The Employment Rights Bill – which is bringing sweeping changes to how staff are employed, across the UK – is reaching its final stages in Parliament, and HR experts are urging businesses to get ready now.
Soon to become law, with Royal Ascent expected imminently, the Bill represents a tsunami of new legislation for employers to get to grips with.
The Swindon-based HR Dept team has seen a surge in enquiries from anxious business owners. Their message is don’t panic, but get ready.
“There is a level of concern out there, because businesses don’t yet understand enough about how they will be affected, but we can work through this with them, so they are ready,” said Peter Jones, Managing Director of the HR Dept Swindon, North Wiltshire and East Cotswolds.
“Many enquiries are from business which haven’t outsourced HR support before, and – thanks to our great reputation – are turning to us for help. In fact, we have experienced a 20% growth in our retained clients in the last three months. Without doubt, the best way to navigate the challenges the Employment Rights Bill presents is to get ahead of them and we are happy to help companies in this.”
The ramifications are far-reaching and headline grabbing. Changes to unfair dismissal will make claims possible from day one, removing the two-year minimum employment term before employees can make a claim. The claim limit is also going from three to six months, which means companies will have longer to wait to discover if a sacked employee is making a claim.
Flexible working is expected to become the default position, and employers may only refuse applications on specific ‘reasonable grounds’.
Statutory sick pay will be available from the first day of absence, rather than the fourth, with clear implications for companies’ staffing levels.
These, and the other measures outlined in the Bill, are set to become law at different stages, with the first likely to be rolled out in just six months’ time – April 2026.
Peter added: “The best way to minimise the impact of the changes is to get ahead of them, by putting new policies and procedures in place, whilst planning training to educate management teams, making it easier for them to navigate the change.”
For more information about the HR Dept Swindon, North Wiltshire and East Cotswolds, visit https://www.hrdept.co.uk/swindon-north-wiltshire-east-cotswolds/, email Managing Director Peter Jones: peter.jones@hrdept.co.uk or call 01793 683 398.
Peter and his team work with businesses across Swindon, Chippenham, Hungerford, Marlborough, Calne, Devizes, Burford, Lechlade and Carterton, and have a sister company working with businesses based in London.
Article by Jo Smyth, Word Worker
