Queen’s Speech – what’s in store for employers?
Last week saw the Queen’s speech following the election of the new Conservative Government. So what does this hold in store for business owners and employers in UK? In brief, employers will be most interested in the following:
1. The Employment and Welfare Benefits Bill offers a promise of a job for everyone – two million new jobs and three million more apprenticeships are to be created
2. The Enterprise Bill aims to “cut red tape” (have we hard that before….?) for British Businesses with a figure of £10billion in savings being estimated
3. Consultation to be started on scrapping the Human Rights Act and replacing it with a British Bill of Rights – if this is passed as legislation the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights would no longer be binding on the UK courts – it has been suggested that this will have minimal impact on employment as any new British Bill of Rights is likely to uphold similar principles in this area as those already in existence
4. Confirmation of a new Trade Unions Bill regarding the number of members required to have voted and supported strike action
5. Confirmation of an Immigration Bill to reduce the number of illegal workers
6. The National Insurance Contributions Bill makes a promise to ensure anyone working less than 30 hours a week on national minimum wage will not pay income tax
7. A Childcare Bill plans to give working families 30 hours of free childcare a week
8. Confirmation that an insertion into the Employment Rights Act 1996 makes it unlawful to have exclusivity of service clauses in zero hours contracts