The government has published its ‘Good Work Plan’, which proposes a series of changes to employment law. What does this mean for employers?
The world of work has changed radically in the past decade, transformed by technology and societal trends. Just think about it – no one was talking about the ‘gig economy’ ten years ago; now it’s part of everyday conversation.
To reflect this changing world, the government recently published its Good Work Plan, which, drawing on the 2017 Taylor Review, aims to balance flexibility for employers with fairness for employees. Among the new proposals are:
• from April 2020, all workers (not just employees) will have a right to a written statement of terms from their first day of employment (currently, it’s after two months)
• additional information will be needed in the written statement, including how long the job is expected to last, details of all remuneration due (not just pay), the specific days and times workers are expected to work and other rights to paid leave, such as maternity leave
• from April 2019, the maximum penalty for ‘aggravated’ breaches of employment law will quadruple to £20,000, and with effect from December last year, employers who do not pay tribunal awards face being ‘named and shamed’.
The government also intends to legislate on issues such as how holiday pay is calculated, and to give workers the right to ask for ‘stable and predictable’ contracts. The specific changes set out in the Good Work Plan matter greatly to employers and staff alike, but it’s also worth thinking about the bigger direction of travel indicated by the plan: how to increase staff engagement, productivity and skills.
Woven into the suggested regulatory changes is the belief that greater transparency and clarity over contracts, obligations and rights will help both employers and employees get the best from their work.
The growing discussions over employees’ right to disconnect, which we covered in the last issue of lindsays life, are also part of this drive to improve engagement and wellbeing at work.
There’s plenty more regulation likely to follow from the Good Work Plan, and we will update employers on it. In the meantime, keep in mind the general point that’s driving all of this: good work is usually good for business.
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