Has HR got its ducks in a row for the Employment Rights Bill?

The hand grenade that is the Employment Rights Bill is putting employers in a spin, not only have successive iterations of it confused many but there is a general fatigue coupled with a growing fear; HR Grapevine reports on whether HR is ready for the bomb to explode.

What is the Employment Rights Bill and is it finalised?

The Employment Rights Bill is a significant bit of legislation introduced by the Labour Government, aiming to deliver the biggest change with the key introduction of basic employment rights from day one. The bill was introduced to Parliament on 10 October 2024 and represents the first phase of a broader plan to enhance workers’ rights.

Paman Singh, Principal Associate, Weightmans LLP says that for many the confusion abounds because of the number of updates and amendments that have painted a grey area over the exact terms in the legislation which are numerous. There are 310 pages of the Bill which is at its second reading in the House of Lords.

“What this means is that the House of Commons, which drafts any proposed legislation, has debated and amended the wording of the Bill, before sending it to the House of Lords. At that stage, the Lords have no powers to strike down provisions, only to recommend changes if they wish – which can either be accepted or not by the House of Commons. This is important, because we can start to now see the shape of what the Bill will look like in its final version,” says Singh.

In terms of timings, Singh says that The Bill is coming in over stages. That means that some of the big headline grabbing changes are not likely to become binding law until Autumn 2026, including Day One Unfair Dismissal Rights, and changes to Zero Hours arrangements. “There are some proposals however, which I think will come in towards the back end of this year, perhaps around October time, with the Bill set to come into force in June or July, based on the current accelerated rate of progress through Parliament,” he adds.

Singh explains that employers need to ‘quickly’ get a handle on three big changes: