The much-anticipated Employment Rights Bill has been introduced to Parliament. Living up to its billing by the Government as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”, the Bill runs to some 150 pages and contains 28 individual employment reforms.

Whilst many of the reforms had already been announced in broad terms as part of Labour’s manifesto and its ‘Plan to Make Work Pay’ (on which we have commented here), the draft Bill sets out in greater detail the raft of changes that are envisaged. We will address many of those details in subsequent insights, but at this stage it is clear that the Bill meets the previously expressed ambition of the Government to make major changes to the world of work.

For example – and as we have previously discussed – the draft Bill grants protection against unfair dismissal from day one, although new hires will be subject to a nine-month probation period. It also establishes ‘day one rights’ to paternal and bereavement leave, introduces a ‘right to flexible working’, includes reforms to statutory sick pay, and imposes restrictions on so-called ‘fire and rehire’ and zero-hour contracts. A new ‘Fair Work Agency’ will also be introduced to enforce rights and support employers on how to comply with the new laws.

Many of the proposals will be subject both to consultation and secondary legislation, meaning that some have estimated that it could take as many as two years before the entire suite of measures takes full effect.

Furthermore, some reforms that had been mooted are not found in the draft Bill, but will, according to the Government, be introduced in the future either through legislation or by other means. Accompanying the announcement of the draft Bill is a document entitled  ‘Next Steps to Make Work Pay’ which sets out wider reforms that the Government plans to deliver “sitting outside of the Employment Rights Bill”. These include introducing a statutory code of practice on the ‘Right to Switch Off’, launching reviews into parental and carers’ leave, consulting on workplace surveillance technologies, strengthening protections for the self-employed through a right to a written contract, and consulting on a “simpler framework that differentiates between workers and the genuinely self-employed, ensuring that all workers know their rights and have the comfort of protection at work.”

Commenting on the announcement of the Bill, the Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said ,“the best employers know that employees are more productive when they are happy at work. That is why it’s vital to give employers the flexibility they need to grow whilst ending unscrupulous and unfair practices. This upgrade to our laws will ensure they are fit for modern life, raise living standards and provide opportunity and security for businesses, workers and communities across the country.”

The Bill will be considered at Second Reading on 21 October and can be read in full here. The Government press release can be found here, and its ‘Next Steps to Make Work Pay’ can be read here.