Changes in the law regarding employment rights will come into force on 6 April 2020, so it’s vital that HR teams prepare well in advance.

After the flurry of announcements at the end of last year about the outcome of the Taylor Review, the Employment Rights (Employment Particulars and Paid Annual Leave) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/1378) have been made, and two sets of draft regulations have been published, implementing aspects of the government’s Good Work Plan.

These regulations, which come into force on 6 April 2020, change the existing law to ensure that a written statement of terms (a ‘contract’) must be given on or before the first day of employment, rather than within two months of the start date. 

The regulations also amend the Working Time Regulations 1998 to increase the reference period for determining an average week’s pay (for the purposes of calculating holiday pay) from 12 weeks to 52 weeks, or the number of complete weeks for which the worker has been employed.  This means that those whose work intensity fluctuates during the year will receive holiday pay which more accurately reflects their usual pay.

The announcement of greater rights for those operating in the gig economy will be welcomed by the 1.1 million workers in this sector.

The draft Agency Workers (Amendment) Regulations 2019, which are also due to come into force on 6 April 2020, amend the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 to remove the “Swedish Derogation” which allows employment businesses to avoid giving agency workers’ pay parity with comparable direct recruits if they have an employment contract that gives them a right to pay between assignments.

The announcement of greater rights for those operating in the gig economy will be welcomed by the 1.1 million workers in this sector and will go some way to addressing the concerns about poor working conditions for this group.  We await more detail however on the raft of reforms due to be implemented before April next year to include the following:

What’s next for HR?

In light of the proposed changes, HR professionals will need to consider the following steps to ensure that their organisations are prepared for the changes some of which will take place from April this year.

Preparation is key

A recent tribunal case (Stefanko & Ors v Maritime Hotel Ltd) ruled that employees who have worked for one month have a right to a written statement of particulars under s1 ERA 1996 where their employment did not last for two months. 

Employers should therefore consider implementing the new rules about providing contracts in advance of April 2020 given the rights of employees to claim compensation for a failure to do so.

There are always arguments for a January housekeeping review but with these changes just around the corner and the recent tribunal decisions, your businesses will be thankful that you have scanned the horizon to ensure compliance and best practice for the coming year and beyond.