The Employment Rights Bill is without doubt the most significant piece of Employment Law to be introduced in the last 20 years or so. There is a lot in the Bill from the introduction of day 1 unfair dismissal rights to the establishment of the Fair Work Agency.
The Government has now published an implementation roadmap for the Bill, setting out a proposed phased timetable for bringing the measures into force. This is helpful for practitioners, Employers, and Employee representative bodies to understand what will come into force and when.
As soon as the Bill becomes law, some existing rules that restrict the right to strike will be scrapped. At the same time, stronger legal protections will be introduced to make it harder for employers to dismiss workers for taking part in strike action.
The next few years will see lots of change and to an extent, the devil will be in the detail on publication of relevant secondary legislation. Lots to think about, lots to plan but at least we have a timetable to work to.