MILLIONS of workers are set to receive enhanced sick pay, maternity benefits, and stronger job protections under new Labour proposals.

The Employment Rights Bill, unveiled this morning, will grant sick pay from the very first day of illness.

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Pregnant women and new mothers will also benefit from stronger protections when returning to work.

Zero hour contracts and fire and rehire practices, long deemed exploitative, are also set to be abolished.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Employment Rights Bill will elevate the baseline of employment rights and improve living standards nationwide.

In a statement this morning, he said: “This is a pro-worker, pro-business plan.

“The government will tackle head-on the issues within the UK labour market that are holding Britain back.

“The Plan to Make Work Pay sets out a vision for modern and fair employment protections that will set the country up for the future.”

Details of many policies in the Bill will now go through a consultation process.

The government added that it expects the new rules to come into force in 2026.

For now, we’ve outlined exactly what’s on the table and what it means for you.

Parental and bereavement leave

Currently, only individuals legally classified as employees are eligible for paternity leave.

To qualify, one must have been continuously employed by their employer for at least 26 weeks leading up to any day in the “qualifying week,” the 15th week before the baby’s due date.

This means those classified as workers are not entitled to paternity leave and must use their annual leave to take time off.

The Employment Rights Bill aims to change this by introducing day-one entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave.

It will also improve maternity protections for expecting and new mothers.

This includes protection from dismissal whilst pregnant, on maternity leave and within six months of returning to work.   

Plus, the Bill will also establish a statutory entitlement to bereavement leave.

At the moment, there is no legal right to paid time off for bereavement in the UK, but employers can offer it voluntarily.

Flexible working

Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.

Currently, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working. 

An employer can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so.

However, the Employment Rights Bill will give employees the right to flexible working as default.

The move is said to increase the likelihood of a request for flexible working arrangements to be granted.

However, if an employer can prove this work pattern is “unreasonable” they might still be able to deny it.

At the moment, it’s not clear how these reasons will be interpreted.

Sick pay

Under current statutory sick pay rules, only those earning an average of over £123 a week are eligible.

Those who qualify receive £116.75 per week if they are too ill to work.

Your employer pays this amount for up to 28 weeks, with payments starting after the first three days of leave.

However, the Employment Rights Bill proposes eliminating the earnings threshold to qualify.

It will also ditch the three-day waiting period before workers begin receiving payments.

Unfair dismissal 

Dismissal is when your employer ends your employment – they do not always have to give you notice.

If you have been with the company for at least two years, you have the right to receive a written explanation, which should be in the form of a letter or email.

The law states that it is always unfair if you are dismissed for an “automatically unfair” reason.

You can also challenge your employer if they dismiss you for a discriminatory reason.

If you were dismissed for a different reason and have worked for your employer for less than two years, you do not have the right to challenge it.

However, the Employment Rights Bill promises day one protection from unfair dismissal.

According to officials, around nine million workers who have been with their employer for less than two years will benefit from this change.

Probation periods

A probation period is a designated timeframe at the start of an individual’s employment, during which they can be dismissed with little or no notice if deemed unsuitable for the role.

Currently, there are no specific rules on the duration of these periods, which typically range from three to six months in the UK.

However, the Employment Rights Bill proposes introducing a statutory probation period for new hires, with the government consulting on a nine-month duration.

The government asserts that this will allow for a thorough assessment of an employee’s suitability for a role while reassuring employees that they have rights from day one.

It suggests this initiative will enable businesses to take chances on new hires and give more people the confidence to re-enter the job market or change careers, ultimately improving their living standards.

Zero hour contracts

A zero hour contract, also known as a casual contract, is an employment agreement where the employer does not guarantee a minimum number of working hours for the employee.

At the same time, the employee is not obliged to accept any work offered.

The Employment Rights Bill promises to ditch zero hour contracts in their current form.

This legislation will provide casual workers the right to a guaranteed hours contract if they have worked regular hours over a defined period, thereby offering greater earnings security.

However, the government has confirmed that individuals who prefer to remain on zero hour contracts will still have the option to do so.

Fire and rehire

Fire and rehire, also known as dismissal and re-engagement, is a practice where an employer sacks employees and rehires them on different, often less favourable, terms and conditions. 

This approach is typically employed when employers seek to implement changes to employment contracts that employees might not voluntarily accept.

