Employment Rights Bill
Improving Workers Rights and Ensuring Fair Treatment
The Employment Rights Bill was introduced to Parliament on Thursday 10 October 2024. The Bill completed its journey through the House of Commons and has nearly completed its journey through the House of Lords. The Government’s intention was that the Bill would receive Royal Assent and become law before Parliament’s summer recess, however that now seems unlikely. The Employment Rights Bill Delivery Roadmap, recently published by the Government, suggests the Bill’s measures will not be brought into effect immediately but will instead be rolled out in phases. The Roadmap also describes a series of consultations that will begin in Summer 2025 and end in Winter 2026.
This page was first published on 22 February 2025. The last update was on 30 September 2025.
There are five sections to the Employment Rights Bill and this page originally displayed those five groups. Since the Delivery Roadmap was published I have reorgnised the content to mirror the delivery phases.
Progression Through Parliament
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Stages: House of Commons
First Reading: 10 October 2024
Second Reading: 21 October 2024
Committee Stage: Completed
Report Stage: 11 March 2025
Third Reading: 12 March 2025
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Stages: House of Lords
First Reading: 14 March 2025
Second Reading: 27 March 2025
Committee Stage: Completed
Report Stage: 23 July 2025
Third Reading: 3 September 2025
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Agreement On The Final Wording
15 September 2025: The House of Commons considered and rejected the Lords amendments and returned the Bill to the Lords for consideration or the reasons for rejection.
28 October 2025: The House of Lords are scheduled to consider the Commons reasons for rejecting the suggested amendments.
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What Happens Next?
The Bill will “ping-pong” between the two Houses until both agree on the final wording. Once agreed the Bill will then receive Royal Assent and become law.
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Consultation Timeline
A series of consultations will begin this summer and continue into early 2026. I will update the Employment Right Bill dashboard and pages about each individual provision to be introduced by the Bill as more information about the consultations are announced.
In brief the Employment Rights Bill Delivery Roadmap indicates that during the Summer/Autumn 2025 there will be consultations on day-1 unfair dismissal, fire-and-rehire, umbrella reforms, bereavement leave, rights of pregnant workers and zero-hour contracts. During the Winter there will be further consultations covering tips, flexible working and collective redundancy.
Employment Rights Bill Delivery Roadmap
The Delivery Roadmap provides anticipated commencement dates for the provisions within the Employment Rights Bill
Phase One: soon after the Bill receives Royal Assent
The first phase of measures will take effect soon after the Bill receives Royal Assent and relate to Trade Unions and Strike Action.
| Trade Union Provisions |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Part Four of the Employment Rights Bill proposes a raft of changes to trade union provisions in Employment Rights Bill. Provisions relating to Trade Unions will be introduced in each of the four phases of the delivery roadmap.
In phase one the Trade Union Act 2016 and Strikes (Minimum Services Levels) Act 2023 will be repealed and protections against dismissal for taking industrial action will be introduced.
Tell me more …
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Phase Two: April 2026
The second phase of measures will take effect in April 2026. These measures include:
A new Fair Work Agency will be established that will bring together different enforcement bodies. The agency will have to power to pursue employers who do not comply with statutory provisions i.e. those who take the commercial risk not to provide statutory provisions such as holiday pay, statutory sick pay and maternity and paternity pay.
Tell me more …
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| Paternity Leave and Pay |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
The length of service requirement will be removed, making the entitlement to pay and leave a day one right.
The restriction that prevents paternity leave being taken after Shared Parental Leave will be removed.
Tell me more …
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| Redundancy Protective Award |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The maximum period of the protective award will double from 90 to 180 days’ of full pay per employee.
Tell me more …
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| Statutory Sick Pay
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| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| SSP will be payable from day 1 of an employees sickness, not day four. The Lower Earnings Limit will be removed, making SSP eligible to more employees.
