Even before they were elected. Labour’s manifesto promised the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation. The new Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced to Parliament on 10 October 2024, is the first phase of delivering the Plan to Make Work Pay.
Their bill promised aims to significantly enhance workers’ rights and improve workplace environments. It includes provisions for stronger protections against unfair dismissal, better statutory sick pay, day-one rights for parental leave, and measures to address gender pay gaps and support employees experiencing menopause. The bill also seeks to ban exploitative zero-hours contracts and close loopholes related to “fire and rehire” practices.
Phased implementation
The Employment Rights Bill is currently in the House of Lords, undergoing its Report stage after having passed through the House of Commons. Following this stage, the bill will return to the House of Commons for consideration of any amendments made by the Lords. Helpfully, a roadmap for the bill’s implementation, setting out a phased implementation plan for the upcoming changes, was published last week.
Whilst many employers were fearful that all the proposed changes would come in at once, they will be reassured that the phased nature of the delivery plan detailed in the roadmap, not only gives greater clarity, but also gives extra time to plan and prepare, with some reforms not expected to come into force until 2027. To access a copy, click on the link below:
The key points and implementation dates are shown below:
April 2026
- Collective redundancy protective award – doubling the maximum period of the protective award
- Day 1 Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave rights
- Whistleblowing protections
- Statutory Sick Pay – removal of the Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period
October 2026
- Ban on fire and rehire practices
- Employers required to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees
- Employment tribunal time limits increase from three to six months
2027
- Mandatory gender pay gap and menopause action plans (introduced on a voluntary basis in April 2026)
- Rights for pregnant workers
- Collective redundancy – collective consultation threshold
- Flexible working
- Bereavement Leave
- Ending the exploitative use of Zero Hours Contracts (ZHCs) and applying ZHC measures to agency workers
- Day 1 unfair dismissal rights
Furthermore, the government is committed to developing guidance and/or Codes of Practice to clarify the new measures and support compliance. And Acas, the Employment Tribunal and the new Fair Work Agency will all be equipped and responsible for upholding the Employment Rights Bill to support compliance once the reforms have been introduced.
How can we help?
With the impact of these changes likely to be felt across your entire business, we highly recommend that you start planning and preparing now. For advice, help and support, please email caroline.robertson@actifhr.co.uk