Currently, fire and rehire is not outright illegal in the UK.

However, the Employment Rights Bill will ban the practice in all but extreme circumstances.

Minimum wage

Currently, there are two different minimum wage rates that all workers across the UK are entitled to: the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage.

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) is the minimum pay per hour for workers who have left school.

Right now, 18 to 20-year-olds must earn at least £8.60 an hour.

Meanwhile, the National Living Wage is the minimum wage for those over 21, and is slightly higher.

It was previously only available to those over 23, but this was adjusted to 21 and over in November 2023.

It’s currently worth £11.44 an hour.

Young workers aged 18 to 20 are expected to see a substantial increase in their statutory rate as the Employment Rights Bill will direct the Low Pay Commission to remove all age bands that set lower minimum wages for younger staff.

NANDO’S has just unleashed a never-before-seen spice flavour, inspired by a popular fizzy drink.

The chicken chain is set to launch a new spice combining their PERi-PERi with Fanta Orange Zero Sugar.

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Launching in time for spooky season, the Nando’s x Fanta collab sits on the PERi-ometer between Mild and Medium.

This is the first new spice flavour Nando’s has launched in two years.

The zesty, fruity flavour comes with just a hint of chilli, perfect for anyone who loves a fizzy kick with their wings.

The new menu, including the Fanta spice, lands in restaurants on Tuesday, October 15 and will be available at all locations across the UK and Ireland.

You can find your nearest restaurant using the locator tool on the chain’s website.

The unique flavour will be on the menu until spring so fans have a while to give it a go.

This flavour sensation is the centrepiece of Nando’s Halloween menu.

The chain is also launching a series of in-restaurant parties, giveaways, and experiences to embrace the spooky vibes.

NEW MENU TREATS

The Fanta spice is not the only addition hitting chains this Halloween.

Nando’s is also introducing several brand-new menu items.

For starters, there’s the Cheesy Garlic Pitta, inspired by a staff hack.

It features a toasted sourdough pitta, loaded with melted cheddar cheese, garlic, spring onions, and a touch of PERi-PERi.

Next up is the Cheesy Chickle Burger, which includes a grilled chicken breast, smothered in melted cheddar cheese, PERi-Ketchup, and Garlic PERinaise.

It’s topped with crisp lettuce and herby pickles, all packed into a soft Portuguese roll.

For sharing (or not), Nando’s is rolling out the All-in Platter for Two, while a new dip, the Churrasco PERinaise, brings even more heat to the table.

Nando’s isn’t the only place spicing things up this spooky season.

The Sun can reveal that McDonalds will also be launching a new menu in time for Halloween.

The fast food giant will be adding three new items next week as well as upgrading a breakfast favourite and its popular Hash browns.

Meanwhile, it’s no surprise Brits love a cheeky Nando’s, but one man loves it so much he flew 690 miles for less than three hours just to get his Nando’s fix.

Elsewhere, fans have hit out at the chicken chain over a cheeky price hike after prices shot up by a third in three years, yet portions only seem to be shrinking.

The changing nature of the asset management industry is a wonder to behold.

When I first started out, the main recommendation for investment was a managed bond. Partly because so many adviser firms were being set up by those who had worked in the insurance industry selling life bonds and also because they would pay 5%-plus commission.

At that time, unit trusts paid 3%. It wasn’t hard to see what was going to be sold the most.

The 5% withdrawal, often described as tax free, was another selling point. Do you remember the income surcharge investors had to pay for their dividends, too, again helping the sales of insurance bonds? And, of course, no regulation to begin with. What a cowboy’s charter.

It’s good to see how much has changed – mostly for the better. The Retail Distribution Review was a big change and Consumer Duty has signalled a turning point for old poor practices, too.

Meanwhile, the active management industry is now under the most pressure I have ever seen.

Active is caught between high costs of regulation and new business rapidly disappearing to the passive industry.

Looking at the top 20 best-selling funds from major platforms today, compared to only about five years ago, I am struck by just how many are passive funds – generally the majority.

Have investors suddenly discovered that these funds are much cheaper than active? Perhaps that is some of the story, but the biggest reason is surely that old chestnut – past performance.

Simply put, passive funds have slaughtered most active funds, especially over the last 15 years or so.

