As you may remember, the Government published some consultations on key areas of the Employment Rights Bill and just this week, we have had some responses to those consultations so here’s a post keeping you up to date with the Employment Rights Bill (ERB)

None of this is Employment Law yet – when anything is going to become a legal requirement, you’ll have a heads up in plenty of time. 

Zero hours contracts and agency workers

The Government are going to amend the Employment Rights Bill (ERB) to include an agency worker framework for application of their measures relating to zero hours contracts. 

If you are a recruitment agency providing workers on a zero hours basis or you use a recruitment agency to provide zero hours workers, you’ll need to know what’s coming down the line. 

In the meantime though, here’s a recap on what’s already proposed by the ERB in 3 key areas:

1. A right for low and zero hours workers who satisfy certain conditions to be offered guaranteed hours at the end of a relevant reference period that reflects the hours worked during that reference period. 
2. A right for zero hours and other specified workers to be given reasonable notice of shifts and changes in shifts.
3. A right for zero hours and other specified workers to payment each time a work shift is cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice. 

The changes to zero hours contracts in general are worth keeping an eye on if you have or might have zero hours contracts in your business. Used correctly, they’ll give a lot of flexibility to you and your team; what’s happening here is the Government clamping down on those employers who abuse zero hours contracts and use them to their own advantage. 

Collective Consultation

As you may already know, if a business makes more than 20 roles redundant at one time, there is a requirement not only to consult with affected employees individually but also a requirement to collectively consult with the employees as a larger group. 

There is currently a cap of 90 days on protective awards in collective redundancy situations; this will be increased to 180 days to encourage employer compliance. 

In response to feedback that employers would welcome greater support in order to ensure compliance with collective consultation obligations, the Government confirmed that it will issue further guidance on consultation processes for collective consultation in due course.

A little bit of carrot and stick, it seems to me. “Encouragement” for employers to comply but some further guidance due to support that compliance. 

SSP for low earners

In summary, SSP for low earners will be set at 80% of the average weekly earnings.

Currently, those employees who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) are not eligible to receive SSP if they’re absent from work. That’s £123 per week now, rising to £125 per week in April.

However, that requirement that an employee must earn above the LEL is set to be removed and therefore the Government has concluded that the appropriate percentage rate for SSP is 80% of the SSP flat rate, where 80% of the employee’s normal weekly earnings is less than the flat rate. 

Good news for any low earning employee and not a huge burden on an employer either. 
If you have any questions, please just shout – always happy to help!