What’s happening in employment law in 2022?

This article looks at the key expected developments in England and Wales in the coming year and ends with a summary of what to expect in Northern Ireland. For expected developments in immigration law, see our separate article here.  

Covid-19 developments

As the pandemic continues, it is unclear if the government will bring in new restrictions but we certainly expect more employment law issues. A key question for 2022 is whether more employers will introduce mandatory vaccination, testing or NHS Covid pass policies. We also expect more court rulings about the furlough scheme and Covid-19 safety at work (see Employment Tribunal rulings on Covid 19 issues what can we learn). The first cases to reach the appellate courts will inevitably involve events that happened in the early days of the pandemic, but lawyers will be scrutinising decisions carefully to see what guidance can be extracted for today’s different circumstances. 

We could also start to see litigation against employers who’ve implemented “no jab no job” policies, although the ET system is currently so backlogged that these may not reach appellate courts in 2022. It’s interesting to look at the position in other countries where the system is faster – for example France already has a body of caselaw on mandatory vaccination -  Refusing COVID-19 vaccination: a first view from the French courts.  Might we also see some published rulings on when “long Covid” is a disability for equality law purposes? 

ESG, good work and flexibility

Last year saw environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues emerge as a key focus for organisations across multiple sectors (see here for support with this).  Employers looking to stay on top of the ESG agenda in 2022 will need to factor in several potential employment law changes. 

Flexible working

The delayed Employment Bill - originally promised in the 2019 Queen’s Speech – could be published in 2022 and is expected to include a new right to request flexible working from day one. The government’s consultation on this proposal closed in December 2021 so we can expect confirmation of the final plans in 2022, even if we do not see the Bill. The proposed legal reforms are modest, but they form the backdrop to discussions about “new normal” working arrangements as employers look to codify practices in the coming year.

Good work

The Employment Bill is also expected to progress the Good Work agenda, by introducing a new right for workers with variable hours to request a more stable and predictable contract after 26 weeks' service and, possibly, new rights to reasonable notice of working hours and compensation for short-notice shift cancellation. The EU transparent and predictable working conditions directive will introduce similar rights on an EU-wide basis in August 2022.

Pay and holidays

There will be an extra public holiday in 2022 (Friday 3 June) to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee, and the late May bank holiday has been moved to Thursday 2 June to make a four-day weekend. 

Holiday pay calculations are always a headache but seem to have been less of a concern in recent years. We expect judgment in two cases in 2022, however, which may put holiday pay calculations back in the spotlight:

• Harpur v Brazel – concerning holiday pay for a casual worker who was under contract all year round but worked in term time only. The judgment could potentially clarify various holiday pay rights including the practice of paying a holiday pay supplement of 12.07% for casual workers.
• Smith v Pimlico Plumbers - concerning the extent of an employer’s liability for holiday backpay in circumstances where the individual was treated as self-employed but was subsequently found to be a worker with entitlement to paid holidays.

The National Living Wage (for workers aged 23 and over) is set to rise to £9.50 an hour from April 2022, an increase of 6.6%. Adding to the ongoing pressure on wages, the social care levy will be introduced UK-wide from April 2022 and will be collected initially via a 1.25% increase in National Insurance Contributions. The Employment Bill may also introduce the long-awaited tips regulations governing how tips are to be distributed. There will, of course, be the usual uplifts to statutory rates and limits, including statutory sick pay and maternity pay, in April 2022.

Whistleblowing 

EU member states are almost all late in implementing the EU whistleblowing directive, so most will be doing so throughout 2022.  The directive does not apply to the UK but looks set to influence best practice here. Its key feature is the requirement to provide feedback to whistleblowers within certain specified timescales.

Modern Slavery Act

We expect reforms strengthening the Modern Slavery Act to implement the plans announced in September 2020. When these are introduced, which could be in the coming year, companies in scope of the current reporting requirements may need to pay even closer attention to their anti-slavery statements as a result. This comes at a time of growing interest in supply chain governance as part of the ESG agenda. 

Diversity and inclusion 

Diversity, equity and inclusion will no doubt remain high on the agenda, whether as part of ESG initiatives or separately. Diversity monitoring and positive action are key topics for many employers right now. Employers often try to stay ahead of the law in this area, and there could be significant developments in 2022.  

Harassment

The government has promised to introduce a new proactive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and to bring back laws making employers responsible if employees are harassed by customers or other third parties. Provision could be made in the Employment Bill for these changes. The Equality and Human Rights Commission may start consulting on its new Code of Practice on Harassment, building on the major guidance it published shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic. The upshot could be a step change in how employers are required to manage the risks of harassment in a post #Metoo world, but much turns on the detail. Do contact us if you would like help with training your team on this important area.

