Where is the promised Employment Bill?

SUB-COMMITTEES

Where is the promised Employment Bill?

The 2022-2023 Parliamentary Session will start with the State Opening on 10 May 2022. At the State Opening the monarch formally opens Parliament and, in the Queen’s Speech, outlines the Government’s proposed policies and legislation for the coming parliamentary session. What is likely to be included?

The House of Commons library has published a list of issues and bills that may appear in the Queen’s speech on 10 May 2022, or require legislation in the 2022-23 parliamentary session, which are as follows:

Social Housing Regulation

Prison and probation scrutiny bodies

Leasehold and commonhold reform

Review of retained EU law

Schools policy: – Home education – School funding – Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms

Lifelong Loan Entitlement

Reform of the Mental Health Act

Economic crime

Digital markets reform

Financial services

Access to cash

Audit reform

Insolvency reform

Parole Board reform

Levelling up

Local government

Bill of Rights (Human Rights)

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Counter-terrorism strategy: ‘Protect duty’

Conversion therapy

Modern slavery

Gene editing

National minimum wage for ferry crews

Channel 4 ownership

Consolidation of immigration legislation

So where is the promised Employment Bill?

Spoiler alert. It is not there. The Employment Bill – which was originally promised in the Queen’s Speech in 2019 – is, once again, missing. Indeed, the only, directly, employment law related topic seems to be the proposed bill for the National Minimum wage for ferry crews.

Since 2019 there has been speculation in the HR press about what will be included in the Employment Bill, and when it will be introduced. Over the last 3 years the frenzy of anticipation has turned into a subdued discussion about whether the UK Government was actually serious about introducing an Employment Bill at all.

What was expected to be included in the Employment Bill?

The Employment Bill was expected to include new rights for:

Flexible working – Right to request flexible working from day one.

Right to request more stable and predictable contract – A new right for workers with variable hours to request a more stable and predictable contract after 26 weeks' service.

Carers Leave – A new right for working carers to take up to 5 days [unpaid] carers leave each year to carry out caring responsibilities.

Neonatal Carers Leave – A right for 12 weeks paid Neonatal care where babies spent time in neonatal care units.

Pregnancy Rights – Improved redundancy protection for Pregnant workers

Tips Regulation – Regulations governing how tips are distributed

Non-Compete clauses – Proposals to regulate noncompete clauses

Non-Disclosure Agreements – Reforms expected.

I still think that there is an outside chance that the UK Government may seek to announce new legislation which encompasses some aspects of employment rights. One would expect that after 3 years of talk, and a barrage of consultations, that any promised comprehensive draft legislation would be ‘oven ready’, or – at the very least taken out of the fridge and given an airing.

I consider that it if changes to employment law do come then they are, at the moment, unlikely to be far reaching or ambitious. I think it more likely that there may be some small, piecemeal, changes in separate legislation. In the current economic climate the electorate may find it easier to embrace the spirit of a Carers Leave Bill – to allow up to 5 days unpaid leave per year – rather than a more comprehensive update of UK employment law.

However, if the UK Government experiences a heavy defeat in the local elections then perhaps the content of the proposed legislative agenda may be reconsidered, and the employment bill – or some parts of it which appeal to the electorate – may, finally, see the light of day.

Philip Henson

Partner, EBL Miller Rosenfalck