Good Work Plan

Key Changes to UK Legislation

As part of the Industrial Strategy, the Prime Minister commissioned the independent Matthew Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices to ensure that the UK labour market can adapt to the changes while protecting workers’ rights in the UK. Following this review, the government responded by publishing its Good Work Plan in December 2018, accepting the vast majority of the recommendations made by Matthew Taylor. The legislation has now been passed and from April 2020 we will have the following to consider.

Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act

The new law introduces a right for employed parents to be absent from work for a minimum period of time (two weeks) following the death of a child. Eligibility criteria and various conditions will determine whether parents are entitled to this leave and whether or not they are also entitled to pay. In addition to leave and pay, parents taking bereavement leave will be afforded employment protections similar to those associated with other forms of family related leave.

What is Employment Status?

In July 2017 the government published The Independent Review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy (The Taylor Review), which recommended better clarification around employment status and greater protection for workers. As a result, new laws which have recently been dubbed as the “largest upgrade in workers’ rights for over 20 years” have been published and are mostly due to come into effect in April 2020.