice on handling requests made under it.
A spokesperson for the Department said it will instead introduce "a new right to a contract that reflects the number of hours regularly worked".
The "number of hours regularly worked" will be based on a 12-week reference period, however, the government did not set out details of its plan or whether it will be put to a public consultation. It is not clear whether the 12 week reference period is a fixed or rolling period, whether there is a qualifying period to have access to the right or when it will be implemented.
Minimum service levels
On 6 August 2024, the government announced it will repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023, which was introduced by the previous government. An accompanying paper emphasised the government's policy that minimum service levels unduly restrict the right to strike and undermine good industrial relations.
The Act allows minimum service levels to be applied in the event of strikes in the fields of health, transport, education, fire and rescue, border control, and nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management services. Minimum service levels are defined by regulations in each case.
The formal repeal of the legislation will form part of the upcoming Employment Rights Bill. In the meantime, relevant ministers in the Department for Health and Social Care, Home Office, Department for Education, Department for Transport and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero were asked to engage with their relevant employers to inform them that the government strongly encourage them to engage in discussion with trade unions, instead of using minimum service levels.
Right to disconnect
The government has said it is still committed to introducing "a right to disconnect". However rather than this being introduced as a statutory right, we expect the government to introduce a code of practice (probably via ACAS) for employers above a certain size. The code could set out the framework employers will be required to follow. Employers are likely to be able to agree a policy with their workforce which details when staff can be contacted out of hours. This might include practical and relatively easy issues such as the inclusion of email footers and out of office wording saying when emails will be picked up, as well as the trickier issue of ensuring proper rest breaks are taken.
We also understand there will not be the ability to bring a free-standing claim for a breach, rather compensation in other claims could be uplifted as with the ACAS Code on disciplinary and grievance.
The government has also said that it is considering the approaches taken by other countries in this regard including the Republic of Ireland and Belgium.
There is very little detail on the plans at the moment, however, at this stage it seems unlikely to involve a significant shift in working culture or financial exposure.
"4 day working week"
The Telegraph reported at the end of August that "workers are to be given the right to demand a four-day week". Whilst this headline was quickly picked up by others in the media, the flexible working regime already enables requests for "compressed hours" which allows employees to work their contracted weekly hours over four days rather than five.
Currently, employers are under no obligation to agree to such a request. However, the government’s plans could shift the balance of power and make it more difficult for an employer to refuse flexible working.
In response to the reports the government has said it will not “impose” a four-day working week on employers and that any changes to employment legislation will be consulted on, working in partnership with employers and business. We await details when the Employment Rights Bill is published.
