Proactive Investors - The government's plans for an overhaul of employment law, including strengthening workers' rights over statutory sick pay, parental leave and unfair dismissal, will be put before parliament today.
Under Labour's proposed Employment Rights Bill, which will not take effect before autumn 2026, workers will be entitled to sick pay from the first day of illness, rather than the fourth.
Reforming the UK's current statutory sick pay system, which is said to be one of the least generous in the OECD, the current earnings limit for statutory sick pay will also be removed, with these entitlements beginning from the first day of employment.
Companies will not be allowed to fire employees and rehire them on worse terms and conditions, with the practice of 'fire and rehire' banned in all but exceptional circumstances.
Workers on zero-hours contracts, currently estimated to number around a million, must be given some level of guaranteed working hours but will be able to request remaining on a zero-hours contract if they prefer.
Fathers and partners will be eligible for paternity leave from day one, and unpaid parental leave will also become a day-one right, affecting over 1.5 million workers.
Requests by employees for flexible working made from day one must be accepted unless companies can prove it is unreasonable.
Other measures include consultations on probation periods and strengthening protections for pregnant employees.