The Act contains a number of measures which the Government believes restore the principle of fair pay for a day’s work.
	The Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 ensures that all tips, gratuities and service charges are passed on to workers, and is accompanied by a statutory Code of Practice on fair and transparent distribution of tips. The Act builds on this legislation by ensuring that workers receive their tips in full and decide how they are allocated by mandating that employers consult with workers when developing or revising their tipping policies.
	The Act establishes the School Support Staff Negotiating Body ("SSSNB") with a remit for remuneration, terms and conditions of employment, and training and career progression for school support staff in England. It gives the Secretary of State powers to make regulations ratifying agreements reached by the SSSNB on school support staff terms and conditions, or making other provision in the absence of agreement, and makes provision about the effect of these regulations. The Act provides that regulations cannot alter an employee’s remuneration or terms and conditions to their detriment or prevent them being employed on more favourable terms It also gives the Secretary of State a power to issue statutory guidance in relation to school support staff remuneration, terms and conditions of employment or training and career progression.
	Currently, there is no legislatively supported or mandated sectoral collective bargaining in the social care sector. This Act enables the establishment of Fair Pay Agreements (FPA) processes in the adult social care sector in England and the social care sectors in Scotland and in Wales through secondary legislation. Regulations will follow consultation to define the detailed processes such as the negotiations process for an FPA and its scope.
	Statutory Sick Pay ("SSP") is the minimum amount an employer is required to pay to their employee when they are sick, where the employee meets the qualifying conditions. Currently an individual must earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit (currently £123 per week) to be eligible for SSP. The Act removes the requirement to earn at least the Lower Earnings Limit in order to be eligible for SSP.
	The Act also sets the weekly rate of SSP at £118.75 or 80% of the employee’s normal weekly earnings, whichever is lower. The change from £116.75 to £118.75 is to reflect the uprated sum which came into effect on 6 April 2025.
	Employees are entitled to SSP during a Period of Incapacity for Work (‘PIW’) which is any period of four or more days when they are sick including non-working days (e.g. weekends etc.). Additionally, SSP is not payable in relation to the first three qualifying days (when an employee will normally work.) The Act removes the provision that means SSP is not payable for the first three qualifying days. It also allows a PIW, and hence eligibility for SSP, to arise where a person is incapable of work for a single day or longer, as opposed to the current requirement for there to be 4 consecutive days of incapacity.
	The Government believes that it is essential to prevent the emergence of a two-tier workforce, where employees have worse terms and conditions than those transferred from the public sector but working on the same contract. The Act ensures Ministers have the appropriate tools to promote the rights of employees engaged on new public contracts which outsource public services and maintain the quality of public service delivery by ensuring consistent employment standards.
	The Act provides for a legally binding Seafarers’ Charter to set higher standards for seafarers relating to pay and safety, including tours of duty, fatigue management and safety related training. It is intended to prevent a race to the bottom between operators seeking to undercut their competitors by lowering employment standards.
	The Act also provides the power for the Secretary of State to make regulations for the purpose of giving effect to other international agreements, and amendments to those agreements, that have been ratified by the UK, so far as the agreement relates to maritime employment.
Fair Pay and Conditions