The Government has confirmed that it is “committed to delivering the Plan to Make Work Pay in full”.

Answering a written question in the House of Lords, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch stated that “ministers are identifying the most appropriate delivery mechanisms for the commitments in the Plan, including an Employment Rights Bill that will be introduced to Parliament within 100 days of taking office. Work is already underway to identify and deliver measures through non-legislative and secondary legislative routes.”

We have commented previously on the Plan to Make Work Pay, both in the run up to the general election and after it was announced in the King’s Speech (see here and here). The Plan represents a major set of changes to the current landscape of employment law, with commitments to, among other things: make parental leave, sick pay, and protection from unfair dismissal ‘day one rights’ for all workers; make “flexible working the default from day-one for all workers, with employers required to accommodate this as far as is reasonable, to reflect the modern workplace”; introduce a ‘right to switch off’; ban “exploitative zero-hour contracts, ensuring workers have a right to a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work”; end ‘fire and rehire; and remove “unnecessary restrictions on trade union activity”.

In addition to confirmation from Baroness Jones that the Government intends to deliver the Plan “in full”, reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Government will introduce the right to switch off by way of introducing a code of practice which must be agreed by employers and employees, and that it will repeal both the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023.

The Government has committed itself to introducing the Employment Rights Bill within 100 days of taking office, meaning that it should be introduced by no later than 13 October 2024.