The Employment Rights Bill (“ERB”) was officially announced and introduced to Parliament on 10 October 2024. It forms a central part of the Labour government’s “Plan to Make Work Pay” and represents one of the most significant overhauls of UK employment law in decades. So, just over 12-months on, where is it?
Some amendments to the initial propositions under the Employment Rights Bill at the outset were made in March following a period of consultation by the government. For example, the zero-hours contract provisions were expanded to include agency workers, and interim relief was confirmed as not being available for fire-and-rehire related unfair dismissals. My colleague Annabel Robinson wrote an insightful article on this in March which you can access here.
Following this round of amendments, the Employment Rights Bill passed through Parliament and progressed to the House of Lords in April; the next stage in a “bill” becoming an “act” (or a “law”). Several subsequent government amendments to the original Employment Rights Bill were approved by the Lords, most significantly the government’s rollback from all fire and rehire dismissals being automatically unfair to only dismissals intended to change key contractual terms (such as pay, pensions, working hours, time off, or to introduce unilateral variation clauses on those matters) being automatically unfair. In addition, several non-government amendments were introduced. These included:
- Retaining a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, effectively blocking the government’s proposal to make this a day-one right.
- Introducing new regulations to strengthen whistleblower protections, including a duty on employers to investigate protected disclosures.
- Expanding the right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings to include a ‘certified professional companion’.
So, where do things stand now? As is often the case with government-led reform, the answer is far from straightforward. The Employment Rights Bill is currently caught in a legislative “ping pong” between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. After the Commons rejected most of the Lords’ amendments, the Lords responded by reinstating many of them (most notably, the proposal to retain a six-month qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims). It’s not complete gridlock, though. On 23 October 2025, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) launched a consultation on parts of the Bill, signalling some forward movement. There is also the roadmap, where the government confirmed the implementation timeline for several of the key reforms under the Employment Rights Bill. The current schedule sets allows for the below key aspects alongside a number of others:
- April 2026: paternity and parental leave become day-one rights, along with the removal of waiting period and lower earnings limit for statutory sick pay.
- October 2026: new restrictions on ‘fire and rehire’ take effect, alongside enhanced protections relating to sexual and third-party harassment.
- During 2027: removal of qualifying period (unfair dismissal) to be introduced alongside an expected form of statutory probationary period, along with changes to flexible working, bereavement leave, and collective redundancy consultation thresholds.
It’s entirely understandable that the uncertainty and disruption caused by upcoming reforms may be creating anxiety for employers. However, there are proactive steps you can take to stay ahead – such as reviewing your employee handbook to ensure it includes clear, robust policies on family-friendly rights and workplace protections, and making sure staff have received up-to-date training on key issues like sexual harassment.
Ian Machray will be covering the above and more in his in-person seminar in January 2026. For more details and to reserve a space click here.
If you feel it would be helpful to speak with an employment law specialist to ensure your organisation is well-prepared for the upcoming changes, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email at [email protected].
