On 10 October 2024 the government published the Employment Rights Bill.
With 28 individual employment reforms, employers and employees in the UK can expect significant changes to their employment rights and obligations.
On winning the majority election on 4 July, Labour had pledged several key actions to help businesses and workers. This was previously explained by Anita Vadgama in her blog What happens now that labour has won?
Let’s examine how Labour has delivered five of their ‘trending’ proposed reforms.
| What was expected? | Was it delivered on the bill? |
| A right from day one of your job to claim unfair dismissal | Yes, the two-year qualifying period for protection against unfair dismissal will be removed. However, whether this is a benefit for both employer and employee is questionable, as covered by Karen Jackson in her blog day one employment rights. This change will see the implementation of a 9 month probationary period. |
| Stopping exploitative zero hour contracts | Included! These contracts are to be replaced with a guaranteed hours contract based on the number of regular hours an employee has worked. Key changes include a cancellation payment for shifts being taken away by an employer at short notice as well as a right to receive reasonable notice of work shifts. |
| Ending fire and rehire practices | Yes, when an employer wants to vary the terms and conditions of an employment, it will automatically be unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing a contract variation. |
| Strengthening protections for pregnant women and new mothers | Included! It will become unlawful to dismiss a pregnant woman within 6 months of her return after maternity leave. |
| Making flexible working an option for employees | Yes, an employee will be able to make a request for flexible working changes such as the days and the number of hours they work. Employers will need to deal with requests in a reasonable manner. |
| Employers with more than 250 employees will be required to support employees through menopause | Included! Employers will need to create a Menopause Action Plan to ensure they describe how they will provide the support necessary to help manage female workers with menopause symptoms. |
Much debate and criticism has arisen due to the bill with Labour being criticised for the lack of formal consultation that was undertaken before the Bill was published. In addition, there has been a significant row back of pledges that were made in their election manifesto. However in Labour’s attempt to impossibly balance being both pro-business and pro-worker, there are provisions within the bill which will cause obvious tension.
We are not due to see these changes anytime soon, with the possibility of implementation in 2026.
Watch the website for more blog commentary on The Employment Rights Bill.
