The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill
In 2023 we are expecting a number of pieces of legislation that will affect employers and employees in their working lives. One such bill is the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill. This Bill came about after a review into working conditions and rights of zero hours workers or workers with unpredictable working hours ("Workers"). The review focussed on "one-sided flexibility" where Workers have no guarantee of work but are expected to be available at very short notice (sometimes less than a week), thus not being able to plan ahead and having little security of income. The report also recommended that Workers should be afforded more protection and paid a higher minimum wage.
The review process started in 2017 and six years on, the government has now given its support for the Bill. The Bill addresses the issues surrounding the lack of predictability of working patterns for Workers under contracts of 12 months or less, or agency workers. If it becomes law, the Bill would revise the current laws governing employment rights to give Workers the right to request a predictable working pattern, in a similar process to an employee's right to make a flexible working request. It is anticipated that this would be a welcome relief for vulnerable Workers with little or no income security and improve their participation in the workplace and level the playing field for both employers and Workers.
At the employers' discretion?
Under the Bill, employers would not automatically be
responsible for changing the working patterns of affected Workers.
The government proposes instead to shift this responsibility onto
Workers by giving them the right to make an application to their
employers to change their work pattern to make it more stable and
predictable. Under the Bill Workers would be able make up to 2
applications to their employer per year. Much like with flexible
working requests, employers would not be required required to
accept these applications and would be able to refuse a request for
reasons including if the costs of making the change are going to be
too high or there may not be enough work for Workers during the
requested days or times. The Bill is expected to lay out the
process clearly to be followed so that Workers' requests are
appropriately dealt with and are not simply vetoed by
employers.
Risk of unfair dismissal
The government recognised that some Workers might
find themselves at risk of dismissal for requesting better working
patterns and wanted to encourage Workers to have an open discussion
with their employers in respect of their working patterns. As a
result, under the new proposals, Workers will have an automatic
right to an unfair dismissal claim if they are dismissed, and will
have protection from detrimental treatment for making an
application to request more predictable working conditions.
Requirements before a change can be requested
During the Parliamentary debate of the contents of
the Bill on 3rd February 2023, it was stated that a requirement for
making such a request would be that Workers have worked for a
minimum 26-week period for an employer before they could request a
change to their working patterns. This approach is slightly
different to the right to make a flexible working request, which
employees are entitled to after 26 weeks of continuous employment.
The reason for this different approach is down to the nature of the
working patterns of many Workers, which mean they would not be able
to show continuous employment in a 26-week period as their working
patterns changed from week to week. This would, however, be
different for agency workers who would need to show a continuous
period of employment for at least 12 weeks during this minimum
period.
Room for improvement
While this Bill has received a lot of support to
protect Workers' rights in the modern world of work, it was
also noted that the Bill doesn't protect Workers' rights to
get reasonable notice of any change to their shifts or compensation
for cancellation of any shifts, so arguably there is still some
room for improvement. Notwithstanding this, the Bill has been well
received by those advocating better conditions for Workers and will
lead to Workers having enhanced rights to secure a more predictable
working life.
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