The government is proposing a variety of changes to employment law in its policy paper“Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy”.
These will it claims “cut red tape for businesses and save £1 billion per year while safeguarding the rights of workers”.
Announcing the “smarter regulation” proposals, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch said:
“I have listened to the concerns of businesses of all sizes and have made it a priority to tackle the red tape that holds back UK firms, reduces their competitiveness in global markets and hampers their growth.”
The paper published on Wednesday (10 May), proposes to:
- Legislate to limit non-compete clauses in employment contracts to a three-month duration
- Consult on suggestions to enhance the Working Time Regulations
- Roll up holiday pay
- Remove the requirement to elect employee representatives in TUPE consultations.
Additionally, the government revealed plans to scrap the controversial sunset clause in its Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, which would have automatically deleted every EU lawwhich hadn’t already been reviewed by the government at the end of 2023.
The Government now says it will “amend [the bill]to be clear which laws we intend to revoke at the end of this year”, it went on to say “This will also provide certainty to business by making clear which regulations will be removed from our statute book.”