If 2020 marked the beginning of the pandemic, 2021 was the year it became fully imbedded in our personal and working lives. What does 2022 have in store? For the pandemic, only time will tell, but when it comes to employment law things are a little clearer.

Employment Bill

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the long-awaited Employment Bill did not progress in 2021. Will it finally make its way through Parliament in 2022?

By way of a reminder, the Bill promises a number of reforms to the employment law regime, including:

• Making flexible working the default position;
• The establishment of a single labour market enforcement agency, responsible for enforcing basic rights for vulnerable workers;
• Requiring employers to pass on all tips and service charges to their workers;
• Extending redundancy protection (i.e. the right to be offered suitable alternative employment) to pregnant employees and for six months after the return from maternity leave, as well as to those taking adoption leave or shared parental leave;
• A new right for carers to take one week of unpaid statutory leave each year;
• A new right for parents to take statutory leave of up to 12 weeks for neonatal care; and
• The right for all workers to request a more predictable and stable contract after 26 weeks’ service.

While no timescales have been committed to, the government has confirmed that the Bill is still on its agenda and, during 2021, it will have launched and/or responded to various consultations on particular aspects of...

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