The Good Work Plan – Are you ready?
During December 2018 the Government announced a set of reforms which they intended to introduce as part of the Taylor Review. The Taylor Review being a review of modern working practices undertaken by Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts, and is also known as the Good Work Plan.
A copy of the review can be accessed via means of the following link;
The key proposals of the Good Work Plan are set to become law and will be implemented as from April 2020 as part of the Employment Rights (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019. Therefore, employers should be aware of areas of change which include the following, and have made arrangements in time to comply;
- Statement of basic terms and conditions – As from April 2020 there will be entitlement to workers as well as employees. This change will provide clarity to workers regarding their own specific contractual terms.
- The right for an employee to request a more predictable and stable contract – An example of this would be to include a guaranteed minimum number of hours, and certainty of the days which have to be worked. This change will potentially benefit those individuals on casual or fixed term contracts.
- Break in continuous service – At the current time a break of just one week would potentially break an employee’s period of continuous service. However, such a break period will now be extended from one to four weeks.
- Protection of agency workers – After twelve weeks of service an agency worker will be entitled to receive the same level of pay as a permanent unless the agency has opted out of this right.
- Key terms for agency workers – Employment agencies or businesses will be required to provide every agency worker with a ‘key facts page’. This will assist an agency worker in understanding their basic terms of engagement.
- Holiday pay – The reference period used to calculate holiday pay will be extended from twelve weeks to fifty-two weeks. This is a notable development for those individuals who work variable hours.
The above list is not exhaustive, and it seems other items will be added potentially in time for the April 2020 implementation date. Such potential change may include further changes in the law including extending redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents. Such potential change is possible followinga consultation period by the Government in line with the Good Work Plan which closed in May 2019. Further outcome from this consultation is awaited.
For further advice in implementing the above changes including making changes to employment documents such as contracts and employee handbooks please do not hesitate to contact Atom HR.