Legal update: The King’s speech – what you need to know


The King’s Speech is a pivotal event in UK parliamentary democracy, setting out the government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming parliamentary session.

On July 17, 2024, the newly elected Labour Government delivered its inaugural King’s Speech, unveiling plans for two major employment-related bills:

  • The Employment Rights Bill
  • The Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill

While the previous Conservative Government proposed an Employment Bill in 2019, it was never published. Instead, various reforms were enacted through Private Members’ bills. In contrast, the Labour Government has pledged to introduce its Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days, describing it as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation.”

Here, we explore the scope of the two proposed employment bills and their anticipated implications:

Employment Rights Bill

“My Government is committed to making work pay and will legislate to introduce a new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights.”

Accompanying the King’s Speech, the Government’s briefing notes detail several employment policies intended for the Employment Rights Bill. Key commitments include:

  • Banning exploitative zero-hours contracts.
  • Ending “fire and rehire” and “fire and replace” practices.
  • Making parental leave, sick pay, and unfair dismissal protection day-one rights for all workers, subject to probationary periods.
  • Removing the lower earnings limit and the waiting period for Statutory Sick Pay.
  • Making flexible working the default from day one for all workers.
  • Strengthening protections for new mothers, including making it unlawful to dismiss a woman within six months of returning from maternity leave, except in exceptional circumstances.
  • Establishing a Fair Work Agency to enhance enforcement of workplace rights.
  • Updating trade union legislation to remove restrictions on union activities and simplify the statutory recognition process.

These changes signal Labour’s commitment to their Manifesto promises. Significant impacts on employers are expected, particularly from the introduction of day-one unfair dismissal rights, the extension of these protections to workers, and making flexible working the default.

Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill

“Legislation on race equality will be published in draft to enshrine the full right to equal pay in law.”

The Government intends to address inequalities faced by ethnic minorities and disabled individuals by:

  • Introducing a statutory right to equal pay for ethnic minorities and disabled people.
  • Mandating ethnicity and disability pay reporting for large employers (those with over 250 employees).

This initiative revisits the concept of mandatory ethnicity pay reporting, previously consulted on by the Conservative Government in 2019 but not implemented due to concerns about confidentiality, data accuracy, and business burden. Labour’s description of this as a “draft” bill suggests it may undergo further consultation before being presented to Parliament, potentially delaying its enactment.

Additional Implications for Employers

Other aspects of the King’s Speech relevant to employers include:

  • Introducing a “genuine living wage” and removing “discriminatory age bands.”
  • Establishing legislation to regulate the development of powerful AI models, although specific AI-related bills were not announced.

What Happens Next?

The exact details of the proposed legislation will be critical. The Labour Government has reiterated its intention to introduce the Employment Rights Bill within the first 100 days. This introduction marks the beginning of a lengthy legislative process involving multiple stages of debate and amendment in both Houses of Parliament. Only after this process and receiving Royal Assent will the bill become law.

Given the scale of the proposed changes, the legislative process could take several months, with actual implementation likely not occurring until the following year. Employers should stay informed about these developments to adequately prepare for the impending changes.

This publication provides a general overview and should not replace tailored legal advice.