Labour’s Employment Rights Bill - published today

As promised in the King’s Speech back in July (see our previous article), within its first 100 days in office Labour has today published its eagerly anticipated Employment Rights Bill.

The Bill brings forward no less than 28 employment reforms, many of which mirror those previously set out in Labour’s plan to Make Work Pay.

Key reforms include:

• Unfair dismissal to be a day one right – the 2 year qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal will be removed with Government consultation on a new statutory probation period of up to 9 months for ‘new hires’;
• Extension of day one rights – for paternity and parental leave with a new right to bereavement leave;
• Flexible working – to be the default (unless the employer can prove it is unreasonable), with the right to make a request from day one;
• Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay – with a removal of the lower earnings limit and granting workers an entitlement to sick pay from the first day of illness;  
• A lower bar to collective redundancy consultation – to be conducted when 20 employees are impacted across the whole business (rather than just one establishment);
• Third party harassment  - full liability on employers to prevent a third party from harassing an employee;
• Extension of protected disclosures – to include allegations of sexual harassment;
• Increasing protection in the workplace - introducing gender and menopause action plans and strengthening rights for pregnant women and new mothers returning to work;
• Ending “exploitative” zero-hours contracts – granting workers guaranteed hours and security of earnings;
• Banning “unscrupulous” fire and re-hire practices – making it automatically unfair to dismiss for a failure to agree to variation of contract;
• Establishing the Fair Work Agency – to bring together different government enforcement bodies which will support employers and take action against those flouting the law;

But, that is not all. Upcoming employment changes do not end with this Bill.

Ahead of the publication of the Bill this afternoon, this morning the Department for Business and Trade’s press release confirmed that a “Next Steps” document for the Make Work Pay Plan has also been published to sit alongside the legislation and outline future areas of reform. Although subject to further consultation, to name just a few the Government plans to deliver wider changes such as:

• A right to switch off – preventing employers from contacting employees out of hours, except in exceptional circumstances;
• Single ‘worker’ status – to transition towards a simpler framework which differentiates between workers and the genuinely self-employed;
• Extending equal pay rights – protecting against pay discrimination through the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill through measures such as mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers;
• A review of Parental and Carer’s leave systems - to strengthen support for employees, whilst being mindful of the impact particularly on small employers; and
• TUPE  – a Call for Evidence to examine a wide variety of issues relating to TUPE regulations, including how they are implemented in practice.

The unveiled Bill certainly marks a significant shift in employment law, demonstrating Labour’s genuine commitment to “upgrade workers’ rights across the UK, tackle poor working conditions and benefit businesses and workers alike” and to ensure that employment legislation is “is fit for modern life and a modern economy”. However, many details remain to be resolved as the Bill progresses through Parliament. Thankfully buying employers (and employment lawyers!) some time to consider the far-reaching impacts that this Bill will have once the legislation is implemented.

Although not yet confirmed, it is expected that the Bill will come into force in October 2026.