Employment Edit: 5 September 2024

Preventing sexual harassment

With the new duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment coming into force next month (on 26 October), many organisations are busy preparing. Don’t forget to check out our briefing and blog post below, which pick out some of the key preparatory steps employers should be exploring now.

Flexible working reform

With the Employment Rights Bill due to be published by mid-October, we will soon have more detail on the new government’s plans for employment law reform. Whilst we wait for more detail, several of the policies set out in Labour’s ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ (MWP) have been hitting the headlines.

In recent days, flexible working rights have been in the spotlight with a particular focus on a compressed hours four-day working week. It is safe to say that there has been some confusion in some press reports over the new government’s proposals and how they compare to the current position. Currently, all employees from day one of their employment may apply for a change to their terms and conditions relating to (amongst other things) a change to their working hours or place of work. Employers must deal with requests in a reasonable manner and can only turn a request down for one or more of eight statutory grounds.

In MWP, the Labour party proposed to make ‘flexible working the default…except where it is not reasonably feasible’. It is not clear what this will mean in practice, but the most likely interpretation is that the existing right to request flexible working will be strengthened by restricting the employer’s ability to turn down a request. If that is the new government’s intention, it would not go as far as introducing a concrete right to a four-day week or any other flexible working pattern as some of the press reports have been indicating. Whilst full details are awaited, it seems likely that any changes will represent an evolution of the existing framework rather than a wholesale shift towards an absolute right to flexible working.

Predictable working patterns

The government reportedly intends not to implement legislation which would give certain workers and agency workers a new right to request a predictable working pattern. The new right is contained in the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023, which was passed in September 2023 but is yet to take effect as we await secondary legislation to confirm some of the details of the right including the commencement date. A summary of the right can be found in our update here.

It appears that the new government’s own proposals will supersede the right to request a predictable working pattern. In MWP, it outlined plans for tackling zero hours contracts and providing workers with more security and predictability, including a right for each worker to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work. It appears that the aim of not implementing the 2023 Act as an interim measure is to avoid overlap of similar rights and potential confusion for employers and workers. We await further details of the new government’s proposals, as well as confirmation that the 2023 Act will not be brought into force.