The rate of Statutory Sick Pay increased to £118.75 per week from April 2025. The rate of payment for those below the Lower Earnings Limit will become 80% of their average weekly pay.
Tell me more …
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| Trade Union Provisions |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Part Four of the Employment Rights Bill proposes a raft of changes to trade union provisions in Employment Rights Bill. Provisions relating to Trade Unions will be introduced in each of the four phases of the delivery roadmap.
Phase two of the delivery roadmap will see the introduction of a simplified trade union recognition process and electronic and workplace balloting.
Tell me more …
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| Unpaid Parental Leave |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
The length of service requirement will be removed, making the entitlement a day one right.
Tell me more …
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| Whistleblowing |
| Updated: 15 July 2025 |
The first amendment amends the matters which would fall within the definition of a qualifying disclosure, extending the list of relevant failures to include mismanagement of public funds, misuse or abuse of authority, or anything else set out in Regulations. It also sets out that a protected disclosure is a disclosure of information which is made in the public interest rather than simply being a reasonable belief of the worker that the matter is in the public interest. A further amendment is the creation of a new Office of the Whistleblower which would be established within one year of the ERB being given Royal Assent. This sets out the principal duty of the office is to protect whistleblowers and also sets out the functions of the office. There would also be an ‘offence’ to intentionally or recklessly subject any whistleblower to a detriment. Any claim would be subject to a fine and the maximum amount of the fine would be, in the case of an individual 10% of their gross annual income, not exceeding £50,000 and, in any other case, an amount up to 10% of annual global turnover.
Tell me more …
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Phase Three: October 2026
The third phase of measures will take effect in October 2026. These measures include:
| Dismissal and Re-engagement Practices |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The practice of dismissal and re-engagement will only be acceptable when the company is on the verge of collapse. It will be necessary to go through an extensive consultation process before resorting to dismissal and re-engagement.
A consultation was launched in late October 2024 and closed on 2 December 2024. The consultation sought views on the maximum protective award a tribunal can provide to an employee where an employer has failed to comply with the consultation obligations (currently 90 days). Views were sought on whether the employer should be instructed to re-employ the individual or pay normal wages and benefits until the date of full hearing or pay normal wages and benefits from the date of the claim to the date of the full hearing.
Tell me more …
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| Extension of Time Limits for Bringing Tribunal Claims |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Currently employees have three months from the date of the alleged offence (dismissal, deduction of wages, discrimination etc) to bring a claim with the employment tribunal. Although there is scope to extend this in certain circumstances, including stopping the clock during a short period of ACAS conciliation. The Government amended the Employment Rights Bill in November 2024 and that update introduced an extension of the three-month time limit to six-months. This wasn’t in the initial draft of the Bill, nor was it in the Kings Speech.
Tell me more …
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| Fair Pay Agreement Adult Social Care Negotiating Body |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions for a Fair Pay Agreement specifically for the Adult Social Care (ASC) sector, aiming to improve pay, terms, and conditions for care workers. This agreement will be negotiated by a central body composed of trade unions and care provider representatives, with the potential for the Secretary of State to influence the final agreement. The goal is to address low wages in the sector, which contribute to workforce shortages and high turnover rates.
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| The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions related to public sector procurement, specifically aiming to prevent the creation of a “two-tier” workforce during outsourcing. This would involve ensuring that workers transferring from the public sector to a private contractor are treated no less favourably than they were before, and that other private sector workers on the same contract are treated at least as well as those transferred.
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| Section One Statements |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
The list of essential content of a Section One Statement will be extended to include a statement that the employee has the right to join a trade union.
Tell me more …
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| Sexual Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. The addition of the word ‘ALL’ extends the duty from taking reasonable steps to taking all reasonable steps.
Tell me more …
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| Third Party Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to take ALL reasonable steps to prevent harassment by third parties. This wasn’t in the pre-election manifesto. Third party harassment was originally in the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act) Act 2023 that came into effect on 26 October 2024 but it was removed.
