You will no doubt have seen some of the press coverage of the announcement by the government before Christmas that it intends to implement the vast majority of the Taylor Review recommendations on working practices. Publication of the Good Work Plan was swiftly followed by three statutory instruments being laid before Parliament. These statutory instruments will implement a number of the key recommendations. Others require further consultation.

We thought you might be interested in a quick summary (below) of the main changes and the current timeline. We will also discuss the Good Work Plan at our first round of breakfast seminars for 2019. The Milton Keynes seminar is scheduled for Wednesday 20 March and the London seminar is scheduled for Thursday 21 March.

If you have any questions, or would like to discuss the impact of the changes, please let us know.

April 2019 changes

  • Increase the maximum penalty which an Employment Tribunal can impose for some breaches of employment rights from £5,000 to £20,000.

April 2020 changes

  • Introduce the right to a written statement of key terms for all workers (not just employees) and to require this from day one. The mandatory content of the statement will include, in particular, details of all remuneration (not just pay) such as contributions in cash or kind.
  • Abolish the "Swedish derogation", which allows hirers/end users to pay agency workers less than their directly recruited employees if the agency workers are paid between assignments by the agency.
  • Lower the threshold required for a request to set up information and consultation arrangements from 10 per cent to 2 per cent.
  • Extend the holiday pay reference period for workers with irregular hours from 12 weeks to 52 weeks.

Still to come: other key proposals from the Good Work Plan

  • Empower the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate to monitor the role of the umbrella companies and to ensure that agency workers are receiving adequate pay without inappropriate deductions being made.
  • Introduce a new single labour market enforcement agency to support workers and advise them of their rights.
  • Clarify the employment status test and align the employment status frameworks for employment and tax purposes in order to reduce any differences between the two systems.
  • Introduce a right to request a more predictable and stable working pattern after 26 weeks of service.
  • Introduce new guidance on interpreting holiday pay rules.
  • Extend the time required to break a period of continuous service between contracts from one clear week to four clear weeks.
  • Prohibit deductions from staff tips.

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