As the UK ushered in a new Labour government at the beginning of July, next came the opening of parliament under Labour governance.
With every opening of parliament comes a speech from the monarch, setting out the government’s intended actions and legislations they aim to tackle in the coming months and years.
The King’s Speech on 17th July 2024 mentioned 40 bills the government intends to make law - but how many of these new bills will affect businesses, employers and their employees?
Let’s take a look at the 6 new proposed laws HR and business leaders need on their radar:
An Employment Rights Bill
The Employment Rights Bill intends to make big changes for employee security and assurance.
Parental leave, sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal will all be available from day 1 of employment. Similarly, “exploitative” zero hour contracts will be banned, as well as “fire and rehire” schemes.
What this means for employers
Contracts and onboarding need to be updated to reflect day 1 employment protection rights, as well as updating any zero hour contracts that are seen to be “exploitative”.
To avoid fire and re-hire legal challenges, HR needs to document and justify employment changes and complete thorough consultation.
HR should also prepare for more union activity and negotiations, as Trade Union Rights are strengthened under the bill.
A Pension Schemes Bill
The new government aims for the Pension Schemes Bill to support over 15 million people saving in private-sector pension schemes to receive better outcomes from their pension assets.
The Bill will also provide a Value for Money framework for Defined Contribution schemes
What this means for employers
Employees' small pension pots will be consolidated, preventing them from losing track of multiple individual pension pots. This means employees could increase their individual pension funds at retirement by £11,000.
A Skills England Bill
The skilled labour shortage is something we have heard many times over the years, however, the Skills England Bill aims to change this by increasing the number of skilled workers within England through a number of initiatives.
Businesses should take note of the skills & business levy and statutory business involvement to shape education and training paths through the skills accelerator program.
What this means for employers
The skills and business levy could be a real game-changer for upskilling workers, as businesses could invest up to 50% of their contributions in non-apprenticeship training to fill gaps in specific skill sets.
Whereas the skills accelerator program will benefit local communities, bridging the gap between education and the workplace, as businesses will need to ensure publicly funded training programs meet local needs and align with job role requirements.
A Children’s Wellbeing Bill
Working parents will be happy to hear that the Children’s Wellbeing Bill introduces a number of measures - one of the most notable for employees is that free breakfast clubs will have to be available in every primary school, which will hopefully help with child care needs.
What this means for employers
The Children’s Wellbeing Bill acknowledges the plight of working parents and childrens’ needs. Although not compulsory, businesses could look at improving or strengthening policies around families and parental support, to align with the bill, demonstrating your organisation’s stance as a caring and inclusive place to work.
Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill
All employees, regardless of disability or race will be entitled to fair pay by law.
The bill also forces companies with more than 250 employees to undergo mandatory ethnicity and disability pay reporting.
What this means for employers
Fair pay regardless of race or disability or potentially face a dual legal battle (race and disability cases can be brought forward at the same time).
Employers will need to report pay if they have more than 250 staff, while public sector entities need to ensure they pull necessary data and have designed processes to report on it.
Draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill
A revamped regulator (Audit, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) is being introduced to look over company standards and scrutinise their accounts with more power.
Companies will need to disclose their audit and assurance policies over a three-year period and disclose their profit dividends and distributions and their respective policies.
What this means for employers
HR teams need to ensure their organisation has effective financial compliance policies around reporting accuracy and transparency.
Companies will be required to stick to stricter auditing and reporting standards; develop comprehensive risk management frameworks; ensure there are robust internal fraud protection measures.
The new bills mean big changes for employers and employees in the UK. Is your business ready?