Day one right not to be dismissed

Currently an employee must be employed for two years before they can claim unfair dismissal if their employment is terminated.  Labour intend to make the right to claim you have been unfairly dismissed a day one right.  There is reference to employees having a six-month probation period, with the suggestion that this day one right may either not apply or not apply fully during that period, but we do not yet know how this will work.

The right to switch off

In an effort to improve the work life balance for employees, Labour are proposing that employees be allowed not to work – such as dealing with emails/texts/calls etc. – outside of set hours.  Labour are looking at systems operating in Ireland and Belgium for guidance as to how to make this work.  It is likely that employers and workers would be required to consult and that the parameters of such arrangements would need to be agreed.  There is evidence that having a better work life balance makes for more productive workers, which is what the government need if they are to grow the economy.

Flexible Working by default

For some time workers had to have been employed for 26 weeks before they could request flexible working. Recently, the Conservatives changed this to allow requests from day one of employment, but employers had the right to refuse a request for one or more defined business reasons.  Labour now propose to make the right the default position, although it is not clear what this may mean.  It may be that the current rights to refuse would be removed and the burden placed on the employer to try to accommodate the request.

Sick Pay

At the moment an employee has to have been absent from work for 3 days before the right to Statutory Sick Pay applies on day 4.  If an employee is absent for less than that period, the employer is not required to process an SSP payment.  The government is proposing that the entitlement to SSP apply from the first day of absence, so the employer will face the costs and administration around SSP for periods of less than 3 days absence

Extending the period to bring an Employment Tribunal Claim

Currently most employment claims must be lodged with the Employment Tribunal within 3 months of the event giving rise to a claim.  Labour are proposing this be extended to 6 months.  This is a double-edged sword.  On the one hand it gives the parties a longer period of time to try to settle their dispute before the costs involved in a Tribunal claim begin to be incurred.  On the other hand, an employer may not be aware of a claim until nearly 6 months after the event, so leaving uncertainty for a longer period.

Whilst the government will introduce legislation in October, it will not become law overnight.  Due to their majority, Labour are highly likely get the Bill through the Commons, but they do not have such a majority in the Lords.  There is a risk of legislative “ping-pong” as amendments go back and forward between the Houses.  Even if their Bill is passed in the Summer of 2025, employers would have to be allowed a transition period, and the Bill might not become law until 2026.