Predictable Terms and Conditions No More?

On 20 June 2022, then-Member of Parliament Scott Benton (Conservative) presented the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill (a Private Member’s Presentation Bill). This was designed to allow workers and agency workers in Great Britain the right to request from their employer more predictable terms and conditions of work when their current terms contained any element of unpredictability.

This received Conservative UK Government backing on 03 February 2023 and a swift legislative passage through the Houses of Commons and Lords ensured this received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023.? The Act inserted the statutory right to request predictable terms and conditions into the Employment Rights Act 1996.? Workers could request a change in his terms and conditions of employment if it was in respect of:?

• Hours of work
• Times of work
• Place of work, and
• Anything else that may be inserted by way of secondary legislation

Acas consulted on a draft statutory Code of Practice aimed at guiding employers with their new obligations.

The statutory provisions were inserted into the Employment Rights Act 1996; however, they were never given an effective date (by way of the secondary legislation (Regulations)), expected September 2024.? The provisions would have come into force on the day specified in the Regulations by the Secretary of State for the Department of Trade (DBT):?

• Under the Conservative UK Government, this would have been Kemi Badenoch (until 04 July 2024)
• Under the Labour UK Government, this is Jonathan Reynolds (from 05 July 2024)

Ever since I read the Labour Party’s Make Work Pay document, I have always doubted whether the provisions in the Act would ever have been commenced / brought into force.? The provisions ?seemed at odds with Labour’s pledge to end ‘one sided’ flexibility and their plans involve ensuring workers have the statutory right to have a contract that reflects the number of hours they regularly work, based on a twelve-week reference period.?

These proposals are set to form part of the Great British Employment Rights Bill announced in the 2024 King’s Speech .

Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for the DBT, has made it clear that the UK Government will ‘deliver a new deal for working people’ based on their Make Work Pay document.? If the provisions in the 2023 Act were commenced, these would have been against their new deal for working people.?

Therefore, whilst we have not had an official announcement (and don’t need one anyway), it is transparent that the provisions in the Employment Rights Act, expected from September 2024, will not be commenced.?

So, it is no surprise we will not see secondary legislation and can, perhaps, consign the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 to the waste bin.? Although, we will need legislation to take the provisions out of the Employment Rights Act!

To have commenced the provisions in the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act would have been unworkable for employers given that further changes are on the way courtesy of the Great British Employment Rights Bill.? Therefore, it is more than sensible not to go ahead with the 2023 Act, as this would have created unnecessary uncertainly and administration for employers (and workers).?

The Acas consultation which closed in January 2024 appears to have been for nothing.

So far, all I have talked about are plans for predictability in Great Britain.? Employers operate UK-wide, so it is necessary to consider Northern Ireland and any similar plans to update provisions in their employment law legislation (the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996).??

In this regard, the Department for the Economy’s July 2024 ‘Good Jobs’ consultation on a forthcoming Employment Rights Bill in this employment law jurisdiction considers predictability within the section about zero-hours workers.? This proposes two options:?

1. An outright ban on such contracts, or
2. The statutory right to request a contract that reflects the hours usually worked over a twelve month reference period?

So, similar employment law reforms for employers to adopt – although they seem to work to different criteria!