Tell me more …
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| Tipping Practices |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Employers will be required to consult with a recognised trade union or worker representatives on their tipping policy, and to review that policy every three years. A consultation on this is anticipated in winter 2025 or early 2026.
Tell me more …
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| Trade Union Provisions |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Part Four of the Employment Rights Bill proposes a raft of changes to trade union provisions in Employment Rights Bill. Provisions relating to Trade Unions will be introduced in each of the four phases of the delivery roadmap.
Phase three of the delivery roadmap will see the strengthening of trade unions’ right of access to employees, new rights and protections for trade union reps and extending protections against detriments for taking industrial action.
Tell me more …
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Phase Four: During 2027
The Employment Rights Bill strengthens protections against blacklisting, expanding the scope of prohibited activities and broadening the definition of who is protected. Specifically, it addresses the use of blacklists compiled by Artificial Intelligence and third parties, even if not initially created for discriminatory purposes.
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| Compassionate Leave |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
‘Parental’ will be removed from the Parental Bereavement Leave Act; making all employees entitled to a statutory period of time away from work following the death of a relative. There will be a qualifying relationship between the employee and the person who has died. This is likely to mirror the relationship requirements used in the Time of For Dependents and Carers Leave Acts. Where an employee is eligible to leave and experiences more than one death they will be entitled to leave in respect of each death.
The Employment Rights Bill will also extend the Right to Bereavement Leave to parents who suffer a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Tell me more …
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| Flexible Working |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
There are no plans to change the process so it remains a ‘right to request’ rather than become a right to have flexible working. However, the Bill says refusal has to be reasonable, from a list of specified grounds for refusal (the eight grounds for refusal remain the same; but the reasonableness requirement is new) and the employer must to explain, in writing, why their refusal is reasonable.
Tell me more …
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| Probationary Periods |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| A statutory Initial Period of Employment will be introduced that will allow for assessment of an employee’s suitability. How long the period will be is not defined; six and nine months have been reported in the press.
There are a number of options on what a fair dismissal will look like:
- Dismissal during, or at the end of, the statutory period may be added to the list of 5 fair reasons for dismissal;
- A minimum statutory procedure may be introduced that must be followed to make the dismissal fair. (Remember those Statutory Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures we all loved!!!).
So, careful monitoring of probationers is going to become really important. Extending probation should be rare and failing to make an assessment at the end so the employee continues in their employment by default should be avoided.
Tell me more …
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| Protection from Redundancy For Pregnant and New Mothers |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Enhance maternity protection to prohibit dismissal for 6 months following a return to work from maternity leave; except in specific circumstances.
Currently, if an employee is pregnant, or on statutory family leave, or returning from a period of statutory family leave, they are protected from being made redundant within a certain time frame on returning. What the Employment Rights Bill proposes, is to extend this entitlement for any dismissal, so for instance, a conduct or capability disability.
Tell me more …
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| Redundancy Consultation |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Change the law on collective redundancy consultation so that the obligation to collectively consult is triggered by the number of people impacted across the business, rather than in one workplace.
Tell me more …
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| Sexual Harassment |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
Introduce a power to enable regulations to specify steps that are to be regarded as “reasonable”, to determine whether an employer has taken ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment.
Tell me more …
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| Trade Union Provisions |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Part Four of the Employment Rights Bill proposes a raft of changes to trade union provisions in Employment Rights Bill. Provisions relating to Trade Unions will be introduced in each of the four phases of the delivery roadmap.
Phase four of the delivery roadmap will see the strengthening the industrial relations framework.
Tell me more …
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| The Employment Rights Bill is set to introduce significant changes to the regulation of umbrella companies in the UK, aiming to ensure workers receive similar rights and protections as those employed directly by recruitment agencies. These changes will effectively bring umbrella companies within the scope of the Employment Agencies Act 1973, subjecting them to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. This means umbrella companies will face increased obligations, including ensuring workers are paid on time, regardless of whether the hirer or agency has paid them.
