Employers will have to protect employees from sexual harassment, including from customers and business partners, under the government’s sweeping new employment rights legislation.
The new duties are part of a package of measures announced in Thursday’s landmark Employment Rights Bill, which Labor has promised to bring to Parliament within 100 days.
The bill, which is expected to take up to two years to be fully implemented after lengthy consultations, would give millions of workers new rights, including the right to sue employers for unfair dismissal without having to wait two years on the job. will give.
However, the new bill also includes a number of new workplace protections, including stronger protections against maternity and pregnancy discrimination and a requirement for employers to develop menopause action plans.
Some of the measures being concreted for the first time include new protections against harassment by third parties, with employers required to take “reasonable steps” to prevent harassment, such as protecting bartenders from harassment by pub patrons. It is necessary to take “measures.”
This means employers need to anticipate where such harassment may occur and develop a plan of action to protect employees. This could include not only risk assessments, but also reporting channels and new complaints procedures. It may also include more direct communication with customers and clients about workplace expectations.
The bill, which the government said would be the biggest improvement to workers’ rights in generations, would give workers new rights from day one of employment, including the right to parental leave and unpaid parental leave.
The bill would make flexible working the default, ban most zero-hour contracts, although employees can request them, and eliminate layoff-and-rehire practices, but make exceptions for employers to lower contract terms. Critics point out that there is a big loophole that allows people to claim that their circumstances are wrong.
Additionally, a new enforcement agency, the Fair Work Agency, will be established to act as a point of contact for whistleblowers, and will carry out inspections and pay fines. Many of the Conservative government’s anti-union laws will also be repealed.
The government expects to start a consultation on the changes in 2025, with most of them not coming into force until 2026. Unfair dismissal reform will take more time, and it will not be until autumn 2026 at the earliest.
The changes have been widely welcomed by trade unions, with the TUC calling it a “tectonic shift”. But the Federation of Small Businesses said the measure would lead to job losses and said its introduction would be “disruptive”. But the Confederation of British Industry said the government should be praised for its “willingness to work with businesses and trade unions on how to make work-for-work schemes a success”.
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In an interview to mark the publication of the bill, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Reiner and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said they had worked intensively to take business concerns into account. Mr Rayner sought to reassure small businesses that the government was “getting the balance right” with changes to employment law.
“These packages are pro-business and pro-worker and we have worked with large businesses, small businesses and businesses across the country and many businesses have welcomed the measures we are saying. ” Rayner said. BBC. “We recognize that there are some challenges around this. This is a large reform package, so we’re going to make sure that those are part of the process.”
Mr Reynolds said the government’s intention was to introduce legal guidance on when companies can refuse flexible working permits to workers. “The flexibility to keep more people working longer and bring more people into the labor market has real business benefits and benefits for employees, and those are good things.” said.
“But of course we’re not going to mandate it and it’s not going to work for everyone, but this legislation will improve the process.”
