New law gives employees and other workers more say over their working hours

The UK government has supported the recently introduced “Predictable Terms and Conditions” Bill, which will bring forward changes for tens of millions of workers across the UK. The move, which would apply to all workers and employees including agency workers, comes after a review found many workers on zero hours contracts experience ‘one-sided flexibility’.

This means people across the country are currently left waiting, unable to get on with their lives in case of being called up at the last minute for a shift. With a more predictable working pattern, workers will have a guarantee of when they are required to work, with hours that work for them.

If a worker’s existing working pattern lacks certainty in terms of the hours they work, the times they work or if it is a fixed term contract for less than 12 months, they will be able to make a formal application to change their working pattern to make it more predictable.

The move comes as part of a package of policies the UK government is supporting to further workers’ rights across the country, such as:

• supporting parents of babies who need neonatal additional care with paid neonatal care leave
• requiring employers to ensure that all tips, gratuities, and service charges received must be paid to workers in full
• offering pregnant women and new parents greater protection against redundancy
• entitling unpaid carers to a period of unpaid leave to support those most in need
• providing millions of employees with a day one right to request flexible working, and a greater say over when, where, and how they work.

The government states that these policies will increase workforce participation, protect vulnerable workers, and level the playing field, ensuring unscrupulous businesses don’t have a competitive advantage.

For further information about what this new legislation means for employers, click here.