The Good Work Plan
In 2017 the Government commenced an independent review of employment practices in the modern UK economy which was led by Matthew Taylor, referred to as the ‘Taylor Review’.
The result of this was the Good Work Plan which made a number of recommendations relating to employee engagement and fair treatment.
The first of these recommendation were implemented on the 6th April 2020. As a reminder these were;
- Worker rights to a receive a detailed payslip
- The right to a Statement of Particulars from the first day of employment
- The right to abolish the ‘Swedish Derogation’ giving agency workers the rights to equal pay with directly hired staff
- A change to the holiday reference period for calculating annual leave pay from 12 to 52 weeks.
Another recommendation was to extend protection from employees who are on, or have recently returned from maternity or other family related leave. Most recently the government confirmed that they will extend this protection. Discussions are still taking place.
Other recommendations to come from the Taylor review were;
- Employment status – legislation that will clarify employment status together with proposals that will align tax and employment rights
- The right to request a more predictable and stable contract after 26 weeks continuous employment.
- Extending sick pay to workers earning under the lower earnings limit (currently £118 per week) and allowing it to be taken flexibly during a phased return to work
- Continuous service – the relevant break in service for the calculation of the continuous service will be extended from one to four weeks
- Giving workers a right to receive notice of work shifts and compensation in cases of late shift cancellations
- Modernising the Employment Tribunal System – recommendations are that tribunals should become digital and that bundles should become electronic. Likewise, there is a recommendation that the judgement should be easier to enforce with suggestions that penalty payments may be awarded for late payment.
There is no news as to when the above recommendations will be implemented.
We will provide further updates on the Good Work Plan as and when it is released. In the meantime if you have any questions on the above information, please contact a member of our HR team.