UK: Employment Rights Bill published, but most reforms not expected before 2026

As promised, the Labour Government published its Employment Rights Bill last Thursday (10 October), within the first 100 days of its administration.

This fleshes out some of the details of the reforms included in the 'Plan to Make Work Pay' published prior to the election and confirmed in the King's Speech, although much remains to be specified in regulations and subject to consultation. The second reading of the Bill in the Commons will be on 21 October 2024.

Perhaps of most interest to employers will be:

• The confirmation that the proposed day one right to unfair dismissal protection is not planned to come into force before Autumn 2026.  There will be a consultation including on the length of the new statutory probationary period.  The current proposal is for a nine month probationary period and a shortened fair procedure requiring one meeting for the employer to explain their concerns prior to dismissal.  The Government is also considering a lower cap on compensation for dismissals during probation.
• The changes to the new duty to prevent sexual harassment (to require all reasonable steps to be taken) and to introduce employer liability for the harassment (in relation to any protected characteristic) of employees by third parties.

Other reforms in the Bill include day one rights to statutory sick pay and parental leave, modifications to zero hours contracts, 'fire and rehire' restrictions, broader bereavement leave, and changes to flexible work requests and to the threshold for collective redundancy consultation.

Mandatory action plans on gender pay gaps and menopause support are included for large employers, and protection for pregnant workers is also to be strengthened (in a way yet to be specified). Conservative trade union legislation is to be repealed (likely to be among the first changes in force, from or soon after the Bill receives Royal Assent, probably around Summer 2025)  and a new single enforcement body will be created.

The Bill is accompanied by a Next Steps document outlining the reforms the Government will look to implement in the future, subject to consultation.  These include the proposed 'right to switch off', ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers, transition to a single status of worker, and reviews into the parental leave and carers leave regimes. 

The Next Steps document confirms that the Government anticipates that the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026. 

Please contact us for a copy of our client briefing setting out the new details provided by the Bill or if you would like to discuss the implications for your business.  We will be providing further analysis as the proposals progress.