In 2017, the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices put forward 53 recommendations to the UK Government based on employment laws and regulations, which formed the basis of the subsequent Good Work Plan, created in order to enhance work practices.
Most employers will already be aware of some the developments made, as some Good Work Plan regulations have already come into effect. For example, in 2019 the Government made it a requirement for all employers to provide payslips to their employees. This change meant that employers now need to show hours on payslips where the pay varies by the amount of time worked.
On Monday 6th April, the world of HR was shaken up again by the Good Work Plan as an even larger number of regulations came into effect.
Extension of the right to a written statement of particulars of employment
Every worker has, at some point, received one of those rather long ‘Contracts of Employment’, and this is typically where you’d find the particulars of employment too, including things like job role, salary, hours, etc. However, these are about to become a whole lot longer, as there are new laws surrounding the types of information required in the ‘particulars of employment’. Moving forward, these must be provided on or before day one of employment (which is a drastic change, where employees used to be able to work for up to two months without receiving this).
Along with the information the particulars already include, these are being extended to also include:
- The days the employee will work and if hours will vary
- Detail of any benefits
- Detail of any training which is mandatory, and not funded by the employer
- Probationary details, such as period, process, etc.
Holiday calculations for workers
More and more employees are taking jobs which have varying working hours or are doing seasonal work, likely due to the rise of those looking for more flexible working arrangements. When it comes to annual leave entitlement, you would currently look at the previous 12 paid weeks, and create an average based on the number of hours they worked over those weeks – this then gives the holiday balance.
However, moving forward, the 12-week period will be extended to 52 weeks, and this will be the timeframe that employers must use to calculate entitlement for workers.
Increased protection for agency workers
Most employers consider agency workers as extremely important assets (mostly because they are!) They will be given different offers of employment over 12-week periods, and they will fit in to the role to assist the business to work towards its goals and objectives. The new regulations developed by the government are there to help agency workers be treated equally – they will be entitled to comparable pay to normal employees after they have completed the required agency work in the first 12 weeks.
What’s next from the Good Work Plan?
The Good Work Plan does not stop there. Even more commitments have been made by the Government to introduce further employment legislation to assist the country’s workers. Other measures include things such as the right for employees to request more stable contracts, protection for unwell and disabled workers, and increased ‘break of service’ periods.
Whatever comes next, we’ll cover them extensively, ensuring you’re kept fully aware and up-to-date with all the latest developments!
