LONDON – Britain’s Labour government set out its plans for a sweeping package of new workers’ rights on Oct 10, including plans to end fire-and-rehire practices and strengthening sick pay, in the biggest change to employment law in a generation.
The contents of the Employment Rights Bill have been debated for months and will be closely watched by trade unions, who traditionally fund the governing Labour Party, and business leaders, who are concerned about some of the changes.
In the Bill, which will be laid before Parliament on Oct 10, the government will propose a raft of protections for millions of workers, such as granting new rights on parental leave, sick pay from day one of employment, and banning zero-hours contracts, which give workers no guaranteed hours.
But some of the key details of the new Bill are still to be worked out, and the government appeared to back away from some pre-election promises such as giving employees a legal right to ignore work demands outside office hours and simplifying their employment status.
Instead, the government said it will consult on employees’ right to ignore work outside normal hours and introducing a single status of worker to end the practice where some staff are labelled self-employed, which allows companies to save on costs such as social security payments.
The new law will be Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s biggest reform since winning a landslide election victory in July. The government has framed the plans as the best way to avoid widespread industrial action that has disrupted services over the last two years.
“The best employers know that employees are more productive when they are happy at work,” Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said in a statement.
“This upgrade to our laws will ensure they are fit for modern life, raise