The recently published Small Business Enterprise and Employment Bill includes a number of employment law initiatives amongst its extensive provisions.  It is designed to make the UK the most attractive place to start, finance and grow a business.

The Employment The Bill will introduce measures to;

• Reform Whistleblowing procedures to achieve a consistent standard of best practice for handling disclosures and provide greater reassurance to the whistle-blower that action is being taken by the prescribed person and as a result increase the confidence in the actions of the prescribed person.

• Deter business non-payment of employment tribunal awards by creating strong financial consequences of non-payment.

• Reduce the delays in Employment Tribunals caused by frequent and short notice postponements, and addressing the costs arising from short notice postponements.

• increase the penalties imposed on employers that underpay their workers in breach of the national minimum wage legislation on a per worker basis.

• Make exclusivity clauses in zero hours contracts invalid and unenforceable so that no one is tied into a contract without any guarantee of paid work. This will enable employers and employees to benefit from the flexibility of zero hours contracts whilst addressing abuse of these contracts.

• recover exit payments from public sector employees that leave and re-join the same part of the public sector organisation within a year