Employment Law Newsletter – Autumn 2024
Following the general election, the new Government committed to publishing its proposals regarding employment law reform within 100 days. With a few days to spare, the Government published the Employment Rights Bill on 10 October 2024.
The reform of employment law was a crucial part of Labour’s election campaign and this was confirmed in the King’s Speech in the summer. With the Bill now published we have a better idea of the proposed changes to workers’ rights. These include day-one rights for statutory sick pay and protection from unfair dismissal as well as further protections for pregnant workers, those on zero-hours contracts and the establishment of a new enforcement agency.
This month also sees the introduction of the new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Extensive guidance has been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission about how to comply with the preventative duty.
With new rules on a fair and transparent distribution of tips also in force this month and a wide range of case law developments on issues including reasonable adjustments and constructive dismissal, these have been a very busy few months indeed.
Please do take a moment to consider the articles in this Autumn newsletter, where we provide an update on a range of employment topics and pensions developments.
Articles
Proposals to extend workers’ rights published
The highly anticipated Employment Rights Bill has now been published and we now have the details of the proposals to extend workers’ rights. These are extensive and include the introduction of new, day-one rights, repeal of recent trade union legislation, changes to family friendly rights and flexible working and the ban on “exploitative” zero-hours contracts.
New duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment imminent
Employers will be under a new duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of workers in the course of their employment from 26 October 2024. Employers should anticipate scenarios when their workers may be subject to sexual harassment and take action to prevent it.
The importance of considering reasonable adjustments
A recent EAT decision highlights the need for employers to consider reasonable adjustments and potential disability discrimination implications at all stages of disciplinary proceedings, including when considering an appeal against dismissal.
Should you contact someone on sick leave?
Employers need to be careful when contacting someone on sick leave in case the contact is unwanted. The Employment Tribunal held that frequent email contact and sending a birthday card to someone absent for work-related stress was unwanted conduct and constituted harassment related to disability.
New rules on tips: what do they mean for employers?
New rules on tips came into force on 1 October 2024 together with a Code of Practice. Employers are now under an obligation to ensure that workers receive tips in full and that tips are allocated in a fair and transparent way.
Consequences of not handling grievances properly
A claim of constructive unfair dismissal arose because of concerns about how a grievance had been handled. The EAT held that the claimant’s failure to engage with the final stage of the grievance process was irrelevant. Only the employer’s conduct is relevant when determining constructive dismissal claims.
What Next? Workers equal pay claims succeed against Next
More than 3,500 current and former workers at Next have won the final stage of their equal pay litigation, which may result in compensation of up to £30 million being awarded. The mainly female retail store workers successfully argued they were conducting work of equal value to their male counterparts working in the warehouse.
What is the Pensions Regulator’s Defined Benefit Funding Code?
The new Code provides practical guidance for trustees on how to comply with the DB funding regime. It will replace the current Code published in 2014 and although the new Code is not a statement of law a court or tribunal must take it into account when determining if legal requirements have been met.
Pensions Ombudsman determination on payment of discretionary benefits
The Pensions Ombudsman decided that benefits must be paid in accordance with the Trust Deed and Rules and in the event of any discrepancy, the Trust Deed and Rules prevail. There is no legal requirement to use a surplus to pay discretionary benefits.
Equality and Human Rights Commission consultation on Code of Practice
The EHRC has recently opened a consultation on its updated Code of Practice for services, public functions and associations. Part 3 of the Code is based on the principle that people with the “protected characteristics” set out in the Equality Act 2010 should not be discriminated against when using any service regardless of whether that service is paid for or not or provided publicly or privately.
Team News
I am delighted to inform you that in the recently published Legal 500 UK 2025 guide we received the prestigious Top Tier 1 ranking for many of the firm’s practice areas including Employment and Pensions. In addition, some of the team were recognised individually for their specialist expertise and strength of client service and congratulations to Madeleine Mould recognised as Leading Associate and Gillian McCue recognised as a Next Generation Partner.
Congratulations to our Key Lawyers too, Ian Jones, Elinor Rowlands, Louis Hewlett and Jane Biddlecombe. There was also recognition for all the Employment partners, Joanne Davies, Matthew Smith, Paula Kathrens and Rajiv Joshi as well as myself (Pensions) who were named as Leading Partners.
The team is committed to our clients and to delivering the best service, and this is evident in this year’s rankings.
Webinar
We are delighted to invite you to join us for our final Employment webinar of 2024, What is next for employment law? The webinar will take place on 7 November 2024, from 10am to 11:15am.
For more details of the topics and speakers and how to register, click here.
I hope you will find all the articles above informative and helpful, and if you would like any further information please do not hesitate to get in touch with your usual Blake Morgan contact.
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