Is the “New Deal for Working People” a good deal?

Significant changes granting workers’ rights from the first day of employment, including protection against unfair dismissal, parental leave, and sick pay.
The removal of the 2-year minimum service requirement for unfair dismissal claims.

Ensure fair and transparent probationary periods.
Employers will need to refine recruitment policies, increase candidate screening, and document performance issues to mitigate unfair dismissal claims.

A new "right to switch off" will allow workers to disconnect from work outside of working hours.

Employers and workers can agree on bespoke policies.

New rules will prevent the abuse of zero hours contracts.
Employers must ensure zero hours contracts comply with minimum standards, reflecting regularly worked hours over a 12-week reference period.

A new statutory ACAS Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-Engagement is being introduced, with stricter regulations and increased penalties for non-compliance. “Worker” (temporary labour) and employee (permanent) will essentially be the same going forward. The spirit of this is sound but in practice, it’s not straightforward. Employers take on temps to solve short term manpower challenges and it’s a service they can switch on and off on demand. This actually works well for temp staff too – they can also switch this service on and off as their lifestyle requires. It is likely that some employers will not offer temporary positions because of the proposed changes. There will be contract revisions galore over the coming months.

Should temporary workers have the same rights as permanent employees? That can be debated. Temporary workers will often get paid more for accepting the risk of short-term contracts without the safety of a permanent position and this suits some people – but one could argue that they can’t have it both ways, i.e. the financial uplift AND all the same conditions.