On Monday the government announced what it claimed to be the ‘biggest package of workplace reforms for 20 years’. The proposals were designed to ensure that the UK would be world leading in meeting the challenges of how different demographics approach work. According to the ELAS Group, under new rules, workers will be given details of their rights “in plain English” from the first day in a job, such as eligibility for sick leave, pay and details of other types of paid leave, such as maternity and paternity. Previously, employees could legally wait up to two months before receiving a formal contract of employment after starting their job.

The reforms also beef up the Employment Agency Standard Inspectorate and give it new powers to impose penalties on employers who breach employment laws, for example by refusing to pay wages...

...Commenting on the announcement that a written statement of rights will be mandatory from day one for all workers and will be extended to include details of eligibility for sick leave and pay, Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for Group Risk Development (GRiD) said: “This is an important first step in the journey away from uncertainty around what will happen if a worker is off sick for any length of time. A common reason people don’t buy personal income protection is because they think they won’t need it – ‘it won’t happen to me’, ‘the State will provide’, ‘my employer will look after me’ – but most don’t actually know what protection is in place for them via their employer. It’s absolutely crucial that people move beyond guesswork and assumption and have a clear idea of what they can expect from their employer if they have a period of sickness absence.

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