{"id":8594,"date":"2024-07-05T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&p=8594"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:00:28","slug":"labour-government-employment-law-changes","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/employment-law-updates\/labour-government-employment-law-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour Government employment law changes likely to impact HR"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Zeba Sayed, Robert Shore <\/strong>and Stephen Simpson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK has a new Government \u2014 what are the implications for the people profession? In our recent webinar<\/a>, we set out the top 10 possible employment law changes heralded by the election, and then asked attendees to tell us which of these changes were likely to have the biggest impact on their organisations. Here we count down the top three most significant proposals, as voted by HR professionals<\/a>.

Read on to discover which mooted change took the number one spot, attracting more than 50% of the vote\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The 10 possible post-election employment law changes set out in the webinar were drawn from Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay<\/a>, published on 24 May 2024, and the party’s subsequently released manifesto. Labour has pledged to introduce legislation within its first 100 days in power, and the King’s Speech on 17 July is likely to contain an Employment Rights Bill. The measures in any such bill are likely to undergo amendment as it passes through Parliament. Implementation of simpler matters could be a matter of months, whereas more complex changes might be a few years away. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Introduction of a right to disconnect outside normal working hours (11.2% of the webinar vote)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What’s the proposal?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Labour is proposing to introduce a right to disconnect which it refers to, in its Plan to Make Work Pay, as the “right to switch off”. This would seek to redress employees’ work-private life balance, particularly in light of the growth of remote and hybrid working practices<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labour’s proposal is scant on detail at this stage, but it does acknowledge that there are other countries that have already taken action to enable workers to “switch off”. Specifically, Labour refers to the models in Belgium and Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belgium takes a robust approach, with a specific right not to be contacted outside normal working hours, and a requirement on employers with 20 or more employees to give the right to disconnect concrete form through formal written provisions. This can be done via a company-level collective agreement or in the employer’s internal works rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Belgium, employers that are covered by a sector-level collective agreement already dealing with the right to disconnect are exempt from having their own company-level agreement or works rules on the right to disconnect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, Ireland’s approach to the right to disconnect is somewhat softer. There, the Workplace Relations Commission has established a code of practice that sets out best practice and practical guidance on disconnecting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The code refers to an employee’s right to disengage from work and work-related electronic communications, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n