Employment Law: What to expect in 2023
From Menzies Law
Employment lawyers and HR professionals were expecting the Employment Bill to materialise last spring after it was originally announced in 2019. However, it failed to do so despite the Government’s promises. The Bill would have created new rights in the areas of flexible working, carers leave and extended redundancy protections to prevent maternity and pregnancy discrimination plus a new single enforcement body to ensure workers’ rights are protected.
Despite this there are still some developments businesses to be aware of - importantly The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act and secondly, some Private Members Bills which may well result in new Employment Legislation.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act
The really big news is the Retained EU Law (Revocaton and Reform) Act which comes into force in December 2023, by which the special status of retained EU law under UK law will be ended from the end of 2023.
Retained EU law includes the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Equality Act 2010, TUPE 2006, the Agency Worker Regulations 2010, and Part-time Worker Regulations 2000.
The Bill will enable the government to specify, amend, repeal and replace retained EU law more easily via secondary legislation. This could lead to the biggest shake up in employment law for decades so it’s a case of ‘watch this space’.
Private Members Bill
We may see a number of proposals in the form of Private Members Bills on legislation originally expected to form part of the Employment Bill. Here are a couple of the most relevant ones. Although unlikely to produce changes in time to form part of the 2023 employment law changes, they could take effect shortly afterwards:
The Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Bill may become law in 2023 and should come into force sometime in 2024 or 2025. This would make provision for leave and pay for employees with responsibility for children receiving neonatal care.
Wendy Chamberlain MP, brought forward a Private Members Bill to attempt to introduce a statutory right to one week’s unpaid carer’s leave. The Bill had its second reading in October 2022 and is now at committee stage.
Although neither Private Members Bill is likely to produce changes in time to form part of the 2023 employment law, they could take effect shortly afterwards.