Employment law reform

The Coalition Agreement outlined a policy commitment to review employment law.

The Employment Law Review was announced on 27 January 2011.

The Review gave rise to several consultations and further reviews, including consultation on resolving workplace disputes, consultation on introducing fees in the employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal and a fundamental review of employment tribunal rules of procedure.

A number of significant changes to employment law have been or are due to be implemented by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013. These include changes to whistleblowing law, the introduction of a new employment status known as “employee shareholder” and changes to the law concerning negotiations before termination of employment.

This note provides an outline of the changes.