The Queen’s Speech on employment law

The Queen’s speech which sets out the government agenda for the following year included some employment law reform. These reforms are no great surprise and include the following:

“The legislation will also reduce delays in employment tribunals; improve the fairness of contracts for low paid workers”

There have already been some important steps taken which should reduce delays in tribunals; these include the introduction of tribunal fees, and mandatory early conciliation through Acas.

“Legislation will impose higher penalties on employers who fail to pay their staff the minimum wage.”

This is likely to include an increased fine for those who do not pay national minimum wage and strong enforcement measures. Top tip is to check you are aware of national minimum wage levels and record keeping requirements.

Measures will be brought forward to limit excessive redundancy payments across the public sector.”

These measures may include stopping public sector workers being given large redundancy payments and then returning to a similar sector in a short period of time.

The original transcript can be found here.

If you need any further information on this topic please contact me at kate.brooks@ellisjones.co.uk.