In 2019, the Government proposed several reforms to employment law which have been side- tracked by the pandemic. We have given an update on the status of these proposals.
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Employment Bill (when Parliamentary time allows) |
In 2019, the Government announced that it would introduce a new Employment Bill, including a single enforcement body to tackle modern slavery and National Minimum Wage breaches, and to ensure that statutory holiday and sick pay obligations are met. The government has confirmed that this workers’ watchdog will be set up. |
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Extending redundancy protection for women (when parliamentary time allows) |
Under current legislation, before an employer can make a woman on maternity leave redundant, it must offer her a suitable alternative vacancy where one is available with the employer or an associated employer. The Government has stated that it intends to extend this protection so that it applies from the date an employee notifies the employer in writing of her pregnancy, to six months after her return from maternity leave. It will also cover those taking adoption and shared parental leave. The measures will be brought forward "as soon as Parliamentary time allows" but so far no specific timeframe has been provided by the Government |
| Making flexible working the default position |
New consultation to be published in due course to make it easier for people to work flexibly |
| SSP reform | Response to the consultation in July 2019 - Health is Everyone’s Business - to be published shortly |
| Responding to publishing parental leave and pay policies consultation | In July 2019 the Government consulted on proposals to require large employers to publish their parental leave and pay policies. They will publish the formal response to that consultation in due course. |
| Responding to ethnicity pay reporting consultation | In 2018/2019 the Government consulted on options for employer-level ethnicity pay reporting. The Government is continuing to analyse this data an how to overcome genuine difficulties with the methodology and will respond to the consultation in due course. |
