With the growing legal demands placed on employers, navigating the here-and-now is challenging enough, never mind preparing for what might lie ahead. Yet it is so important not only that everyone stays alert, but shares their real-world insight too.
Three important UK Government consultations close today (Monday December 2) - with another closing on Wednesday (December 4). All are linked to the Employment Rights Bill, which has introduced 28 employment law reforms - all of which are significant for businesses, not only legislatively but financially as well.
More important consultations are coming down the line too.
Very often, it is mainly the larger organisations and trade bodies - whose job it is, of course, to represent their members - who take the time to respond to consultations.
I sometimes wonder, however, how much more impactful these exercises might be if we heard from businesses and charities directly, particularly the SMEs and charities with which my colleagues and I mainly work.
Or, at the very least, these businesses actively make sure their views are shared with trade bodies or chambers of commerce who share the thoughts of their members or community.
How many notifications of consultation do you see drop into your inbox and think: “That’s something for someone else”?
But these consultations are your opportunity to provide direct feedback to policymakers and decisionmakers, whether you have concerns to raise or general comments to share.
Perhaps it is only by businesses contributing directly that their perspectives - especially those of SMEs - can be fully understood and considered.
Take the current consultations, which all follow manifesto promises made by Labour ahead of the party’s General Election victory and apply UK-wide:
- Closing today we have those on the legislative framework for trade unions, which include extending the expiry of the industrial action mandate from 6 to 12 months and reducing the notice period for industrial action from 14 to 7 days.
- Secondly, there is the consultation on collective redundancy and fire-and-rehire. For collective redundancy, one of the options being considered is removing the 90-day cap for the protective award which can be granted by a tribunal. When it comes to fire-and-rehire, views are being sought on whether an employee who can show they are likely to win their claim should be reinstated or paid full pay until a full tribunal is held.
- The third is what is expected to signal a significant reduction in the use of zero-hour contracts, with a consultation on the right to a guaranteed hours contract which reflects the number of hours worked and with provisions also around the likes of shift notice periods.
- The consultation closing on Wednesday, meanwhile, centres around statutory sick pay, focusing on the percentage replacement rate for those earning below the current rate of £116.75 per week.
All of these are issues fundamental to the relationship between employee, employer and - ultimately - how any organisation operates.
We have been encouraging our clients to share the frontline experiences they have to help shape the best possible policies.
If you have a view to share on the current consultations, there are still a few hours left to do so. There will be opportunities to share opinions on other issues in the not too distant future too.
Without strong insight from industry, the risk of unintended consequences from our laws grows. We would be wise not to underestimate the importance of employers making their voices heard.
Daniel Gorry, Partner
First published in Friends of The Scotsman, 2 December 2024