Legislation has also been promised on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) since 2019. We still expect reforms to materialise, potentially in the Employment Bill.  

Pay transparency

The detailed rules governing gender pay gap reporting are set to be reviewed in 2022. Changes could be on the cards but would probably be subject to consultation before being introduced. In the meantime, the deadlines for submitting reports are expected to return to normal this year, having been extended in 2021 because of the pandemic.

It is conceivable that we will see some progress towards the eventual introduction of ethnicity pay reporting. The March 2021 report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities did not support the introduction of compulsory ethnicity pay reporting, but calls for regulation are not going away; in fact they are arguably increasing. The first step – potentially in the coming year – is likely to be the publication of guidance for employers wanting to report on a voluntary basis.

At the end of 2021, the government launched a consultation on the potential introduction of disability reporting on a voluntary or even compulsory basis. The consultation is open until 25 March 2022, and the government currently says a response will be published by June. 

Gender identity

In last year’s landmark Forstater case, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that a belief that sex cannot be changed and a belief or lack of belief in gender identity are all protected by equality law.  Two similar cases involving “gender critical” beliefs may come before the EAT in 2022 (Higgs v Farmor’s school and Mackereth v DWP). These cases raise sensitive issues about how the law regulates the space between holding gender-critical beliefs (protected) and harassment of trans people (unlawful). We will be looking at these cases as part of our webinar on gender identity and inclusion on 31 March 2022 – look out for details coming soon.

Equal pay 

The equal pay claims brought by store workers at Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and other large retailers continue to progress through the courts. Rulings up to this point have confirmed that female store workers can compare themselves to male distribution depot workers. Subject to any further challenges on that issue, the courts will now focus on whether the relevant types of work are of equal value and, if so, whether paying different rates for them is justified.  We would not expect these cases to conclude in 2022 but we may see further rulings as they continue their journey.

Family rights

By August 2022, EU member states need to have implemented the EU work-life balance directive, which includes new baseline rights for carers and working parents. The UK does not need to implement this directive but has already promised to match the new rights for carers. Under the UK government’s proposals, working carers will be able to take up to 5 days’ carers leave each year to help them carry out their caring responsibilities, although this will be unpaid. The government published some detail on how this new right will operate in September 2021 and we expect the Employment Bill to pave the way for its introduction.

Unrelated to the EU directive, the UK government has promised a new right to 12 weeks' paid neonatal leave for parents whose babies spend time in neonatal care units. The government has also promised to improve redundancy protection for pregnant employees and maternity returners by giving them priority for alternative employment opportunities if made redundant, with similar protections for parents returning from adoption or shared parental leave. All of these new rights are expected to be included in the Employment Bill.

Other developments

Out of the other developments expected in 2022, employers should watch out, in particular, for any progress in the following areas:

• Proposals for regulating non-compete clauses following the government’s 2020 consultation on this issue. Regulations implementing a ban on “exclusivity clauses” in contracts for low-paid workers may also be introduced, following a consultation on this issue last year.
• Single enforcement body. The primary intention is to defragment the current regime by combining the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Enforcement Team into one body. The idea is also to expand this new body’s remit into the enforcement of statutory sick pay, holiday pay for vulnerable workers and the regulation of umbrella companies, with other areas under consideration.  The Employment Bill will pave the way for its establishment, but it is likely to be some time before it is up and running. 

After a relatively quiet 2021 (Covid-19 aside), 2022 looks likely to bring an increased number of changes to employment law, especially if the Employment Bill is finally published.   Our regular webinar “what’s happening in employment law” on 11 May 2022 will provide an update on progress with these and other developments – look out for more details coming soon.

Northern Ireland 

Many of the developments covered above are relevant for Northern Irish employers including those relating to Covid-19, ESG, whistleblowing and diversity. In Northern Ireland we will certainly see more caselaw resulting from the pandemic such as the furlough scheme. We may also see developments in holiday pay when the courts begin deciding cases that were put on hold pending the outcome of the dispute in the landmark holiday pay claim in Chief Constable of the Police Service of NI v Agnew and others (which appears to have settled).

As we start 2022, apart from the usual updates to statutory rates and limits, the legislative landscape remains quiet in Northern Ireland. There are no significant proposals in place to amend existing laws and, in particular, no plans to introduce an Employment Bill. This is likely to remain the case at least until after the Assembly elections in May 2022. We may therefore see further divergence between the employment laws in England and Wales and those in Northern Ireland (see our article explaining the reasons for this divergence and outlining the key differences).  

During 2022 we could start to see developments in relation to the employment and equality aspects of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, negotiated during Brexit – watch out for our article on this topic soon.