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| Unfair Dismissal |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| The qualifying period of employment i.e. two years will be removed. Meaning employers will have to rely on one of the five fair reasons for dismissing an employee and follow a reasonable process when dismissing an employee on or after day one of employment.
Employees who feel they have been unfairly dismissed will be able to make a claim for unfair dismissal.
Tell me more …
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| Written Statement of Reasons For Dismissal |
| Employees with two years of continuous service are entitled to receive a written statement outlining the reasons for their dismissal. The Bill changes the framework, so that employees who have completed their Initial Period of Employment before qualifying for the statutory right to receive written reasons.
Tell me more …
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| Zero and Low Hour Contracts |
| Guaranteed Hours and Notice of Shifts and Moved, Cancelled or Curtailed Shifts |
| Updated: 5 July 2025 |
| Minimum Hours Contracts have been brought into the legislation to prevent employers from replacing Zero Hours Contracts with contracts that provide one hour of work to avoid compliance with zero hours legislation.
Under the new regime the duty will be on the employer to comply, rather than on the employee to request.
The duty will be to provide:
- Guaranteed Hours the employer must make a guaranteed offer of regular hours, which reflects the hours worked in the previous defined period.
- Reasonable Notice of Shifts the employer will be required to provide notice of required and requested hours of hours.
- Reasonable Notice of Cancellation or Change of Shifts where a shift is cancelled or the day of work or start or finish time is changing the employer will be required to provide reasonable notice to the employee.
- Compensation will payable to the employee for previously agreed shifts that are cancelled, moved or curtailed at short notice.
A consultation was launched in late October and closed on 2 December 2024. The consultation sought views on the extension of the provisions to agency workers and specifically whether agency workers should be offered guaranteed hours by the employment agency, or by the end hirer and who should be reasonable for serving notice of shifts and cancellation or curtailment of shifts.
Tell me more …
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Further measures to be implemented in phase four of the delivery roadmap relate to large employers and specifically to the implementation of gender pay gap reporting and menopause action plans.
Next Steps
A small number of employment law changes announced in Labours 2024 General Election Manifesto were not included in the Employment Rights Bill and have instead been included in their Next Steps document. These are changes which will require significant consultation and will therefore be implemented at a later date.
| Kinship Carers Leave |
| New: 9 July 2025 |
Kinship Carers Leave is an arrangement where a child is raised by a friend, relative or extended family member other than a parent. The Employment Rights Bill provides that an employee will be entitled to leave if the kinship arrangement is intended to last at least one year and until the child being cared for is 18 years old. An eligible “kinship care arrangement” means, for example, a special guardianship, a special kinship child arrangement, a private fostering arrangement, or a private family arrangement. Where an employee qualifies for kinship carers leave they will be entitled to at least 52 weeks’ of leave.
Tell me more …
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| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
Enhance carer’s leave to become a paid entitlement and increase the amount of leave that can be taken.
Tell me more … |
Carers Leave is currently unpaid and limited to five days in a 12 month period. Leave is also per employee not per dependant with caring needs. |
| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
| A single status of worker will be created for everyone except the self-employed. Everyone within the single status will be entitled to the same benefits.
A consultation will also be undertaken to determine how a simpler framework to differentiate between workers and self-employed.
Tell me more … |
There are currently three categories of worker: ‘worker’, ’employee’ and ‘self-employed’.
The proposal will remove the distinction between the existing worker and employee categories leaving two employment statuses of worker and self-employed. |
| Proposed Change
| Current Position |
Introduce a right for workers to switch off which would include a right to not routinely work outside normal working hours and not to be contacted outside normal working hours.
Tell me more … |
In the UK, workers are already protected by various means including limits to working time, the requirement to provide breaks, right to respect for private and family life and an employer’s duty of care to look after their employees’ health and safety. However, there is currently no right to disconnect. |
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