What Is The Good Work Plan & Significant Upcoming Good Work Plan Changes

As part of The Good Work Plan, a new ‘name and shame’ scheme has been introduced, naming those Employers that have failed to pay Employment Tribunal awards within a reasonable time. This bulletin will be published quarterly on the government’s website and accessible to the public. This scheme is currently in place for Employment Tribunal awards on or after 18 December 2019.

On 6 April 2019, the maximum penalty for aggravated breaches of employment law rose from £5,000 to an eye-watering £20,000. Aggravated damages are awarded in cases where an employer has breached an employment law, and that breach has “one or more aggravating features”. This may be the case where the employer has a dedicated Human Resources team (yet the breach still occurred), or the breach was malicious or deliberate. Contact Avensure’s Human Resource Outsourcing experts for advice on The Good Work Plan.

According to ‘OpenTable’, over 87% of consumers tip their servers in the UK. You may wonder where these tips go. Some employers deduct administration fees and adopt systems for managing tips, such as TRONC schemes.

Government Good Work Plan legislation aims to prohibit or limit this practice. Further plans may see businesses being told to remove any suggestion of a recommended tip and ensure precise details are given as to the discretionary nature of a tip.

Some employment rights are difficult for casual staff to establish, such as the right to claim unfair dismissal, which requires two years of service. A break of one complete week’s service ending on a Saturday can sever continuous employment. However, under the Good Working Plan 2020, the government plans to change this to four weeks.

*Please note that there are exceptions to this rule, such as temporary cessations of work or illness.

Under the Good Work Plan 2020, with a growing number of employers using atypical contracts (think zero hours), the government aims for the Good Work Plan legislation to introduce the right for workers to request a more stable and predictable contract after 26 weeks of employment.

These requests would be handled similarly to a flexible working request, with the employer having three months to respond.

The Swedish Derogation, the Good Work Plan changes which allow businesses to avoid giving pay parity after 12 weeks of continuous employment, is set to be repealed on 6 April 2020. What is the Good Work Plan 2020 for agency workers? After 12 weeks of continuous employment, they will be entitled to “the same basic working and employment conditions” as if they had been recruited directly by the business. Employers cannot pay a minimum between assignments to avoid this.

In employment law, you must correctly ascertained whether your staff are engaged as employees, workers or self-employed. This can be difficult as there is no clear definition to rely upon; a tribunal will consider a series of tests to determine status.

However, the government is committed to legislating under the Good Work Plan to improve employment tests and to bring greater clarity to the law on employment status. An online tool is anticipated to be developed for the Good Work Definition of employment status.

On 6 April 2020, for Good Work Plan Legislation, the government will legislate to ensure all workers have the right to a written statement of terms, not just employees. This right will commence from day one of employment, as opposed to allowing employers two months to provide these terms, as is the current position.

Those workers who start work after the Good Work Plan 2020 has been introduced can bring a claim against their employer for failure to provide a statement. In certain circumstances, a failure to provide a written statement of terms runs a risk of an Employment Tribunal ordering compensation of up to four weeks’ pay.

Following the Good Work Plan legislation, the government is set to campaign to raise awareness of the rights to holiday and holiday pay, with examples to understand how holiday pay works. The Government Good Work Plan changes will increase the reference period for working out an average week’s pay from 12 to 52 weeks. Those who engage staff under irregular working patterns may be familiar with the 12-week reference period, which will change to 52 weeks from 6 April 2020.

As further consultations are undertaken and the government legislates, we will keep you updated with any changes your business needs to be aware of. Still, please ensure that you take advice on any practical staffing issues you may face.

Our experts are happy to assist you with Good Work Plan legislation and any other Employment law/HR query you may have.

Please quote your Client Account Number on all correspondence and telephone calls. 24-hour client advice line: 0800 151 2935