This wasn’t always the case. I remember at Hargreaves Lansdown looking at passive funds in the noughties and finding most were, at best, third quartile performers.

What changed? Falling prices, the rise of ETFs and the move to global funds rather than regional funds (although the latter is, of course, still well represented by passives) have all played a part.

Before the turn of the century, global funds hadn’t been big sellers. Portfolio managers usually preferred to do their own asset allocation through regional funds. The DIY investor was also more attracted to specific funds and the media tended to centre on regional funds where there was usually more of a story to write. Global seemed more of a backwater.

But there has been another factor at play. In some ways, we got an inkling of this in the late 1990s with the tech boom and bust, which really centred on the US.

From this first boom came many of the big US winners we see today. The top US stocks now not only dominate the S&P but the global indices, too, and the US weighting in the global index is now over 70%.

With such large index companies, it becomes very difficult for active managers to have any chance of outperforming.

The US has been the standout major market since the low point of the great recession in 2009. As it dominates global indices, is it surprising global index funds have become so popular? They are, in effect, quasi-US funds.

As such, the diversification argument for buying a global fund seems quite weak and may well come back to bite investors later. It is equally possible to argue that, should the US market catch a cold, the other markets will have pneumonia.

So, today, the investment world is dominated by two factors – passives and the US.

I vaguely seem to recall Sir John Templeton saying that, once a sure way of making money had been found in markets, it was only a matter of time before some kind of disaster struck.

Will the momentum style of passive investing be its downfall? Maybe. But at least no one will get the blame, as it can only reflect the market.

Will active rise to the challenge? No chance. It’s too fraught with regulatory and business risk to do anything much different to the index and, of course, we all know you can be wrong for a long time.

I suspect the party will continue for a bit longer. Plenty of cash remains on the sidelines and pessimism still abounds. For a sense of danger, I also think too many look to the US. China looks to be the most in trouble – but that’s for another time.

In the meantime, I expect to see huge consolidation in the active management industry.

Mark Dampier is an independent consultant and can be found tweeting at @MarkDampier

A HOSPITAL COOK won £25 million in the lottery, but only took home a fraction of the winnings due to a promise she’d made years previously.

Julie Amphlett was working at Nealth Port Talbot Hospital, Wales when she heard the news of her giant EuroMillions win in 2017.

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However, she had previously agreed to divide any winnings with five other people – meaning she only came away with just over £4.2 million.

The six women were part of a work syndicate called The Catering Girls – all colleagues at the hospital.

They had been playing the Euromillions for six years before their win.

Despite losing out on a large proportion of the jackpot, syndicate leader Julie was delighted with the result, as the six colleagues all quit their jobs and jetted off on a luxury holiday to Las Vegas.

Julie and fellow syndicate members Louise Ward and Sian Thomas reunited this week to celebrate 30 years of the National Lottery.

Along with other lottery winners, the women prepared a special lunch for guests at the Cegin Hedyn community café.

Julie said: “It’s great to be back in the kitchen with the girls, it takes us right back to those years we spent in the hospital kitchen before our incredible win.

“And it’s nice to be using our skills for such a deserving project.

“The idea that everyone, from all walks of life, can come together and share a meal is so important within the local community.”

The women prepared food and mocktails, and presented a gift and thank you note to those involved in the success of the café.

Since opening, Cegin Hedyn has served over 10,000 meals to the local community.

Dave and Sarah Williams, Wales’ most recent National Lottery millionaires, also joined The Catering Girls in the kitchen.

Dave said: “Since that incredible moment when our numbers came up I’ve pinched myself quite a bit, and today is no different.

“Firstly, it’s amazing to meet all these other lucky winners – I didn’t realise there were so many in Wales! – and it’s also been great to see where the Good Cause funding goes to, this project is doing some truly amazing things for the community in Carmarthen.

“Our lives have changed so much for the better since our winning moment.

“We moved into a new home where Trevor, our very boisterous dog, can finally wear himself out with his zoomies, and Sarah and I are taking things easy for a bit before we plan our next adventures, and if I know Sarah, that might well be deciding what pet will be joining our family next.”

The news comes as another lottery syndicate in Australia descended into a bitter feud.

Alan Way sought legal action against Mark Peter Bowling, 76, and Moya Posa, 89, over claims he was cut out of the syndicate’s massive £3 million winnings.