Employment Rights Bill Summary
5 min read
The UK Government has recently announced a raft of changes to various aspects of employment law which are likely to come into effect over the next few years. These employment rights changes will affect all workers in all industries across the UK, so employers need to remain up-to-date with the latest guidance. In this article, we’ll provide a summary of the Employment Rights Bill and outline everything that employers need to know about the upcoming changes to the law.
What is the Employment Rights Bill?
The UK’s Labour Government published the Employment Rights Bill on 10th October 2024 as part of their ‘Plan to Make Work Pay.’ The plan is designed to help more people to stay in work, support workers’ productivity and improve living standards. Once implemented, the Employment Rights Bill will see the biggest upgrade to UK employment rights in recent history, across all of England, Wales and Scotland.
Explore the sections below to see a summary of the key topics of the Employment Rights Bill:
Unfair Dismissal 
Current Position: Employees currently need two years of continuous service before they can start an unfair dismissal claim. Probationary periods are not legally defined and employers must provide written reasons for dismissal if requested.
Planned Changes:
- The two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims will be removed.
- Unfair dismissal protection will apply from day one of employment.
- A statutory probation period will be introduced. During this period, employers can terminate employment or serve up to three months’ notice for performance or conduct reasons, using a simplified dismissal process.
- A consultation is planned on whether compensation for unfair dismissal should be reduced during probation.
Workplace Harassment
Current Position: There is a current duty to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace under the Worker Protection Act but enforcement has been limited.
Planned Changes:
- Employers must continue to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.
- Employers must implement policies, risk assessments and complaint procedures.
- Sexual harassment complaints will be protected disclosures under whistleblowing laws.
- Employers will be liable for harassment by third parties, unless they take reasonable preventative steps.
Flexible Working
Current Position: Employees can request flexible working from day one but employers may refuse it for certain business reasons.
Planned Changes:
- Refusals must now be reasonable, not just based on the statutory business reasons.
- Employers must explain the grounds for refusal in writing and why it is considered reasonable.
Family Rights
Current Position: Paternity leave requires 26 weeks’ service, unpaid parental leave requires one year’s service and redundancy protections exist only for pregnant employees or those recently returning from maternity leave.
Planned Changes:
- Day one rights for paternity and unpaid parental leave.
- Right to take paternity leave even after taking shared parental leave.
- Protections against dismissal during pregnancy, maternity, adoption or shared parental leave and within six months of return.
- Extension of bereavement leave to include other close family losses (including pregnancy loss), with at least one week of leave.
Fire and Rehire
Current Position: ‘Fire and rehire’ is legal but controversial and has a statutory Code of Practice in place.
Planned Changes:
- It will be automatically unfair to dismiss an employee for refusing contract changes.
- It will be unfair to dismiss and rehire someone on less favourable terms, unless financial difficulties make it unavoidable.
- Strict limitations on the use of fire and rehire tactics.
Equality Reporting
Current Position: Employers with 250+ employees must publish gender pay gap reports but are not required to include action plans.
Planned Changes:
- Employers with 250+ employees must publish:
- Gender pay gap action plans.
- Menopause action plans.
- Ethnicity and disability pay gap figures.
Zero-Hours Contracts
Current Position: Zero-hours contracts are legal but there’s no legal requirement to offer minimum guaranteed hours.
Planned Changes:
- Workers must be offered contracts reflecting regular hours if they routinely work more than their stated minimum over a 12-week reference period.
- Employers must give reasonable notice of shifts and shift changes or cancellations.
- Compensation will be required for last-minute shift cancellations.
- Protections will also apply to agency workers.
Pay, Sickness and Holiday
Current Position: Statutory sick pay (SSP) starts from day four of absence, employees must earn at least £123/week to qualify and there are no formal holiday recordkeeping obligations.
Planned Changes:
- SSP will be payable from day one, regardless of earnings.
- Workers below the current earnings threshold will receive 80% of their earnings.
- Employers must keep holiday and pay records for at least six years.
- National Minimum and Living Wage rates will be aligned and apply from age 18.
- The Low Pay Commission must consider cost of living when setting rates.
Tribunals and Enforcement
Current Position: Most tribunal claims must be filed within three months.
Planned Changes:
- Time limits for tribunal claims will be extended to six months.
- A new Fair Work Agency will be established with powers to:
- Enforce holiday pay, SSP and minimum wage.
- Enter premises and seize evidence.
- Issue penalties.
- Bring claims on behalf of workers.
- Recover enforcement costs.
Trade Unions and Strikes
Current Position: Unions have limited rights to access workplaces, electronic balloting is not permitted and anti-strike legislation remains in force from the previous government.
Planned Changes:
- Unions will be allowed electronic balloting.
- The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 will be repealed.
- Employers will be required to inform employees of their right to join a union in employment documents.
- Trade union officials will have enhanced rights, including workplace and digital access.
- New protections against blacklisting.
- A statutory role for union equality reps will be created, with rights to paid time off.
What Do the Changes Mean for you?
In anticipation of the upcoming changes to employment law, it’s important that all employers review their current policies, procedures and practices to ensure they are up-to-date and continue to comply with expectations and obligations.
To ensure compliance with the changes in the Employment Rights Bill, employers should look to:
- Ensure all new starters have a probationary period included in their contracts and put in place a process for regularly reviewing performance during this time.
- Review disciplinary and dismissal policies and procedures, making sure managers are properly trained to handle conduct and performance matters.
- Prepare to include third-party harassment in policies by implementing appropriate preventative measures.
- Reassess flexible working policies and practices and provide training for managers on how to manage flexible working requests.
- Introduce or update policies covering family bereavement and pregnancy loss to prepare for upcoming leave entitlements.
- Draft employment contracts with built-in flexibility to allow for future adjustments where possible.
- Establish systems to monitor redundancies and changes to terms and conditions across the business, not just at individual sites.
- Consider introducing a menopause policy if one does not already exist.
- Review arrangements for casual and zero-hours workers to identify those who may qualify for a contract reflecting regular hours.
- Revisit sick pay policies and contractual provisions related to statutory sick pay to ensure they are up-to-date.
- Check records relating to holiday and holiday pay to confirm they demonstrate compliance with legal requirements.
- Update employment contracts to include reference to the right to join a trade union.
The Employment Rights Bill 2024: When Will it Start?
Although the Employment Rights Bill was revealed in October 2024, the changes are unlikely to come into force until at least 2026.
Consultations into the employment law reforms began in 2025, so employers and businesses should have plenty of time to ensure their policies, procedures and practices are in-line with the new changes ahead of them becoming written into UK law.
The Employment Rights Bill aims to completely overhaul the UK’s employment law by requesting changes to policies and procedures that aim to make working life better for British employees. Ahead of the changes becoming law, employers should begin reviewing all of their practices and documents to ensure they remain compliant and up-to-date.
Further Resources:
- Employment Law Training
- Understanding Employment Law
- The Consequences of a Lack of Training in the Workplace
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