17th March 2025
The Employment Rights Bill has now finished its keenly debated journey through the House of Commons. The baton now passes to the House of Lords.
You can find our original high-level summary of the proposals in the Employment Rights Bill here. Since then, the Bill has undergone a series of changes.
The Government responded to all four of its consultations (on zero-hour contracts, collective redundancy consultations and “fire and rehire” practices, trade union legislation and statutory sick pay (SSP)) on 4 March 2025. It followed this up with a raft of amendments to the Bill, relating to the consultations and other matters. These amendments were debated in Parliament on 11 and 12 March.
To bring you up to speed, the current state of play on the key issues for employers is as follows:
The amendments to what was already a complex Bill are extensive and it is clear that the dramatic reshaping of employment law and responsibilities on employers continues to be a topic of hot debate (hence the continued development and shifts in the proposed legislation).
If you need any further guidance or would like to discuss any of these topics further, please get in contact with one of the team.