The new Employment Rights Bill is the biggest update to workers’ rights in generations. It will introduce day-one rights to paternity leave, strengthen the day-one right to flexible working; ban exploitative zero-hour contracts and fire and rehire practices, and more.Gareth Burrows, founder of Breathe HR, provides for advice from for 
SMEToday’s readers on how time-poor SME HR teams can prepare for them?
According to our research at Breathe HR, most SME bosses believe it will be a positive step forward for staff, and boost productivity and retention. However, this doesn’t mean that already stretched SMEs aren’t daunted by the prospect of seeing through all these changes at once. In fact, 63% of SME leaders agree that the changes proposed in the Employment Rights Bill will disproportionately impact small and medium-sized businesses.
The good news is that the right preparation and right support will make the process easier. So, as someone who’s helped over 15,000 UK SMEs with their HR challenges, I’ve shared my tips to help businesses smoothly and efficiently steer through new workers’ rights.
- Bring in external support
Decoding complex legal jargon, and getting to grips with what the various changes to employment law will mean for businesses is challenging and time-consuming. And unlike big businesses, most SMEs won’t have large HR teams or dedicated legal specialists to rely upon. That’s where bringing in external legal experts and freelance HR generalists can help.
Legal experts will be able to explain what the new legislation means in practice in an easy-to-understand way, helping teams get up to speed much quicker. They may be able to share valuable insights into the successful measures other businesses have taken, and offer bespoke advice on the next steps to take based on the business’s current policies.
Some SMEs who don’t have an HR manager on staff may also want to consider bringing in a freelance HR generalist to support them during the transition period. They can take over some of the day-to-day HR tasks, freeing up permanent employees time to tackle the larger task of reviewing and implementing new policies, which requires a more in-depth understanding of the business.
- Proactively audit existing policies
Attempting to implement all the changes in one go could create a crunch point, where those charged with seeing them through could end up feeling overwhelmed or rushed. To avoid this,
SMEs should start proactively auditing and updating policies one by one, in advance of the legislation’s expected introduction in 2026.
To do this, businesses should first identify where updates or new policies are needed. For example, some organisations may decide they need to update their procedures for managing requests for parental leave, in line with new day-one rights. Then, those tasked with seeing through new workers’ rights can carve out time to address each issue over the coming months, prioritising the most pressing areas first. This breaks the significant and somewhat daunting task into manageable chunks, and ensures teams have the time they need to get new policies right.
- Automate admin
Research shows that HRs spend 20% of their time on small admin-based tasks. Using HR software and other technologies can help streamline certain admin tasks like scheduling shifts, and make things like booking leave self-service. This way, staff will have more time to devote to the bigger challenge of auditing and implementing new policies in line with the Employment Rights Bill, alongside their other more strategic responsibilities.
Tech can also help to save time and ensure compliance once the bill has come into force. For example, storing employee details, requests and policy documents in one, easy-to-use system will make it easier to swiftly handle requests for flexible working within the required 2-month deadline. There’s no need to sift through endless spreadsheets or filing cabinets.
- Train managers
Clearly communicating what the new rights will mean for all employees in company updates is important. However, SMEs must host dedicated training sessions for managers, too. Ensuring managers are well-informed about what company policies are changing, means they can confidently handle staff queries and direct them to the right services if needed, without needing input from HR or senior leaders each time.
SMEs should also ask managers for their insights into what processes and policies they think might need updating, based on their day-to-day experience. For example, they may have received feedback from their team that it’s difficult to find the company’s bereavement leave policy. SMEs can then use this knowledge to get policies right the first time, which will save time later down the line.
There’s no denying that SMEs have a lot of work to do. However, with the right planning, support and tools, SMEs will be able to successfully drive through changes to comply with the Employment Rights Bill, which will benefit their teams and the businesses overall.
